1956-12-01 Char-Koosta News

              William Walter *r~T> St. Trr^i?        McDonald Ignatius, H0nt<
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
Volume 1 — Number 2 December, 1956
j   INDIAN LEGENDS   j
Health Personnel Serving- Indians Meet at Agency
A two-day health meeting was held at the Flathead Indian Tribal Hall on Dec. 11 and 12 at the suggestion of Dr. E. L. Sederlin, Acting Health Officer of District II. Those participating in the conference were Dr. Sederlin, Kenneth Read. Sanitarian, Miss Mary Carmack, Health Educationist, and Miss Gladys Schuerman, Supervisor of Nurses, all of the State Health Board. U. S. Public Health Service was represented by Miss Lillian Kennedy, supervisor of nurses, Ernest Dubuque, sanitary engineer; Gervais A. Dupuis, administrative clerk; Dr. Frank Varra, dentist; Earl Sanders, sanitary aid.
Montana Public Health District No. 2 was represented by C. E. Brackett of the Board of Directors; Mrs. Harriet Patterson, public health nurse, of Sanders county; Miss Carrie Marshall and Mrs. Dorothy Fassler, public health nurses, Lake county; Miss Violet Costlow, clerk-stenographer.
The Tribal Council of the Flathead Indians was represented by Walter W. McDonald, chairman, and Walter H. Morigeau, vice-chairman. The Regional office of the United States De partment of Health, Education and Welfare of the Denver Area was represented by Dr. Saubarli. The United States Indian Service was represented by Mrs. Elizabeth Shipman. social worker, and Forrest R. Stone, Superintendent.
The two days were spent on an agenda that covered practically every phase of Public Health Service on the Flathead Reservation with particular emphasis on the service to Indians. It was very apparent, as the discussions progressed, that all participating agencies gained a clearer, view of their responsibilities to the preventive health program and to increased efforts to co-ordinate their contributions through the health officer.
Lemery Goes To Portland
FLATHEAD AGENCY — Louis Lemery, Flathead agency administration officer for tht past nine years has been promoted to the Portland area office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs where he will be area realty officer.
Lemery came to the Flathead agency in 1937 as secretary to the tribal council. Before that he had worked for the Flathead Irrigation projeet both at Poison and St. Ignatius.
He entered bureau employ in 1944 going to Cass Lake, Minn., until 1947 when he returned to the Flathead as administrative officer.
The Lemery's have two children, Janet, a student at Montana State university in Missoula and James, a sophomore at Dixon high school.
"PEMICAN" by Louis J. Tellier
Four kinds of pemican became popular among the Indians of this nation about 100 years ago — the Indians of the Great Lakes group Hunters of the Plains group, The Northern Fisherman group, The Seed-gahers, Desert Dwellers and the Navaho Shepherds, The latter three groups made the same kind of pemican which was different than that of the three groups first mentioned.
The Pemican that was made by "Hunters of The Plains group" became the most popular. Many of the white pioneers in their westward march ate the Indian made pemican, buying it whenever they could as a staple food. The Hunters of the plains group included many popular tribes of Indians such as: Mandans, Sioux, Arikaras, Crows, Shoshonis, Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Flatheads, etc. They lived on the great plains and in the Rocky Mountain Areas. Their pemican consisted mainly of sun-and-fire-dried buffalo meat pounded into a pulp which was mixed with tallow of the buffalo. Sun-dried, pounded choke cherries or sun-dried sarvasberries were sometimes mixed into the pemican.
Baked Under Campfire
Before many of the Indian women became familiar with the white man's cooking and baking utensils, the pemican was baked under a camp fire. After the fire was put out, a hole was dug large enough to place the mixture into it. It was immediately sprinkled with water so that the walls and bottom of the hole would form into a baked earthen oven. Then it was lined with large leaves that were gathered from swamps, lakes and water areas. The mixture of pemican was molded into ball forms about the size of a baseball or into any desired form and wrapped in leaves, placed in the hole and covered with leaves and soil. A fire was made over the hole and the baking was in process. After baking the pemican was cooled and became quite brittle. This type of pemican was known to last as lonp, as two years or more.
Very shortly after the buffalo were all killed off many Indians, especially the Flatheads and the neighboring Blackfeet, made their pemican from deer and elk meats. This kind of pemican never did become popular among; Flatheads because many of the full-bloods said, "We have known our pemican to be made from the buffalo meats. To use deer and elk ments is not the way our great-grandmothers
taught us to make it." The pemicans made since 1900 were mixed and baked in many different ways and mixtures varied among tribes since the buffalo meat has not been available. The Indians who lived in the Great Lakes area such as the Chip-pewas, Menomonies, Ottowas, Winne-bagoes, Potowatomis also used the meats of the buffalo. In many instances, instead of sun-dried pounded cherries and berries, wild rice was used.
Use of Fish not Successful
The West Coast tribes of Indians known as The Northern Fishermen, which included such tribes as the Chinook, Klickitat, Klamath and many small tribes, never did have much success in their pemican efforts because of the use of fish which could not be kept too long in pemican mixtures.
The Pueblo Farmers, the Navaho
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included such tribes as Piautes, Tu-lares, Mohaves, Hopis, Apaches, Utes, Walapais and other southwestern tribes, used sheep, antelope and wild game meats after the buffalo were gone.
In the late years many Indians have tried in vain to revive the making of pemican. Many different medicinal herbs, roots and wild berries were used as a mix and many different methods of cooking and baking were introduced. In spite of efforts the most popular food of our forefathers "The Pemican," has "gone with the wind."
492 Acres Trust Land Sold During October
Sales of Indian trust lands totalled 492 acres during October. This was approximately 31 per cent of the acreage advertised at that time, namely 1,553 acres.
Sealed bids were opened publicly Nov. 2nd. Bids consistent with ap praised value or exceeding them were referred to the Billings Area Office for award. Six of 21 advertised tracts received successful bids.
Indian trust lands are advertised for sale only upon the owners' or heirs' own request. Applications are then made on a government form and approved by the Flathead agency supertintendent.
SEE THE CHRISTMAS TREE STORY ON PAGE TWO