CLOSED THROUGH APRIL 28 - BOT continues stay-home orders on Reservation, keeps government at ‘essential’ services In a special-meeting conference call April 1 the CTUIR Board of Trustees directed its Incident Command Team to report weekly on the COVID-19 situation, but set in place stay-home orders through the month of April for residents of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. - Story 19A
Confederated Umatilla Journal
2 sections, 44 pages Publish date April 2, 2020
The monthly newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation ~ Pendleton, Oregon April 2020
Section
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Volume 28, Issue 4
Tribes buy 4,600 acres in south Rez
CTUIR vs. COVID-19
Wheelhouse property is timbered canyon in McKay Creek area
Wildhorse to furlough 900 employees
By Wil Phinney of the CUJ
MISSION – A 4,639-acre parcel – timbered canyon country in the North Fork McKay Creek area – is being purchased for almost $4.4 million by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Jeremy Wolf, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, has long been an advocate for the purchase of the property. “I’m very excited with this acquisition, especially since it adds to our local areas of gathering and hunting now,” Wolf said. “This is a large area of the original 1855 Reservation that we can access again. It holds a portion of every category of our First Foods including McKay Creek headwaters, residential fish and future steelhead, along with various deer, roots and berries.” The land sale, under negotiations for more than five years, is controversial. The Tribes’ Board of Trustees (BOT) Jan. 6 voted 8-0 to purchase the property against the advice of some staff. (The purchase was contingent upon a fair appraisal.) That decision came two months after the former Board voted 4-2 against the purchase.
Board of Trustees orders residents of Umatilla Reservation to stay at home By Wil Phinney of the CUJ
Wildhorse Resort & Casino will remain closed through April. The golf course is closed to the public, but open to members who want to walk. CUJ photo/Phinney
MISSION – The COVID-19 outbreak hasn’t officially hit any individual member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, but the worldwide pandemic has still punched the Tribes in the gut. Besides turning the community’s dayto-day routine upside down, the coronavirus is wreaking havoc at Wildhorse Resort & Casino, a source of funding for Tribal government. Wildhorse operates the casino with several restaurants, a hotel, Cineplex, golf course and RV park. Wildhorse CEO Gary George said the gaming facility will “break even in March” even after losses that will likely cost the Tribes upwards of $3 million Wildhorse furloughing 900 on Page 23A
Tribes purchase Wheelhouse property on Page 20A
Lacrosse at Eastern Oregon University Kiana Watchman has been recruited to play a game invented by Native Americans. She will be a member of Eastern Oregon University’s first women’s lacrosse team when it takes the field next spring. Read about her and about the history of lacrosse in the Sports section.
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Tribes still in ‘recovery’ after floods of February FEMA money doesn’t appear to be coming anytime soon, but State funds could help rebuild houses at Lucky 7 By the CUJ
MISSION – The muddy waters have receded from the Umatilla River that set records when it flooded in February and, among other things, destroyed three houses and caused major damage to 22 others on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Created by a two-day accumulation of heavy snow and heavy rain together with warm temperatures, flood waters came rushing down the gullies of the Blue Mountains into the streams and creeks that fed the Umatilla and Walla Walla rivers. On Feb. 6 and 7 flooding wreaked havoc here, downstream in Pendleton and beyond, and required mass evacuations to the point National Guard helicopters were needed to rescue people from rooftops. Nearly two months later, the Confederated Tribes are still in “recovery mode.” The Tribes joined Oregon in its request to the federal government for a disaster declaration, which would trigger financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Administration. “We haven’t heard a word,” said Paul Rabb, who was the Incident Commander for the Tribes. “We have not received any FEMA assistance at this time.” And money probably should not be expected soon. The CTUIR is still waiting on federal assistance from last year’s flooding. And the President, who is the ultimate decision maker, is a little busy right now with COVID-19. The flood Incident Command team has disbanded with recovery efforts deployed to specific tribal government departments – Planning is handling housing issues plus lingering water Flooding on page 9A
Vehicles entering Timine Way from Highway 331 will have easier access once left and right turn lanes are constructed for traffic traveling north and south. Turn lane construction is supposed to start in June with completion expected in late November, but the current COVID-19 outbreak could change CUJ photo/Phinney that schedule.
Highway 331 turn lanes planned for safer access to Nixyaawii facilities By the CUJ
MISSION – Left and right turn lanes will be constructed for vehicles entering Timine Way from Highway 331 over the next several months to provide safe access to tribal buildings. The Highway 331 Turn Lanes Project will provide better access to the Confederated Tribes’ Nixyaawii Governance Center, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, Nixyaawii Education Center, and other CTUIR governmental buildings. The Tribes have wanted to improve the traffic flow off Highway 331, also known as Market Road, since the Nixyaawii Governance Center was built in 2011. A traffic study conducted nine years ago determined that turn lanes were needed when the NGC was being built, but it didn’t fit in the budget at the time, according to Bill Tovey, director of the Department of Economic and Community Development for the Confederated Tribes. In 2011, when the building formerly known as DOSE (lab and domes), now the Energy and Environmental Services, and the Transit Center were being built, an environmental assessment included turn lanes and a walking trail that
Confederated Umatilla Journal
46411 Timine Way Pendleton, OR 97801 Phone 541-429-7005
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Fax 541-429-7005 Email cuj@ctuir.org www.ctuir.org
connected the “four corners” by Mission Market to the Governance Center and the walking trail north of Timine Way. Another traffic study was conducted in 2017 during the design for the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center. At that time Tovey applied for a grant to the Oregon Department of Transportation for Immediate Opportunity Funds. The grant was approved with a one-toone match. The CTUIR Board of Trustees (BOT) approved the Yellowhawk construction project, which included a $1 million appropriation from the Tribes’ Capital Improvement fund. The $1 million included $528,000 for the turn lane with the remainder set aside for the Kayak bus stop and solar panels for the Yellowhawk covered parking lot. The total estimated cost of the turn lanes is $1,056,442. According to the BOT resolution, ODOT is required to provide $528,221 in matching funds through its Immediate Opportunity Fund. Construction is expected to start in June with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2020, according to the engineer’s construction schedule. However, Tovey said, the turn-lane project sched-
ule may change due to the COVID-19 circumstances. Tovey said final drawings by Anderson Perry & Associates, Inc., the engineers on the project, are being completed and a bid announcement should go out in mid-April. The project has been stalled since 2017 because of delays in the completion of land transactions for rights of way, Tovey said. The CTUIR is working through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to finalize easements for two parcels. The northern parcel is owned by the Tribes. The southern parcel is owned by Robert Carr, a non-Indian fee owner who lives near Bend and leases his land to Tribal Farm Enterprises. Carr has agreed to grant the right of way, without compensation, to ODOT for safety reasons, Tovey said. A report on the Highway 331 Turn Lanes Project on Jan. 21 was presented by DECD staff to the Economic and Community Development Committee, which approved the report. The BOT conducted a work session Feb. 5 to review the Resolution and voted 5-0 to approve on Feb. 10. Two Board members were on travel; one was away on personal leave.
