1957-06-01 Char-Koosta News

              Charles Spencer Appointed New Superintendent
Charles S. Spencer came to the Flathead Agency the week of June 16 to become the superintendent, replacing Forrest R. Stone who retired on May 31.
Mr. Spencer has been the superintendent of the Blackfeet Agency at Browning since 1954. Previously he had served in the same capacity at Ft. Yates, N. D., for the Standing Rock Agency.
John Burke arrived from the Ft. Peck Agency the following week to become the Administrative officer which position he had held at Ft. Peck.
Elm^r E. Miethun, who came to the Flathead in April, 1956, has been transferred to the Blackfeet Reservation. His title is realty assistant in both instances.
Christmas Tree
Management Program Started
Christmas trees on 10,500 acres of Tribal timber land have been pruned and thinned as of June 1. This work has been ccomplished by nine crews of five men ich, and one crew of five women. Nearly all of the heavy Christmas tree producing areas have been worked, except in the Hot Springs-Perm a area. Which was not worked this year due to a limitation of funds and lack of a labor force. This area will be covered first during the 1958 season.
3,862 man hours have been spent doing this work at a cost of $5,009.88 for labor and $377.20 for transportation. This cost has been paid out of the Christmas tree stumpage received last fall. This program marks a great step forward in making Christmas trees a permanent industry on the Reservation.
Crew foremen for this program were Alex McDonald, St. Ignatius; Leo Sias, Ronan; Ernest Morin, Arlee; Aloysius Hewankorn, Elmo; Louis Caye, Elmo (Mill reek area); Mrs. Josephine Left-hand, Elmo.
The purpose of the crews in the woods was to trim and prune the Christmas trees so that the tree would have a better chance to become a quality Christmas tree. This was done in several ways.
1. Where stumps had been left during the past years and two or more branches had turned up, so that no Christmas tree could be formed, all but one of the "turn up" were cut so that one branch had a much better possibility of becoming a Christmas tree.
2. Where there were two or more leaders or tops to a tree, all but one leader }/as removed.
3. In some areas trees were growing too fast to make quality trees. In these areas about a third of the middle branches were removed. It will take at least two years
CHAR-KOOSTA
PUBLISHED BY CONFEDERATED SALISH AND KOOTENAI TRIBES, FLATHEAD AGENCY, MONT. Application for Second Class Permit Made at the Post Office in Ronan, Montana
Vol. 1 — No. 8
June, 1957
Oldest Member of Flathead Tribe
Mary Keltomee (sometimes Kaltomee) Finley is the oldest living member of the Flathead Tribe. Some say she was born in 1854; others set her age at 111 years. Whichever, no one will dispute her honor as the oldest living member.
She now lives in Valley Creek with her daughter, Adele Vanderburg, herself a spry 79. Both are cared for by a great granddaughter, Miss Frances Vanderburg. In the past she also lived with another daughter, Catherine Eneas, now deceased and a granddaughter, Dorothy Felsman.
Mrs. Finley bore 10 children but has outlived all but Mrs. Vanderburg. She has 10 grandchildren, 53 great grandchildren, and 18 great great grandchildren.
She relates many interesting stories of early days and the editor is grateful to great granddaughter Frances Vanderburg for some of them which we reproduce here.
"When asked if she would like to return to her own house by the Jocko Church she always replies, 'No, that house holds too many memories I would like to forget.'
"Mary was known by the name of Sack Woman because she used to threaten the children by telling them she would put them in a sack and throw them in the water. Of course she never carried out her threat, but the method worked real well. The ones she scared the worst now
for these trees to shape up, so they should not be cut this fall even though they have a nice "handle" ready to cut.
4. In many places adjacent branches or brush were shading hristmas trees. In these cases the brush or branches and sometimes small larch or fir were removed so the selected Christmas tree could be freed from competition.
Studies are being made by R. Louis Dupuis, forester at Poison, and Elmer Heisel, agency forester, to find out how many trees per acre have been pruned and what the future production of Christmas trees will be. As of now, the study has not been completed. However, one area in the Arlee district has been completed and shows with rather startling results—the benefit that will be derived from the program in that area. The study showed that there was only one Christmas tree per acre that did not need work of any kind done on it. There were 80 trees per acre that showed promise of being Christmas trees during the next 5 years after work on them. The study also indicated that there would be few if any trees capable of growing into Christmas trees from their present height of 6-18" due to shading by brush and large trees
Centered is Mary Keltomee Finley, oldest member of the Flathead tribe, surrounded by four succeeding generations. Adele Vanderburg, daughter, left; Adelaide Fyant, granddaughter, right; Cecille Christopher, great granddaughter, back; Linda Christopher,   great   great   granddaughter,   front.
tell her it's their turn to put her in a sack since she isn't as big and strong as she used to be.
"She was reminiscing one day on how she got some of her extra robes and moccasins. 'I would baby sit for these women while they went to pick berries or did some other chores around camp.' There was one little lady I remember real well because she told me that I would get old, even older than she. I do not know how old she was but I know that she was many snows. How she knew this I will not find until I die.
" 'She too would pay me with beads and dried berries of some kind. I would help her with her hides and pack water. When I die I will go back to the Bitter Root to see some of the old places that I used to know so well. I know that they will not be the same because of the highways and bridges, as well as the farms, but I will still see it the way it was when I was a young one.
" 'I remember when the white faces, or as they were later called, the white men, came and took our land from us and moved us to this place called the Flathead. They also told us that they would move us from this place to another. I kept waiting but they never did come. There were times when I wished that they would move us back to our old place but I guess they got from us what they were after.
" 'My father was from the Iroquois tribe and my mother was Flathead. My mother told me that my father came from a tribe that was far to the east where the sun came up. His name was John Jake, and hers was Mary.' "
Mary is able to sit or lie outdoors in nice weather where she can interpret every sound of bird, rippling creek, or children at play. Shea-Hoy