Once again,the Indian relay races were a crowd pleaser at the P endleton Round-Up. The crowds were stomping watching the excitement of seeing the riders transfer from horse to horse.
bowling alley and/or family entertainment center. The closest bowling alleys are in Walla Walla and Hermiston. Pendleton's bowling alley closed a year ago and La Grande no longer has an alley. THREE NIXYAAWII LACROSSE TEAMS, ranging from first graders to seniors in high school, played a series of lacrosse games against Nadzitsaga on Nixyaawii's home field under blue skies in a brisk breeze. Nixyaawii put seven first-through-third graders on the field; 17 fourth-through-sixth graders on the pitch; and 10 players seventh grader through 12th grade. THE ANNUAL BASKETBALL AGAINST Alcohol and Drugs (BAAD) fielded 58 teams, 167 games, more than 150 youngsters learning the meaning behind the letters. Teams from 4 states and drew most of the players from the Irrigon Knights, the two-time defending Oregon Class 2A state championship team. The NCS Golden Eagles led for three quarters but came up short against a bigger, older group from Country Christian in the Class 1A State Championship in Baker City. Nixyaawii started the year 2-4, and then won 16 in a row, most of them on a romp, before dropping that last contest for the state title. Hunter Melton was named Old Oregon Player of the Year and then earned All-Tournament Team honors at the Class 1A State Tournament.
MAY THE TRIBES PURCHASED PRISTINE land that includes two miles of Looking Glass Creek that meanders through 666 acres of timbered canyon.
EZRA RAE SQUIEMPHEN, the daughter of Melissa Van Pelt and Chance Squiemphen,became the 3,000th enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes. TEN NCS GRADUATES DRESSED in full regalia, the young women and men in buckskin, standing across the stage with chairs decorated by Pendleton blankets. Three brightly colored posters identified the Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes. Scholarship winners were Ronnie Sampson, Tiya-po Farrow, Frances Gomez Chalakee, Pete Gomez Chalakee, Charlotte Barkley and Elijah Bevis. MORE THAN THREE DOZEN MEN turned out for the "100 Man-Lunch"at Cay-Uma-Wa Head Start. Aaron Noisy, who was then the interim program manager/ education specialist at Cay-Uma-Wa, picked up the idea that was created in 2004 to celebrate the importance of male models in the lives of children.
Children beat the heatin the cool water on the upper umatilla River. Temperatures soared during the summer causing draught conditions thatimpacted migrating fish.
JULY
SEPTEMBER
THE TRIBES AND THE US FOREST SERVICE agreed to a concept that brings a stronger understanding between the CTUIR and the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests.
CAW PAWA LAAKNI — THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN, an atlas of place names of the Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla people, was released after more than a decade of work. Information for the atlas has been gleaned from a number of sources on and off over starting in 2001 when Tamastslikt Cultural Institute hosted a linguistic convocation for elders, students and scholars. The lion's share of the name place information came from Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla language speakers.
IN A "LAST DITCH EFFORT" TO SAVE LANGUAGES, an "amazing" curriculum was put in place to teach teachers how to teach on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Tribal Language Program will replicate the system being used at the Salish School where teachers are using immersion to teach children from infancy to third grade. That will require translation of the Salish curriculum into Umatilla, Walla Walla and Nez Perce. THE CONFEDERATED UMATILLA JOURNAL took home seven individual awards at the Native American Journalists Association national conference in Washington, D.C., July 9-12. CUJ Editor Wil Phinney earned four awards and photographer Dallas Dick received three.