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April 2020
CUJ News Native tribes to tap $8B fund for COVID-19 in federal relief bill By Andrew Westney, LAW360
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Native American leaders and federal lawmakers on March 26 welcomed $8 billion for a “stabilization fund” to support tribal governments dealing with the coronavirus pandemic as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill approved by the Senate. The $8 billion fund is at the core of more than $10 billion in benefits available to tribes and tribal organizations under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which was passed by the Senate The fund will pay in a 96-0 vote March 25 and for ‘emergency passed by a vote of 363-40 by the U.S. House of Representarelief to tribal tives on March 27. President governments Trump signed the stimulus and offset costs package into law on the same day that the House voted. incurred due to The fund will pay for the COVID-19 “emergency relief to tribal pandemic” governments and offset costs incurred by Indian tribes due providing to the COVID-19 pandemic,” “resources to according to a statement help health care from Sen. John Hoeven, RN.D., chairman of the Senate providers, small Committee on Indian Afbusinesses, fairs, providing “important resources for Indian tribes to schools, help health care providers, communities small businesses, schools, and individuals communities and individuals mitigate the impact of COVmitigate the ID-19 in tribal communities.” impact of The Indian Health Service, COVID-19 in tribal a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agency, communities.’ will receive more than $1 billion to help tribes pay for COVID-19 treatment and containment of the virus, with another $305 million going to Indian Housing Programs in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, $100 million to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations and $453 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for public safety and law enforcement. The bill also makes tribes and tribal businesses eligible to receive $454 billion in loan guarantee funding as well as $349 billion through a U.S. Small Business Administration loan program. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said in a statement after the bill’s passage that it included “key victories” for tribes, but he already had an eye to the next round of funding to deal with the health crisis and boost the economy’s recovery. “As vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I’m renewing my call for our next response package to include a tribal-specific title, and for pushing Congress and the Trump administration to make sure Indian Country has equal access to federal coronavirus resources,” Udall said. National Congress of American Indians CEO Kevin Allis told an online audience of tribal leaders that “the work is not done for us,” as the intertribal organization is building a strategy “that will ensure that everything Congress intended in this legislation is properly implemented and distributed
New roof for Cayuse Holdings A crew from Competitive Commercial Roofing out of Hood River worked cloudy skies in late March repairing a leaky roof at Cayuse Holdings on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Cayuse Holdings leases its facility from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, which owns the company. Cayuse Holdings pays a monthly lease payment and property taxes. The roof has been leaking since 2011. “We’ve nursed it along as long as we could,” said Cayuse CEO Billy Nerenberg. “This year it needs to be replaced.” The CTUIR Board of Trustees during a tour was witness to water dripping down on a tarp and into a bucket. Nerenberg said Competitive Commercial Roofing, which is working with TERO, is using a product called Duro-Last, which is the same roofing material used by Costco and the same roofing material used on the roof at Questfield in Seattle. It has a warranty to withstand of winds up to 130 mph. While the roof is being repaired, Cayuse Holdings is also upgrading its HVAC heating and cooling system. Oregon Energy Trust will pay 60 percent of the cost for the improvements, Nerenberg said. Meanwhile, the roof is being prepared for eventual installation of solar panels, according to Nerenberg. “We’re trying to time our solar installation with Coyote Business Park and Yellowhawk (Tribal Health
Center), which are also looking at solar,” Nerenberg said. “The Board has directed us all to become energy neutral.” On the inside of the building, Cayuse is planning further improvements with the creation of a new topsecret room. The company received its top-secret facility clearance from the U.S. Department of the Army two months ago and with the construction of the new room will bring the building into compliance with the clearance.
Photos by Robert Fowler, Cayuse Facilities Manager
Stimulus package on page 22A
April 2020
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Census relying on Internet for count Coronavirus pushes end date to Aug. 14 but there’s no reason to wait By Casey Brown of the CUJ
Zach Patrick uses the Chlorox 360 fogger to spray down the lobby at the Public Safety Building. The disinfectant machine using Chlorox solutions to sanitize surfaces.
Keeping things clean
Gabe Jones wipes down the surface of a phone, one of the “touch points” in an office, at the Nixyaawii Governance Center. A member of the Public Works crew sanitizes every office that an employee enters each day.
The Public Works crew for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are doing “essential” tasks during the COVID-19 outbreak, including daily sanitation at the Nixyaawii Governance Center, the Public Safety building, the Tribal Fire Station, the Nixyaawii Education Center and the Longhouse - anyplace where employees enter for any reason. If an employee goes into a building, a Public Works employee will be right behind them to wipe down “touch points” like door handles, hand rails and counter tops. In offices that would be phones and keyboards. The crew consists of six full time custodial staff with four e-hires to fill in for four custodial staff that were sent home because of their age and/or underlying health conditions. The crew now works a day shift, eliminating the normal 2:30-11 p.m. swing shift. CUJ photos/Phinney
Osias Edmiston wipes down a table in a second-floor conference room in the Nixyaawii Governance Center on March 27. The Confederated Tribes’ government closed its buildings to all but people providing essential functions, including custodial crews, during the last two weeks of March, and will keep them closed through April.
UNITED STATES – Not even the Coronavirus can stop the constitutionally mandated requirement to count every American citizen every 10 years. This year the U.S. Censure Bureau is relying on Americans to fill out their Census forms online using the Internet. However, not everyone has Internet access, particularly people in rural areas. Indian Reservations have been undercounted in previous counts and the lack of Internet service is of concern for this 2020 count as well. The 2020 Census is the first time there has been the option to complete the Census online, while calling in your response and mailing back the paper form remain options. Shana Radford, Tribal Partnership Lead for Oregon and Idaho and CTUIR tribal member, encourages everyone to complete their Census as soon as possible. “To reduce person-to-person contact, Tribal members should respond as soon as possible. Then their names can be taken off the non-response follow-up list. Get the form, fill it out on the Internet or by mail and get it done,” Radford said. Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 Census has pushed the self-response date to Aug. 13, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until the deadline. Radford suggested Tribal members use their COVID-19 “stayhome” time to fill out the Census. “It won’t help anything to delay,” she said. “Take the time. Help the community. It’s an easy way to do a positive thing for the community. Wash your hands and do the Census.” As of March 31, the Confederated Tribes response rate was 28.8 percent, compared to the state’s response of 38.6 percent and the national response rate of 36 percent. “The Tribe is low by about 10 percent,” Radford said. “It would be really great to beat the state and the national response rates.” Radford said she thinks the Tribal rate will increase as messaging Census on page 9A
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Confederated Umatilla Journal
April 2020
Thoughtful analysis by Colleen Sanders
Resilient communities are prepared for uncertainty
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ecently, floodwaters have been on my mind. It’s no wonder why: global and local events have completely changed life as we know it. Our community has still been trying to recover from the recent 500-year flood event and are now being devastated by the financial, emotional and physical toll of COVID-19. We have all been inundated with disaster and are trying to find our feet as the deluge keeps coming down. Our world is forever changed and we are blindly navigating a rocky route as we face a crisis whose end is yet to be in sight. And it has really struck me how similar these events are in their process and how much of a parallel can be drawn to our ongoing and urgent climate crisis. So much of our modern life is defined by risk and uncertainty, and we try to plan and anticipate for what we can. Imperceptible enemies like illness are often deprioritized in the way we plan because they are subtle and “invisible,” impacting people who are most vulnerable, and often let down by policies and programs in even the normal turmoil of daily life. While we all grapple with the new reality of life under extreme risk management, we can also think about how this uncertainty and emergency response can be applied to the climate crisis, and to flood prevention and recovery. There are three main lessons that emerge when we compare Adrienne Berry and her family survey the changed Umatilla River in March by their house in Gibbon after floodwaters had receded. these devastating and ongoing Contributed photo/Colleen Sanders Floodwaters left behind islands of cobble that will eventually provide First Foods habitat. crises to one another: they are presented and COVID-19 is currently teaching the world a math lesson about exponential growth. Receiving accurate and timely information is a corProactive prevention strategies Colleen Sanders It teaches us that small and potentially imperceptible nerstone of emergency response, as is the ability to i s t h e C l i m a t e reduce financial cost and human concerns can rapidly snowball out of control, while communicate necessary information to the public in a A d a p t a t i o n suffering strenuous mitigation tactics used early on can have a timeframe and manner that is actionable and clear. It Planner for the magnified effect later. Acting swiftly and coordinately is inevitable that some damage will be unavoidable, C o n f e d e r a t e d In the CTUIR hazard mitigation in early stages of detection, as CTUIR did with the and there will be demographics of people who will T r i b e s o f t h e plan (2016), it is estimated that for coronavirus, will certainly be more impacted than others. Umatilla Indian every dollar spent in prevention, $4 be showed to have saved To ensure that we are planning Reservation. dollars are saved in response. This For the last couple months, lives and livelihoods when equitably for our communities, is likely a conservative figure and this all has settled. We each we must make sure we have does not take into account the emotional and spiritual the world has felt like a very have the power to protect frameworks in place for assisaspect of surviving trauma. But it