Tribes OK Suicide Race deal

NESPELEM, Okanogan County - The Colville Confederated Tribes have approved a deal to return the Suicide Race and Indian encampment to this fall's Omak Stampede.

The tribes' Business Council voted 10-0 Thursday to approve an agreement with the city of Omak and the stampede that would give the tribes more say in Okanogan County's largest celebration. The encampment and Suicide Race were canceled in August after the tribes boycotted the event. The stampede said it lost about $52,000.

Colleen Cawston, tribal council chairwoman, said a few changes were made before the pact was accepted.

The pact gives the Colvilles a bigger role in planning the stampede, adds money to the Suicide Race purse, and allows parking on grassy fields closer to the Indian encampment.

In the Suicide Race, riders and their horses plunge down a steep embankment, swim across the Okanogan River and gallop to the finish line.

Dale Sparber, an Omak City Council member who was on the negotiating team, said he hopes the council will adopt changes to the document so the agreement can become final.