Diane Teeman presenting 'The Walk of Sorrow' collaborative project.
By LORI ANN EDMO
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — Diane Teeman, Burns Paiute Culture and Heritage Director, believes it’s important to tell the story of the historic trail used to march tribal people who were prisoners of war from Fort Harney in Oregon to Fort Simcoe in Washington in January 1879 after the 1878 Bannock War.
The “Walk of Sorrow” is the title of the collaborative project and she is hoping to work with all of the tribal communities that descended from it. Many of the original Boise Valley tribes ended up imprisoned in either Fort Boise, Fort Simcoe or Fort Vancouver.
Teeman did a presentation at the Return of the Boise Valley People event January 15 at Gowen Field in Boise. She is also a doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada Reno. “From the time I can remember, elders talked about being marched out of Harney Valley – ancestors were marched to Fort Simcoe, Wash. and how we lost everything, how many people died and how badly they were treated by the soldiers,” she said. “The great loss of life and suffering that happened that was embedded in my mind as something I thought was very important.
As she grew older she realized how it important it was to never be forgotten and she said it appears a lot of the non-natives around the tribal people are not even aware of what happened on that land. “Me and many others in my community decided it’s important to try and recapture as much of the history from written record as we could, once the information is gathered, we will determine how accurate it is,” she continued. It’s a big project with a lot of funding requirements. Thanks to a grant Dr. Sara Cowie received who is an associate professor at the University of Nevada Reno, they’ve been able to get enough financial support.
She explained the benefits of indigenous and collaborative archaeology. According to Dr. George Nicholas for some individuals and communities what is most rewarding is renewed connection with their own history and repair of connections to the past that was severed by colonialism (the practice of acquiring full or partial political control of another – occupying it with settlers and exploiting it economically). There are not only new educational opportunities for indigenous students at all levels but an increasing number of indigenous scholars and educators able to train them. There are also economic benefits through capacity building and other ventures that enable community members to be employed in cultural resources.
Teeman said it’s important to have a strong voice and make archaeology work for them.
She has so far had two meetings to discuss the project – one in Burns last fall and another in Reno this spring. She showed a map the Bonneville Power Administration did of the Bannock War that may have similar routes ancestors followed. She’s hoping to collaborate with the tribal communities with direct ties to the Malheur Reservation and show respect to all of the people. “It’s important to know where the trail is it. There is a team of people going through all of the archives to find information. She noted in the past universities have gone out and collected oral history, then the tribe never seen it again. “We don’t want to do that because that means the researcher ends up owning it, we are decolonizing – if oral history is involved it will be up to the tribes or individual families to decide whether to share.” She added the project will be set up in a way individual communities will do it themselves. “It’s a way of protecting that history.”
Teeman noted tribes may want to the entire trail a traditional cultural property – a designated space on the national level. Once they have an idea where the trail is, they will decide how much they want to share about that history. There’s been a lot of discussion and some tribal members talked about having a walk – re-walking it or memorialize it to show the ancestors they haven’t forgotten it.
Some methods they will be using is GIS, aerial drones, satellite imagery, literature searches, historic archives, archaeological reports, tribal and non tribal oral histories. Additional tribal and non-tribal oral history interviewing may be done, archaeological pedestrian survey and ground penetrating radar.
A Field School is planned July 15 to August 15 at the Malheur Reservation Agency headquarters in Beulah, Oregon. A total of 20 scholarships are available and tribal members are invited to apply. They’re encouraging tribal leaders and elders to come out and visit during the school. Participants will learn fundamentals in Indigenous Archaeological Field Methods such as survey, mapping, excavation, recoding, field laboratory methods, GPS, oral histories and more. To request an application send an email to dlteeman.burns.paitue@gmail.com or call or text 541-413-1190.
The Malheur Agency opening in 1873 as the headquarters for the 1.8 million Malheur Reservation. Tribal reservation residents worked to transform the agency landscape into a functioning farm prior to their removal from the area in 1878-79. It holds significance for many Malheur Reservation descendant communities.
Concerning the project, an inter-tribal coalition or organization of some type would be formed as a result to help tribal people have a stronger voice in protection of mutual cultural resources and heritage.
Another benefit Teeman said is the descendants of the horrific atrocities could find healing through commemoration of the events and honoring of ancestors. At least one and perhaps more academic publications documenting tribal histories from tribal knowledge will be produced.
In addition crimes against tribal people will not be buried and forgotten but brought in to light for all of today’s people to see.