demonstrates that unfriendly place ... but I one another and any way tance to vulnerable people, for preparing for uncertainty strengthens our community we can interrupt the chain immediate emergency response think it is important to take resilience and saves not only dollars spent in governof transmission now will and long-term access to social ment and individual response, but in loss of life and lessons from our natural save those we love as we go assistance programs. emotional suffering. world and remember that all forward. Flood response in UmaResilience is not to prevent disaster, but to be preAnd as the predominant tilla County was differentiated pared for its inevitability. Flooding is a natural – and things exist in a cycle. There driver of coming uncerbetween immediate emergency indeed essential – part of the river’s hydrologic cycle is opportunity to examine tainty, the climate crisis is response and more long term and seasonal rising waters are necessary for refilling defined by the need to act displacement assistance. Evacuthe gaps that need to be shallow water aquifers that provide base flow to rivers now to prevent future harm. ations, blockage construction, in the summer months. This natural cycle has only beaddressed and to let go of and donation centers were come problematic as people install rigid infrastructure We are the first generations narratives that are no longer to really feel the effects of excellent in responding rapidly and residences in the floodplain. Western philosophy climate change and the to the rising floodwaters and helpful. Local flooding and tends to prescribe engineered levees and dams as the last ones to be able to do preserved life and property answer, but the natural capture of high winter waters global pandemics will pale in anything about it, and it is during the high point of the is the most cost effective way to reduce the risk of comparison to the challenges gargantuan in its magnitude event. However, many people harm to those downstream, and also preserve summer and potential to change life were left displaced, unable to water to alleviate possible drought conditions. Proacthat the climate crisis will as we know it. What we do return home for an extended tive prevention looks like coordinated planning to bring to our grandchildren now matters; reductions in period, and drinking water discourage development in the floodplain, expansion carbon dioxide emissions testing protocol and access for and their families. of existing floodplain restoration and river meander and planning for a global residential wells was slowed by projects in the headwaters such as the Meacham Creek transition away from fossil lack of widespread knowledge project, and further restoration of lower basin wetland fuels will lessen the challenges we create for generaand staffing bottlenecks. Early warning systems that habitat like the Wanaqut Wildlife Area. Prioritizing tions who come after us. are responsive to water data gauging stations, coordinatural adaptation will be remarkable in keeping winnated information campaigns about safety practices, ter water where it is helpful and reducing inundation where it is not. Frameworks for conveying information and access and public access to emergency housing are needed To be resilient means being open to learn lessons as to social assistance are essential Resilient communities on page 23A
April 2020
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CUJ Opinion COVID-19 will be historical marker in our lives
I
t’s quite an understatement to say these are bizarre times. It’s like a science fiction movie, a script you’d never dream would come true. A nightmare, not a dream. It’s a marker in our lives, a milestone like when Kennedy was assassinated or 9-11 when the Towers came down. We will remember COVID-19. Our kids will remember it and they will tell their kids and grandkids about it. And one day, let’s hope, it will be remembered as part of history. Like the Spanish influenza of 1918. Let’s hope it passes soon, that this stay-safe-at-home-in-isolation works. Let’s hope one of the already-on-the-market drugs that’s been used for years to treat something else works on this coronavirus. There was hesitation before writing this because all we’ve seen, all we’ve heard, all we’ve talked about is COVID-19. Who wants to read more about it? You can’t turn on the TV or radio without hearing some new story about the coronavirus. It’s amazing that news people can come up with new angles. And it’s human nature to want to know what’s going on. It’s not like politics where after a while you just want to stop the blah, blah, blah. Turn on a movie or some stand-up comedy or listen to Stevie Ray play some Blues. This COVID stuff is life. And death. It’s really happening. In our lifetime. Right now. In the present. We’re not reading some book about it. We’re living it. These truly are bizarre times. We have to trust those that know better. We have to trust science and the scientists who will inform the people we’ve elected to govern us and the people we’ve chosen to guide us through tough times. People we know have been through tough times. People we know have been on the ground in war. With guns and bombs and explosives. People we know have lost limbs and lives. The Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people have been through wars with guns and knives and they’ve been through wars of sickness and pestilence. But even this coronavirus is new here. It’s a worldwide pandemic and the Confederated Tribes are a little part of it. With the rest of the world, we’ll get through it. We have to keep that mindset. We have to keep up the warrior spirit, even it means sitting at home watching Netflix.
Spring blossoms
~ WCP
CUJ Confederated Umatilla Journal
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46411 Timine Way Pendleton, OR 97801 541-429-7005 FAX 541-429-7005 e-mail: cuj@ctuir.org www.ctuir.org
Hope springs eternal when the snow melts and the new season begins. Blossoms portend First Foods and an awakening. Spring brings a sense of optimism and joy. Spring brings sunshine and smiles. CUJ photo/Dallas Dick
Acting Publisher:
Jane Hill CUJ staff: Wil Phinney, Editor Casey Brown, Reporter/Photographer Dallas Dick, Freelance Photographer
Confederated Umatilla Journal
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Next CUJ: May 7 Ad deadline: April 14 News deadline: April 21
April 2020
CUJ Op-Eds & Columns
Board decisions made to protect our future
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ast year at this time no one had heard of the coronavirus. Now it is the headline news every day. The Board of Trustees (BOT) is aware of the many impacts that coronavirus has had on our people, our lives, our day-to-day activities and our economy. The BOT decision to protect our tribal community’s health is still our priority, but we are now also looking at how we can survive this pandemic. We now find ourselves in the same position as our past leaders planning for our future. Difficult decisions were made to protect our people and our future in order for us to survive. We are still here and we will be here in the future. We are going to make it. Kat Brigham It has been great to hear and see our community step up to help others, people staying home, staying healthy and being safe. You need to know what to do if
you are exposed to someone who is diagnosed with presumptive coronavirus or is an unknown carrier though exhibiting signs: fever, cough, congestion. Knowledge and how to use your knowledge will beat this invisible virus. This is a test of our resiliency as a people and a community. Our future depends on all of us keeping informed and working together! Remember to keep yourself up to date by reviewing information on the Tribal and Yellowhawk websites and social media. Additional information is being posted in common areas throughout the Reservation and you can always call 211 for information. Please take care of yourself and each other. Your life, our lives and future generations count upon you to stay safe, stay healthy, stay home. N. Kathryn Brigham is Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Knowledge and how to use your knowledge will beat this invisible virus. This is a test of our resiliency as a people and a community. Our future depends on all of us keeping informed and working together!
Like floods of February, this crisis, too, will recede
H
imyuume, iin timine hiiwes koomayca (relatives, my heart is sad).
Kii taaqc kaa wiyeeleheyn (this day and everyday) iin talapoosa’ce nuunim titeeqisma kaa mamiyacma (I pray for our Elders and children); kaa qepsqepsneewit Nixyaawii titooqan (and for strength for my Nixyaawii people) As the month of March receded, just as the waters in our mighty Umatilla river did after its historic flooding … we must immediately band together once again with arms inter-locked (and perhaps the front door locked) as we re-focus 95% of our attention toward reducing the spread and harm of the coronavirus. Never before in 48 years of life, have I been told to stay home for my own good, to not check-in on my loved ones just a few miles away. Never before have I imagined a day that I would be told that I could not go to work, to a park or go camping … nor able to even sweat in my own back yard! How incredible
General Council Chair’s Corner Lindsey X. Watchman
such a request! Well, regardless my personal convictions … never before has there been such an ominous threat amongst us. An invisible killer that does not discriminate on any level, by race, income level, education, gender or age. So like never before, there have been many unusual
decisions that the BOT has had to make … in very short turn-around times. No one really knows the outcome of this global pandemic – we can only do our part in prevention. Alas it too will recede, but until then your tribal government will utilize an Incident Command Team and Emergency Operations Plan – in order to protect you and the 3,000+ other Umatilla Reservation residents (Native and non). Your elected officials desire greatly to make the best decisions in order to protect our People, protect our land, and protect our future generations. My prayers for each of your well-being will continue to be sent daily. Stay home, wash your hands. Be hopeful, take many deep breaths, and also hug each other tightly. I will see each of you on the other side of this temporary concern. Himeekis Ataawishamash (I love you all). Yox kalo.
CUJ Letter to the Editor Shippentower keeps hammering on Cayuse Holdings To the editor, At the recent January, 2020, General Council meeting, Sandy Sampson, tribal treasurer, gave her quarterly treasurer’s report. The report included the nonconfidential financial situation at Cayuse Technologies/Holdings, LLC. The treasurer reported, both verbally and in writing, that despite being a profitmaking business for 14 years, that Cayuse Technologies, now Holdings, has yet to break even financially. Business policy and management experts agree that a successful business should start making profits after about six
April 2020
years. Every few months the CUJ writes a feel-good article on Cayuse, ranging from Cayuse having Fortune 500 companies under contract for business, to CH being the parent company of 10 subsidiary companies. However, it is obvious why the CUJ never reports on the general financial situation at Cayuse – the business has not broken even yet. Thus, Cayuse still does not contribute to the CTUIR annual operating budget to help fund departments and programs, such as education, youth, scholarships, elders’ programs, etc. In complete contrast, Wildhorse Resort & Casino contributes tens of millions annually to fund tribal operations. Yes, WRC is a different industry, but common business sense tells us that Cayuse should not receive a permanent free pass when it comes to making a fair and reasonable contribution to our tribes’ financial wellbeing.
