Paiute Indian gets $800 fine from warden for gathering tule used in traditional art

Wesley Dick, a Paiute, got an $800 fine from a U.S. Department of Fish & Wildlife for doing traditional tule (cattails) gathering along the river. Tule was used by Paiutes to create clothes, shoes, duck decoys, houses, and boats. Today it is getting harder and harder to pick the plants we used for our native art.

Paiute man fined $800 for gathering tule

Quote
He [Wesley Dick] said it’s ironic he was cited so close to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife sign informing visitors that the Paiutes — in particular the Fallon-area bands known as the toi-ticutta (cat-tail eaters) — have been using the marsh plants for generations. “It’s a nice history lesson, but I’m not history, I’m a living person,” Dick said. “The things on their signs are still happening whether they admit it or not.”

Wesley Dick showing his tule decoy ducks. We Paiutes used to use these decoys to hunt ducks. In olden days we covered the ducks with duck skin and placed them in the water to draw other ducks for hunting.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/2011 07:15PM by Yosemite_Indian.

That is so wrong. Native Americans should be able to practice their culture without having to get a permit to do so.