AUGUST A 545-ACRE PARCEL LOCATED about 2.5 miles southeast of Union was purchased by the CTUIR to repair and protect habitat for fish and wildlife. The Southern Cross Ranch contains about three-quarters of a mile of mainstem Catherine Creek, as well as 44 acres of riparian and wetland habitat. FOUR-HUNDRED HAMBURGERS, 300 hotdogs and dozens of watermelon were consumed by an estimated 400 people during the annual Community Picnic. The Confederated Tribes' Housing Department took the lead on event organization with help from the Umatilla Tribal Police and Fire departments, plus Public Works. NIXYAAWII COMMUNITY SCHOOL started classes with 55 students, including 19 seniors. The gender breakdown shows 32 boys and 23 girls. IN SPITE NEAR TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT, an estimated 350 people turned out for the First Foods Celebration at the July Grounds. The event included races, lacrosse, information booths, yoga, music and a fundraising barbecue. Twenty people hiked the 6-mile uphill Kanine Ridge from Cayuse Road to Deadman Pass rest stop on Interstate 84. Nearly two dozen runners raced in the 5-k and 10-k courses and 40 more participated in the family fun walk.
JUNE
VOTERS HAD 35 NOMINATEDcandidates to choose from to select eight members of the Board of Trustees and four members of the General Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. That list included nine women all running for BOT positions, plus two dozen men. THE BOT DECIDED HOW to divvy up about $4 million that Northwest Pipeline LLC will pay for a right of way for the natural gas pipeline that crosses tribal land. Compensation for the Northwest Pipeline right of way will be paid to landowners on a per linear foot basis for access roads and the pipeline easement, and for facilities. THE CTUIR DRAFT BUDGET of about a quarter of a million dollars maintained all Tribally-funded government services at their existing 2015 levels. Because of the positive revenue outlook and other adjustments made, the BOT will approve a 2 percent Cost of Living adjustment as well as allow for an average of a 3 percent merit pay increase in 2016 for CTUIR government employees. This was the same increase as in the prior year. THE TRIBES HAVE PURCHASED NEARLY 500 acres that includes more than 300 acres of "highly productive" wheat land on the north end of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Tribes were the highest bidder at $1.6 million at an auction for slightly more than 499 acres of land, four grain elevators and a Quonset hut owned by Frieda Bafus, according to staff in the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).
STAFF WAS DIRECTED to consider the ramification of legalizing marijuana on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Board Chambers was filled with Tribal members who made impassioned pleas to legalize medicinal marijuana. The vote to get the ball rolling on the potential impacts oflegalizing marijuana passed unanimously 7-0.
UMATILLA TRIBAL LEADER N. Kathryn "Kat" Brigham was selected by leaders from the Warm Springs, Yakama, Nez Perce, and Umatilla tribes to lead the Columbia River InterTribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) as its 2015-16 chair.
January 2016
OCTOBER
THE TRIBES EXPECT TO RECEIVE NEARLY $6 MILLION from the Ramah class action lawsuit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs over unpaid contract support costs that occurred over several years dating back to 1994. The 20-year settlement of some $940 million will be shared by 645 tribes or tribal organizations.
FOLLOWING THE LEAD of Wildhorse Resort 8 Casino, the CTUIR Board of Trustees voted 5-1 to remove what has been described as a "barrier" to employment opportunities. Now a positive result for marijuana in pre-employment drug screening will no longer keep an applicant from getting a job in the CTUIR government and/or enterprises.
ROBERT FOSSEK WAS NAMED the 2015 Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the Small Business Day Luncheon on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Fossek's Edge of the Wild Taxidermy includes life-size mounts, shoulder mounts, European mounts, antler and skull plaques, and bird mounts.
TAMASTSLIKT INSTALLED SOLAR PANELSto save money on the electric bill at the cultural institute. However, installation of the 18-space 123-kilowowatt solar carport likely won't generate much more than $11,100 in annual savings. "It's more than saving money," said Bobbie Conner, director at Tamastslikt. "It's really about living the way our ancestors taught us, to take care of the land and water and this place we call home. It is to demonstrate to the public that we mean business in protecting our habitat and all species."
WORK CONTINUED ON A NEW FLOOR at the Community Center gym with hopes that if would ready for Nixyaawii Community School hoops teams in mid-November. The new floor is the same length, but it is be two feet wider-
Dancers competed in a war bonnet special at the Fourth of July Pow-Wow on thegrounds at Wildhorse Resort8 Casino.
Confederated umatilla Journal
SeeA CUJ/ookbackon a e 35
21