The CUJ reports there are only 10 CTUIR tribal members employed at CH; I take it this also includes the 10 subsidiary companies. Also, there is no “descendant” enrollment status in our tribal Enrollment Code so how does tribally owned Cayuse have a “descendant” employment status? It is obvious this is just to spin and pad the numbers. In 14 years, I have not once heard or read a statement by the Cayuse Board of Directors that publicly advocates on behalf of the interests of the owners of CH – the CTUIR tribal membership. It is clear they are only interested in meeting the interests of the CEO, Billy Nerenberg, as they consistently rubber-stamp whatever he puts in front of them. The fact that CH contributes nothing to the CTUIR budget, despite their 10 subsidiary companies, supports my statement here.
Confederated Umatilla Journal
It is time that the BOD provides a report, which would demonstrate accountability, to us owners of Cayuse at a General Council meeting. GC Chairman Lindsey Watchman could invited them to report. Some legitimate questions will be is how, in good faith, can CH keep trying to expand when they have not yet broken even? Is all this putting the tribes in debt for years to come? How do CTUIR tribal members benefit from Cayuse? When will CH start contributing to our operating budget? Also, if the CH BOD and/or management wish to respond to this article, they should do it for themselves. It is improper, and presumptuous, for the CUJ editor to continually appoint himself to be the spokesman for various tribal entities when they are called into question in the CUJ. Bob Shippentower
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CUJ Almanac
Public Notice
Obituaries Janice Lynn Rosetti May 19, 1948 – Feb. 27, 2020 Janice Lynn Rosetti peacefully passed away surrounded by family on Feb. 27, 2020 after a short, unexpected battle with cancer. Jan was born May 19, 1948 in Mescalero, New Mexico to Eldon and Helen LaCourse. Jan was a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. While growing up, the family called many places home due to Eldon’s work with the BIA. Jan married the love of her life, Jim Rosetti, in Seattle, Washington. Over the course of their married life they raised a son, Ken, and lived in the following places: Seattle and Quinault, Washington; Kremmling and Denver, Colorado; Lakeview, Oregon; and lastly Meridian, Idaho. Jan’s infectious laugh, great sense of humor, generosity and kind nature helped her make friends. She was a very independent and determined person who strived to see the best in people. Jan actively contributed to each of the communities she lived in, whether it was through her work in the banking industry, her volunteer work for the Catholic Church, Soroptimists or other charitable organizations. Jan had a special
talent for decorating and enjoyed sewing, and created a warm and inviting home. Jan is survived by her husband Jim of Meridian, son Ken (Maureen and granddaughter Luci) of Portland. Sisters Judith LaCourse of San Francisco and Jeanne Raymond (Jolyon) of Seattle, brother Phil LaCourse (Deanna) of Yakima, and father-in-law Charles Rosetti and brothers-in-law Dan and Mike Rosetti, all of Seattle. Jan is also survived by numerous nephews and nieces, all of whom held a special place in her heart. Jan was preceded in death by her parents, brothers Richard and William, and her motherin-law Lucille Rosetti. The family wishes to express our deepest gratitude to St. Luke’s Hospital of Meridian and St. Luke’s Hospice for the wonderfully kind and compassionate care they provided to Jan during her illness. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in memory of Jan Rosetti to St. Luke’s Hospice. You can give online at www.stlukesonline.org/give or mail to St. Luke’s Health Foundation 190 E Bannock Boise, ID 83712. Rosary services were held prior to mass of Christian burial on March 30 at Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Meridian, Idaho, with interment at the VA Cemetery. Charles Tappo Sept. 29, 1942 - March 6, 2020 Charles Tappo 77, of Pendleton died Friday, March 6, 2020 at a care facility in Hermiston, Oregon. He was born September 29, 1942 in Cayuse, Oregon. Fermore Craig Sr. Fermore Craig Sr., died at the age of 80 on March 28 at his home in Adams. Dressing was March 30 at his home with burial at the Agency Cemetery on the same day. Burns Mortuary was in charge of arrangements. No obituary was available.
Weather Weather information summarize data taken at the Pendleton Weather Station from March 1-31. The average daily temperature was 43.6 degrees with a high of 64 degrees on March 22 and a low of 23 degrees on March 16. Total precipitation in March was 0.87 with greatest 24-hr average 0.26” on March 7. The average wind speed was 8.6 mph with a sustained max speed of 35 mph from the West on March 11. A peak speed of 44 mph occurred from the West on March 30. The dominant wind direction was from the West.
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Confederated Umatilla Journal
April 2020
CTUIR Board of Trustees
The Umatilla River reached historic levels and caused heavy damage on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in early February. CUJ file photo/Phinney
Flooding Continued from page 2A
contamination testing and septic tank issues at a few homes, the Department of Economic and Community Development is looking at two miles of damaged levies, and the Department of Children and Family Services continues to provide social services to people still in need. Residents are being directed to state agencies as well as CAPECO for assistance as well. Some people still do not have houses to go home to. J.D. Tovey, Planning Director, said the Tribes are working with the State of Oregon and the City of Pendleton on a funding package from the Oregon Emergency Board. Some of the money will be used to “fast track” replacement of homes at Lucky 7 trailer court, something the
Tribes was already planning to do. Current residents of Lucky 7 would receive priority, then flood victims would be provided permanent or temporary housing before other potential occupants, according to Tovey. Some of the details are still be worked out. “Things are not finalized. We still don’t know about the funding or the strings that are attached,” Tovey said. Tovey said some families are back in their homes ready to rebuild, some are staying with family and/or friends, and some are still in Pendleton hotels. Most Tribal owned roads fared well during the floods. The roads that were damaged, including Thornhollow Bridge, are owned and maintained by Umatilla County.
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continues to reach reservation residents. “We’re in survival mode right now. We have to be understanding and empathetic. There’s a lot going on, but people can take a few minutes to respond to the Census. It ties in to what’s happening now. The GIS map you’re using to follow COVID in the ceded territory is using Census data. Census data is using to distribute federal dollars for public health, for public safety and school funding. That’s where all the resources for things like COVID and flooding come from. It’s localized from Census data. That’s why filling out the Census forms are so important,” Radford said. Some tribal members in special circumstances may have questions about how to respond. For those with questions, they can visit the “Who to Count” page of the Census 2020 website at 2020census. gov/en/who-to-count.html or they can contact Enrollment or Radford. As far as where to list your residence, the Census says this: “You should count yourself at the place where you are living and sleeping most of the time as of April 1, 2020 (Census Day).” They continue by recognizing that that may not be as straightforward for everyone. “For some, this is straightforward. But others—including college students, service members, and people in health care facilities—may have questions about where they should count themselves or how they should respond. Other circum-
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stances can cause confusion as well, such as moving, having multiple residences, having no permanent address, living in a shelter, or living at a hotel or RV park.” For those wondering who to count, the Census has the following guidance. “If you are filling out the census for your home, you should count everyone who is living there as of April 1, 2020. This includes anyone—related or unrelated to you—who lives and sleeps at your home most of the time.” This may include roommates, young children, newborns, and anyone who is renting a space in your home. “If someone is staying in your home on April 1 and has no usual home elsewhere, you should count them in your response to the 2020 Census.” For information on other special circumstances, visit the Who to County website. They list guidance for several other situations including, military personnel, babies born close to Census Day (April 1), people in health care facilities, and more. “Please count everyone living in your home. Where there are more people, there are more needs. An accurate count helps inform funding for hospitals, fire departments, schools, and roads for the next 10 years,” says the 2020 Census website. “I’m hopeful for a complete count,” Radford said. To contact Enrollment, call 541429-1971 or email enrollment@ctuir.org. To contact Radford, email at shana.m.radford@2020census.gov.
General Council
Chair Kathryn Brigham
Chair Lindsey X. Watchman
Vice Chair Jeremy Wolf
Vice Chair Michael Ray Johnson
Treasurer Sandra Sampson Secretary Sally Kosey
Secretary Shawna Gavin Interpreter Thomas Morning Owl
At-large BOT Members: Jill-Marie Gavin General Council contact Info Office: 541-429-7378 Armand Minthorn Email: GeneralCouncil@ctuir.org Boots Pond Meeting updates and information on: www.ctuir.org/government/general-council Corinne Sams Executive Director :
Ted Wright, Ph.D.
General Council Meeting
Nixyaawii Governance Center
To Be Announced CTUIR Express Phone Directory
Tribal Court 541-276-2046
Human Resources 541-429-7180
Department of Children and Family Services 541-429-7300
Science & Engineering/Air Quality Burnline 541-429-7080
Enrollment Office 541-429-7035
Senior Center 541-240-8700
Finance Office 541-429-7150
TERF 541-276-4040
Finance – Credit Program 541-429-7155
Confederated Umatilla Journal 541-429-7399
Confederated Umatilla Journal
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Community members check out the fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy products donated by Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
A bag of grated cheese caught Jim Marsh’s eye.
Wildhorse shares provisions with Tribal community Milan Schimmel carries a box of food from the Community Center where produce and dairy items were available. Wildhorse Resort & Casino donated the perishable foods, which were distributed by the Tribes’ Department of Children and Family Services.
Eugena “Sugarbear” Stacona filled up a shopping bag with items donated to the community from Wildhorse Resort & Community when COVID-19 forced the closure of the Tribal gaming facility. The food was made available to community members through the Tribes’ Department of Children and Family Services.
CUJ photos/Casey Brown
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Perishable food made available after COVID-19 forces gaming facility to close doors in March
Wayne Brown carries a box full of produce he selected from the stock donated by Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
hen Wildhorse Resort & Casino made the difficult decision to close, for a second time, due to the social distancing protocols used to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, they decided to share their perishable food with the community. The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) assisted by distributing the food to approximately 250 community members. They also delivered food baskets to elders and those who could not leave their homes. DCFS staff has continued to check on and provide items for elders, distributing food and firewood. A subsistence give-out of big game and fish is scheduled for April 3. Additionally, DCFS continues to provide assistance to those who may need toilet paper, gas cards, or other items. For more information, contact DCFS at 541-429-7301.
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Youth helping elders
Elsie McKay and Lindsey Pasena-Littlesky, both officers of the Tribes’ Youth Leadership Council, and Julie Taylor, director of the Tribes’ Department of Children and Family Services, hold bags of groceries to be delivered to the homes of more than 50 elders on the Umatilla Indian Reservation government in late March. The bags were filled with food purchased by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation government and delivered by members of the Youth Council. Taylor has coordinated communityhelp efforts during the February flooding as well as during this recent coronavirus pandemic.
Kathleen Peterson and Ellen Taylor filled small bags from a commercial container of diced onions for distribution to community members. Dairy products were donated by Wildhorse Resort & Casino after the gaming facility was forced to close because of the coronavirus.
Mary Van Pelt was one of the elders on the Umatilla Indian Reservation who received a bag of groceries in March. Lindsey PasenaLittlesky, chair of the Tribes’ Youth Leadership Council, delivered this bag.
DeeAnne Minthorn carries fresh fruit and vegetables home. She was one of about 250 families who received food from the distribution. Food was provided by Wildhorse Resort & Casino. When they closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they needed their fresh produce and other food items to go somewhere, so they distributed it to the community.
In addition to food, elders received fire wood in March. Trailer loads were cut and delivered by CTUIR Farming, Department of Economic and Community Development, and Public Works in collaboration with Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Natural Resources Wildfire and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
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46314 Timine Way
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www.yellowhawk.org
April 2020
Public Health is part of your life P
ublic Health plays a role in every aspect of your life. It’s what makes your water safe to drink, your food safe to eat, prevents the spread of disease, helps you get to work and school safely, and protects the environment where you live. While doctors treat the health of individuals, public health looks at the health of a community. Including everything from promoting healthy behaviors to enacting safety measures, participating in emergency responses, and so much more. If you have gotten your flu shot, seen public messaging about health behaviors, such as the “wash your hands” sign currently at Four Corners, or enjoyed the clean air in tobacco-free zone you have seen the work of public health on the CTUIR. Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center
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is committed to improving public health on the CTUIR by working toward accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). With achieving and maintaining accreditation status, Yellowhawk will be equipped with the knowledge and skills we need to engage the community and protect and promote the health of the CTUIR. The CTUIR has had two recent emergency declarations for flooding and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Public health has been central to each of these response efforts by minimizing the impact of the emergencies on the community and promoting healthy and safe environments. After the flood, Yellowhawk offered clean up kits to help protect community members from mold and other health hazards
Confederated Umatilla Journal
while cleaning their homes. Boil water advisories were put in place and the CTUIR Tribal Planning Office conducted testing of wells to ensure water was safe to use. During the COVID-19 response, public health has been working to monitor the spread of the virus, share accurate and timely information with the community, and offer recommendations for preventative measures that can be taken to help slow the spread of the virus. In times of emergency or not, public health is actively working toward one goal – promoting and protecting the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work and play. For more information, please contact Carrie Sampson-Samuels, Yellowhawk Community Wellness Director at 541-240-8728 or carriesampson@yellowhawk.org.
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Brennan Toyama, 2, and his sister, Ava, 6, play with a wooden train set at their home in Hawaii. They are the children of Tribal member Belinda (Hayes) Toyama and her husband, Brent Toyama.
Toyamas in Pearl City Tribal member Belinda Toyama, her husband, and two children are following orders to stay home in Pearl City on the island of Oahu in Hawaii through April 30. “We are working from home and trying to keep both kids on a regular schedule,” Belinda said on Facebook. “We have been baking, doing crafts, reading, playing games, YouTube kids’ workout videos, and going for walks around the neighborhood when it’s not raining.” Belinda, an educator, is home-schooling Ava since she will be out of school for a month and a half. Belinda said residents are concerned about tourists still coming to the islands putting a strain on resources because everything has to be shipped in. “We’re super dependent on the shipping so people are concerned about availability of food and other necessities,” she said. For the most part, though, “We’re pretty much doing what the rest of the world is doing right now, staying home and trying to keep busy.”
What are you doing to keep from going COVID crazy? The CUJ used Facebook to ask several CTUIR folks living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and around the country how they are staying busy during the coronavirus orders to stay home. Here’s a sampling of the responses we received.
Wildbills in Cayuse Andrew Wildbill and Ashley Harding and their three children try to maintain their regular family schedule, but coronavirus has forced some adjustments. Andrew works for the Fisheries Program in the Department of Natural Resources and Ashley works in the Community Wellness Program at Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center. They have three children - Sacas, 12, Tipiyelehne, 6, and Kezbah, 4. “The impact of COVID-19 on ‘We have all had our family has varying emotions resulted in us of being anxious, adjusting how we do things as a worried, upset and family,” Ashley calm ... Our calmness said on Facebook. is rooted in being For instance, if the family needs together as a family, items, only one safe and healthy.’ adult from the household goes - Ashley Harding out. Each day the family tries to keep a regular schedule of waking up the usual time, having breakfast, lunch and dinner at the usual times. “We are fortunate to live out in the country so our children can spend time outside,” Ashley said. “They play basketball, dig in the dirt, get muddy in the creek, ride their scooters/bikes, and are just imaginitive in their play outside.” The children also work on school packets provided by Pendleton School District and their parents spend time reading with them. Sacas does online school work and spends time reading. The family watches movies together, plays games, goes to the river or mountains within the Umatilla
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The Wildbill children, front to back, are Kezbah, 4, Tipiyelehne, 6, and Sacas, 12.
Indian Reservation, walks the trail that leads to Tamastslikt Cultural Institute or takes bike rides. “We haven’t gone stir crazy yet, but as more restrictions are placed to keep people safe, it might be harder to think of new activities to keep us all busy,” Ashley said. Coronavirus is causing more than just physical health issues across the world. “We have all had varying emotions of being anxious, worried, upset and calm,” Ashley said. “our worry is with those who choose to not follow the restrictions set in place to keep us safe further spreading the virus. Our calmness is rooted in being together as a family, safe and healthy.”
Confederated Umatilla Journal
Tracey, Ronald and Maya Thompson, the children of Valerie Thompson, stand on a bridge over the Spokane River. Thompson moved to Spokane in December where she lives with her boyfriend Richard Elisoff and his parents.
Thompsons in Spokane Valerie Thompson moved with her three children - Maya, 9, Tracey, 6, and Ronald, 5, to Spokane in December. They live with Valerie’s boyfriend, Richard Elisoff and his mother, Theresa Elisoff. Theresa’s husband, Jeffery, also lives there when he isn’t working in Alaska. “We’ve been okay with the quarantine, but our kids do miss going to school,” Valerie said. “they’ve been able to get some school work from their teachers so they’re happy about that.” They go to the Tribal Center Food Bank and fill their car trunk with meat, fruits and vegetables. A typical day starts at 7 a.m. with breakfast and then reading. Maya, a fourth grader, reads from her social studies book and works on math problems. Tracey, a first grader, works on math and writing. Ronald, in kindergarten, has fun in a workbook Valerie bought at Walmart. They also have a whiteboard for the kids to practice their writing. “Maya has gotten into the Harry Potter series so we’re slowly buying those books for her,” Valerie said. “Ronald and Tracey still read short stories.” The children were going to River Front Park every other day for walks, but since the number of coronavirus cases doubled in Spokane, Valerie and Richard are limiting the outside play to the backyard. “The kids got upset when we told them we couldn’t go to the parks for a while. The city put caution tape around every playground. The kids noticed it when we went to the park to pick up their breakfasts and lunches.” Valerie was hired in February as a hotel room attendant at Northern Quest Hotel and Casino, but the facility shut down in mid-March. She was on paid leave when she responded to the CUJ March 27. “I was a homebody before I got to go back,” said Valerie, who last year underwent surgeries for breast cancer. “Richard was taking classes for his GED and looking for work, but since everything but essential stores are closed down he can’t really do any of that.” Valerie intimated that the longer they all are cooped up in the house the more anxiety may creep into the family dynamic. “We’re getting along fine,” she said. “We bought some new movies for us and the kids to watch, but since we’ve been told to stay home Theresa is finding it kind of hard to stay home. She usually finds a reason to go the store for something every day. She didn’t do that before the quarantine was put in place.”
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What are you doing to keep from going COVID crazy? The CUJ used Facebook to ask several CTUIR folks living on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and around the country how they are staying busy during the coronavirus shelter-in-place orders. Here’s a sampling of the responses we received.
Burnsides in Bend
Tara Burnside and 1-year-old Jorgie are sheltering in place at their home in Bend.
As fun and whacky as ever, Tara Burnside is feeling paranoid, scared, alarmed, worried, angry, irritated, frustrated and confused. “Then grateful, blessed and so so loved,” she said in her Facebook response from her home with her husband, Jason, and their 1-year-old Jorgie. Early on, she “turned into a troll for a hot minute” posting memes in response to her favorite president, but then heeded the words of Ru Paul, “Girl ya better don’t.” So, she “stopped acting all salty and got right with myself.” She uses Barbicide, a tuberculocidal disenfectant spray, in her Face to Face Day Spa. “Glad my business always has me thinking about sanitation,” she wrote. “I also make my own wipes with the Barbicide and baby wipes to take with me if we need to go to the store. I wipe all surfaces I’m going to touch, then wash up when I get home before touching anyone.” Tara said she wipes down light switches, sink han-
dles, toilet handles and door handles and anything else that gets touched a lot each day. A routine day at home now starts around 8 with breakfast and Beethoven Wig radio. They’ve been reading to Jorgie who’s working on some new words. Tara said she and Jason are crafting, baking and cooking long drawn-out recipes. “Like the more steps the better,” she said. At night they are renting movies on Vudu. Some of the latest picks include JoJo Rabbit, Harriet and 1917. “Probably good to get out that ugly cry,” she said. Currently, the crew has been Youtube binging Hot Ones and ordering “copious amounts of hella spicy hot sauce to hold our own hot wings challenge.” She said she’s been doing a lot of group video wit her her off-reservation gal pal squad - Lylew (Lindsi Lewis), Kabash (Ashleigh Wolf) and Butch (Sydelle Harrison). “I do worry about all my loved ones back home, but always know how resilient our community is.”
Bettles in Sacramento
Sheoships in Tacoma
Bettles said he’s glad California Gov. Newsom Even while he is sheltering in place with his family in Sacramento, James Bettles is thinking about the “acted decisively to shut down” much of the state Confederated Tribes. before the virus could spread farther than it already “Our numbers as a Tribe are not large,” he wrote had. “Our medical system is good on Facebook. “This pandemic but it can’t handle a massive is quite serious and has the potential to kill or injure a great overload,” Bettle said. “While ‘In times of war, everyone many CTUIR members and their the shutdown is an inconvemakes a sacrifice for the nience, it is a small sacrifice extended families. It is important to make in order to make sure we prepare. The only way to precommon good. Make no anyone who is vulnerable, from vent more death is to stay in place mistake, this is a war and only go out when absolutely infant to elder, can be protected. against an invisible enemy. In times of war, everyone makes necessary.” We have no choice but to Toward that preparation, a sacrifice for the common good. Make no mistake, this is a war Bettles stocked up on food and fight to win.’ against an invisible enemy. We household items to minimize - James Bettles have no choice but to fight to the number of shopping trips the win.” family would need to make. “We don’t make leisure trips Said Bettles: “I encourage for no purpose and stick close to home,” he wrote. “We everyone to put on a war footing, support the Council don’t let visitors come in and just socialize by phone or in making the hard decisions they have to make for us, vid. We check in frequently with each other to share tips and do your part. Be smart, be safe. Future generations and to maintain contact, mutual support, jokes, humor.” are counting on us to win this fight, together.”
Jacky Sheoships and her fiance William Harper are using their extra time at home doing spring cleaning, catching up on reading and spending time with their pets. “We’ve also been going on long drives and taking lunches with us so we don’t have to stop anywhere,” Jacky said in an email. Jacky was working as a mall office support for a jewelry store, but since it isn’t considered “essential” she has applied for some seasonal jobs. Each morning they check on “immune-compromised” family and friends to make sure they don’t need anything. “One thing we have tried to maintain is taking our dog for a walk and staying down wind from the elders just in Jacky Sheoships is shown here giving Artemis a rinse at her home case since they are say- in Tacoma. ing this is airborne,” she said. After breakfast Jacky and Willie try to figure out what to do with the rest of the day. “Arts and crafts or reading that pile of books.” Jacky is currently finishing the Red Sparrow series and plans to start Metro 2020 that includes a video game. She and William play a variety of board games, ranging from Munchkins to Smallworld to Risk. Jacky said she and her friends are taking the coronavirus seriously and it is frustrating when others don’t. “I am annoyed that people can’t understand why some of these restrictions have been put in place for those around us that are always fighting against viruses year round and regard them as useless or not necessary,” she emailed.
Ganuelas in Toppenish Guess what? Lauren’s having a baby girl. Might as well let that cat outa the bag right now. “I’m finally having a little girl, after four boys,” Lauren Ganuelas posted on Facebook. “I haven’t told many people, so for those who don’t know ... surprise haha.” Lauren said she’s a little worried about having the baby because she doesn’t know what to expect when she goes to the hospital. Meanwhile, there are plenty of boys hanging around the Ganuelas house to keep her mind on other things. There are four Soaring Eagle boys - Sean 19, Teal 16, Lyle 15, and Cole 13. Add in 14-year-old Shane Rivera and 16-year-old Mylo Jones and you’ve got a pretty good hoop squad. For bench support, another 17-yearold buddy is staying there during this stay-at-home period. The boys live in different places but most of them are congregating in Toppenish now. “I’ve been cleaning and getting rid of stuff and doing never-ending laundry,” Lauren said. She said the boys have been missing basketball. Spring
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Cole Soaring Eagle and friend, Troy, on their phones at the Ganuelas house in Toppenish.
break went by without the usual hoop tournaments. The next best thing is shooting hoops outside, unless you consider NBA 2K20. “Or that dang Fortnight,” Lauren says. As she celebrates her 39th birthday, Lauren recognizes the importance of family. She calls her grandparents and she misses her mom. She said she’ll call her brothers and sisters to tell them she loves them. “I pray this coronavirus goes away. I pray for all my family and friends, for the whole dang world. This is a crazy, sad, scary time and I just hope it goes away.”
Confederated Umatilla Journal
‘I am annoyed that people can’t understand why some of these restrictions have been put in place for those around us that are always fighting against viruses year round.’ - Jacky Sheoships
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Here to help In response to school closures, Pendleton School District found creative ways to continue meeting the needs of its students. On Friday, March 27, Suzanne Howard, center in gray sweatshirt, Director of Nutrition Services, and Chrintina Saxton, not pictured, brought PSD’s food truck to the Community Gym in Mission. The truck will deliver bagged breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday until school starts again. In the photo, Michelle Bratlie picks up some food for her kids. Two teachers provided packets for students from kindergarten to fifth grade to keep children busy during their stay at home. Karin Power, left in maroon hoody, a volunteer with Altrusa, handed out care packages to help keep children busy over the weekend. CUJ photo/Casey Brown
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Indian Country News Tribes score victory in Dakota Pipeline battle By Kevin Abourezk, Indianz.com
In a big victory for tribal nations that have fought the Dakota Access Pipeline through two presidential administrations, a federal judge on March 25 ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must complete a full environmental review of the controversial oil project. Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the Army Corps failed to fully examine whether the pipeline’s effects were likely to be “highly controversial” as they relate to provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act. He rejected the agency’s prior efforts – much of which occurred in the early days of the Donald Trump era in 2017 – as legally insufficient. In reaching the conclusion, Boasberg cited a recent decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in which the Army Corps was ordered to vacate a permit it had issued to a utility company to build transmission towers across the historic James River in Virgina. In that situation, a full environment impact statement was ordered. The appeals court in National Parks Conservation Association v. Semonite held that the Army Corps failed to answer important questions about its chosen methodology and the scope of the project’s impact, and also cited misgivings by federal and state agencies about locating transmission towers in a region with such importance in U.S. history. The same standard applies on treaty lands promised to the Sioux Nation in North Dakota, Boasberg determined. “Applying Semonite, this court ultimately concludes that too many questions remain unanswered,” Boasberg wrote in his 48-page decision. “Unrebutted expert critiques regarding leak-detection systems, operator safety records, adverse conditions, and worst-case discharge mean that the easement approval remains ‘highly controversial’ under NEPA. As the court thus cannot find that the Corps has adequately discharged its duties under that statute, it will remand the matter to the agency to prepare an environmental impact statement.” However, Boasberg did not rule on whether oil could continue to flow through the Dakota Access Pipeline, which went into service in June 2016. The pipeline transports nearly 500,000 barrels of oil from North Dakota’s Bakken Formation to Illinois each day, and the operators recently won approval to expand capacity – over tribal objections. The judge instead ordered parties for both sides to present briefs on whether the easement should be vacated while the Army Corps completes its environmental review, though he added that vacating an action that violates NEPA is the “standard remedy.” Nikki Ducheneaux, lead attorney for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, called the ruling a major win for Indian Country, fulfilling original requests to subject the Dakota Access Pipeline to a full
April 2020
Youth from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe lead Native Nations Rise, an anti-Dakota Access Pipeline march that took place in Washington, D.C., on Photo by Indianz.com March 10, 2017.
environmental review before receiving to the tribes. a federal permit. “The tribes now rely on the waters of “I think it’s incredibly significant,” Lake Oahe in myriad ways, including said Ducheneaux, a Cheyenne River for drinking, agriculture, industry, and Sioux citizen. “That’s what the tribes sacred religious and medicinal practices,” have been asking he wrote in this defor since the first cision. consultation period “The court has prior to 2016. The finally heard what tribes wanted the the tribes have had agency to take a full to say all this time,” look at the impact Ducheneaux said. of this on our treaty “It was a beautiful rights, as well as the thing for the court to environment. The acknowledge.” Corps has always She also hailed given short shrift to other aspect of our treaty rights.” Boasberg’s decision, She said her tribal including his deciclients assert their sion to afford tribal treaty rights to be experts – such as the supreme law of directors of relevant the land, while the tribal programs – Army Corps rarely the same deference - Nikki Ducheneaux, considers them as as experts put forth lead attorney for the actionable when by the Corps of EnCheyenne River Sioux Tribe considering the imgineers. She said the pact of projects on D.C. Circuit’s precthe rights set forth edent in Semonite in those treaties. heightened the Army Corps’ responsibilIn his decision, Boasberg cited the Fort ity when considering the views of Indian Laramie Treaty of 1851 and ordered the Country. Army Corps to consider how the pipeIn his decision, Boasberg described line would impact the tribes’ hunting tribes as “‘domestic dependent nations’ and fishing resources. The judge also that exercise inherent sovereignty” and acknowledged the importance of Lake said their experts should be considered Oahe, located along the Missouri River, the same as experts representing federal
‘It was a beautiful recognition of the importance of tribal government and legitimacy of tribal government that courts often overlook.’
Confederated Umatilla Journal
agencies. “It was a beautiful recognition of the importance of tribal government and legitimacy of tribal government that courts often overlook,” Ducheneaux said. The judge also took issue with the Army Corps’ assertion that no federal agency had criticized the project, saying prior to the election of President Donald Trump – who expedited approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline within days of taking office – the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency had expressed concerns about the handling of the project. Interior, for example, found the Army Corps’ draft environmental assessment did not support the agency’s conclusion that the project would have no significant impact on the surrounding environment or community. And the EPA recommended that the Army Corps analyze more closely the leak-detection system it had selected and its ability to “identify small volume leaks.” Numerous officials offered praise for the judge’s ruling. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said the Dakota Access Pipeline must be shut down until it can be decided whether it doesn’t violate the rights of people who are impacted. “Industry needs to learn that if you throw in with the Trump administration, you will bear the costs of its reckDakota Access Pipeline on page 18A
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CUJ News
Court appoints Sager new pro tem judge By the CUJ
MISSION – Kelly Sager is the newest associate pro tem judge in the Tribal Court of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). Sager was appointed March 5 and sworn in March 13 by Chief Judge William Johnson in the CTUIR Tribal Court Chambers. One of the other two associate judges, Dave Gallaher, was on hand for the ceremony. The third associate judge is Doug Nash, who lives in Lapwai, Idaho. Sager will continue to serve as Tribal Court administrator, a position she was hired for three years ago. Judge Johnson, who has the authority by CTUIR resolution to appoint pro tem judges, named Sager with the consent of the other two judges. Sager will perform her judicial duties only in the absence of other judges. “She has the authority to act as any other judge,” Judge Johnson said. “She’s not a substitute teacher, but a substitute judge.” Sager could perform any function that any other judge does, but probably will
Kelly Sager, center, was sworn in as a Tribal Court associate pro tem judge March 13 by Chief Judge William Johnson, right. Associate Judge Dave Gallaher, left, was on hand for the ceremony. A second associate judge, Doug Nash, lives in Lapwai, Idaho.
deal with traffic and civil cases, perhaps setting bail amounts, signing release documents, presiding over video arraignments, etc., Judge Johnson said. Sager said the appointment was made to make sure there was court coverage in
the event a judge is not available. In addition to the tasks the Judge listed, Sager said she might be asked to sign search warrants or domestic abuse protection orders, as well. A 1989 graduate of Pilot Rock High
School, Sager earned an undergraduate degree in English in 1993 and then her law degree in 1997 from the University of Oregon. She worked as a public defender in 2000 for Montana Legal Services and returned to Pendleton in 2008 where she worked as executive director of Pioneer Relief Nursery. She clerked for Federal Magistrate Pat Sullivan from 2010-11 before she was hired by the CTUIR as the Tribes’ Child Support attorney. Judge Johnson speaks highly of Sager, who he hired to manage Court operations in 2017. “I saw the chance to get her to upgrade the administration and operation of the Court,” Judge Johnson said. “She’s an excellent worker, manager, and leader of the court system. Her work has led to Court improvements, full Court software, and up-to-date video, plus the hiring of all staff.” Sager is married to Mike Heriza, a fifth grade teacher at Sherwood Heights Elementary School in Pendleton. They have two children – daughter Sylvie, 16, and son Hank, 13. Sager is the daughter of Bonnie and Scott Sager of Pilot Rock.
Dakota Access Pipeline Continued from page 17A
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less incompetence,” Grijalva said in a statement. “As it turns out, critics of this pipeline and projects like it are right when they say the law requires the administration to take the concerns of tribes and other impacted communities seriously. When they don’t, the courts will hold them accountable.” Chairman Harold Frazier of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe said the court’s decision was a significant win for efforts to ensure treaties with Indian nations are honored. “The laws pertaining to the Great Sioux Nation have all too often been swept under the rug for American profits,” Frazier said in a statement. “We look forward to participating in the environmental impact statement so that we may demonstrate the real impact
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Confederated Umatilla Journal
this project will have on our people and our planet.” Chase Iron Eyes, lead counsel for the Lakota People’s Law Project, said the ruling served as vindication for tribes and water protectors who opposed the pipeline. He said the pipeline, as well as the Keystone XL Pipeline and all new pipeline projects, should be shut down because of the horrible safety records of oil companies. But he also urged caution about the decision. “I’m encouraged, but it’s also important to remember that no matter the outcomes in the courts, we still run the risk of President Trump circumventing separation of powers and exceeding the scope of his authority when it comes to pipelines,” he said. Ducheneaux said Boasberg’s ruling now means that tribal concerns about the project must be heard. “We start back essentially from square one in terms of the tribes as least, ensuring that we have a meaningful seat at the table and there is meaningful consultation between the government and tribal governments,” she said. And she praised the efforts of the water protectors who protested construction of the pipeline in North Dakota, saying they succeeded in convincing former President Barack Obama to reject a key permit for the project and gave the tribal plaintiffs seeking to stop the pipeline time to gather experts to offer testimony to the court. “It’s really a culmination of all the efforts of the grassroots people and the lawyers,” she said. “It’s really beautiful.”
April 2020
CTUIR vs. COVID-19 Incident Command re-issues stay-home order Tribal government to continue to operate under emergency staffing conditions
Dispensers for hand sanitizer greet visitors to the Nixyaawii Governance Center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The building is open only for essential functions with a skeleton staff.
By Wil Phinney of the CUJ
MISSION – Continued stay-home orders were issued April 1 for members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to help stem the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation met that day to discuss extending the order that was first issued March 23, the same day as Gov. Kate Brown ordered Oregonians to stay at home. As of March 31, COVID-19 as the virus is called, had killed more than 41,400 and sickened more than 846,000 across the world. In the United States, more than 3,600 people had died and more than 181,000 had been infected. In the CTUIR’s ceded territory, 18 had died and nearly 700 had been infected. In Oregon, 18 had died and nearly 700 had been infected. BOT Chair Kat Brigham offered sobering remarks when contacted March 31, the day before the CUJ went to press. “We’re facing difficult times, but it’s not just us, it’s nationwide and it’s worldwide,” Brigham said. “We’re trying to figure out how to recover. It’s not going to happen overnight. We’re tracking every possible option for this Tribe.” Brigham said the community – like the state, the nation and world – has been lambasted by COVID-19. It’s an overwhelming 24-7 news cycle of nothing but coronavirus, she said. “It’s difficult to find anything that’s not linked to the coronavirus. There’s nothing on TV but coronavirus. But we have to remember everyone is facing this. We’re doing the best we can to find a path to recovery,” Brigham said. The CTUIR Incident Command Team (ICT) has evolved since March 27 when an Incident Command (IC) Executive Committee was formed. The ICT and the IC Executive Committee are now meeting on alternate days. The IC Executive Committee consists of Chuck Sams, Incident Commander; Ted Wright, the Executive Director; and chief operating officers for all Tribal entities – Gary George from Wildhorse, Lisa Guzman from Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, and Billy Nerenberg from Cayuse Holdings. Also on the Executive Committee are Naomi Stacy, CTUIR legal counsel; Paul Rabb, the Tribes’ finance director; and Rob Burnside, the Tribes’ public safety director. “The IC Executive Committee is structured to determine how best to deploy the staff of each entity and the full ICT is responsible for all facets of response to COVID-19 to the entire community,” Sams said in email answers to questions
April 2020
posed by the CUJ. continue to operate, albeit with less staffThe ICT is part of the National Incident ing resources. Management System and allows for inter“The COVID-19 spread is growing,” governmental cooperation and manage- Sams said. “To further lessen any impact ment of the crisis, Sams said. during the month of April and perhaps Sams said the CTUIR community has May, we will need to continue practicing followed ICT’s orders and practices to an aggressive social distancing campaign stay home and isolate with record low and isolation in place. All indications numbers of call-outs for police and fire/ from the federal and state governments medical in the last two weeks of March. is that we will see a significant rise in the “Our police force is working to educate spread of this virus. The only way to compeople who may be in violation of the bat this is to stay home to stay healthy order, but have and safe.” not needed to A healthy ‘We’re facing difficult cite anyone workforce is times, but it’s not just us, at this time,” important, too, Sams said. and the CTUIR it’s nationwide and it’s The ICT Public Works worldwide. We’re trying to stay-home Department figure out how to recover. order issued “has worked last month indiligently to It’s not going to happen cluded a miskeep our workovernight. We’re tracking demeanor ciing environtation with a ments clean,” every possible option for this potential fine Sams said. Tribe. of $5,000 or one The Public - Kat Brigham, year in jail. Works DepartChair of the Board of Trustees “Compliment is runfor the Confederated Tribes of the ance is critical ning a staff of Umatilla Indian Reservaton to our health six full time and welfare custodial emand the ICT ployees plus appreciates everyone who is taking this four e-hires to fill in for four custodial seriously and protecting themselves and staff that were sent home because of their their loved ones,” Sams said. age or because they had underlying Tribal government will continue to health conditions. The crew is taking care operate under emergency conditions for of the Nixyaawii Governance Center, the the month of April, Sams said. Those Public Safety building, the Fire Station, department and programs responsible the Longhouse, and Education Center for responding to community needs will in particular. Some of those buildings
Confederated Umatilla Journal
are closed, but anytime someone goes in the Public Works folks go right in behind them to sanitize “touch points” such as doors, hand rails and counter tops. Sams said each Tribal department is responsible for notifying Public Works when employees are entering their work space. “The custodial staff are doing a great job and it is deeply appreciated,” Sams said. Sams also praised the Tribes’ Department of Children and Family Services, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, the Department of Natural Resources, and community volunteers, including members of the Tribal Youth Leadership Council, who have “stepped up” to provide resources and assistance to others during the past few weeks. DCFS staff has been instrumental in the distribution of food to elders and community members. DNR staff has ensured access to First Foods during the crisis, including coordinating limited managed hunts for elk that is being distributed to the community where there is an identified need. Yellowhawk continues to deliver meals to elders and those with medical conditions. “It has been a group/community effort,” Sams said. “We are doing our best to protect those who are on this front line, but want people to understand we do have some limitations and are working on methods that best protect our community members’ health and those who are distributing resources.”
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Tribes purchase Wheelhouse property Continued from page 1A
Then on March 20, after an appropriate appraisal, the Board found itself forced to conform to an awkward real estate contract in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak. The BOT noted the “poor timing” of the coronavirus, but found itself “stuck” with the purchase because of unorthodox language that left the Tribes “vulnerable” to a lawsuit if they backed out of the acquisition. Under conventional standards, a would-be buyer could back out of a landpurchase contract but lose its earnest money. The BOT learned that it could not be released from the negotiations with the loss of its $100,000 good-faith deposit; rather it could be subject to a lawsuit, which could mean the loss of the full purchase price plus attorney fees. BOT member Corinne Sams was critical of the Office of Legal Counsel for the verbiage in the purchase agreement, which gave the seller the right to sue in the instance the Tribes backed withdrew. “The way it is written puts us in a vulnerable position. We don’t have a choice,” Sams said. “This can’t happen again. I don’t know what we do moving forward.” Naomi Stacy, the Tribes lead attorney, took the blame. She noted that “catastrophes” like flooding and the coronavirus were not considered when the contract was negotiated last fall. Four BOT members said after the vote that if they hadn’t been hand-cuffed by the contract they would have foregone the $100,000 earnest money and voted against the purchase “at this time,” because of the cost to the Tribes caused by flooding and the coronavirus. Other BOT members, however, stood by their positions. BOT member Boots Pond, practicing social distancing by sitting more than six feet away from his nearest fellow Board member, recognized the coronavirus costs to the Tribes, but was adamant about his support for the Wheelhouse property purchase. “In January I said this land is important. I said this purchase is not for us here, it’s for down the line,” Pond said. “It’s for our grandchildren. People say it’s not essential? I won’t have my grandchildren and tell them it wasn’t essential. It really irks me to hear that. I support this not for me, but for those down the line. The time could be better. The flood, COVID-19, but I still stand. It’s not for me.” The Board has discussed the Wheelhouse property purchase for months. On Nov. 25, the previous Board of Trustees (BOT) voted 4-2 against the purchase based on the availability of funds. None of the BOT members at the time said they were against buying back land for the CTUIR, but they questioned whether contingency funds should be used. The opposition came in spite of impassioned pleas from Kelly George, the Tribes’ Land Acquisition Coordinator, and BOT Vice Chair Wolf. New Chair Kat Brigham, who was BOT Secretary at the time, was joined by then-Treasurer Doris Wheeler, and then-BOT members Sally Kosey and Rosenda Shippentower voting against
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The Wheelhouse property is a mix of land that includes timber, meadow and canyon terrain on the North Fork of McKay Creek, which is in the southern part of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Contributed photo
the purchase. Wolf and then-BOT talking again about the Wheelhouse member Aaron Ashley voted in favor property. Koko Hufford, Land Project Manager of the buy. Then-General Council Chair William Sigo IV and then-BOT member at the Department of Economic and ComWoodrow Star were absent on personal munity Development, explained that the purchase would give Tribal members leave. George told the Board: “This prop- access to areas in the McKay Creek and erty is probably not coming up again (to Johnson Creek areas where they’d been “locked out” for Tribal purchase) or more than 30 years. at least not for a long But BOT member time. The Board alArmand Minthorn ways said ‘…If you was quick to cauneed assistance with tion against “biting an acquisition come off more than we see us.’ This is the can chew.” He nottime.” ed that the CTUIR Wolf said land is already paying like the Wheelhouse off several loans for property allows “us property and other to be Indians.” projects. “It is priceless there When asked, … I see huge benefits, CTUIR Finance Dinot just natural rerector Paul Rabb sources, but cultural answered in the resources,” Wolf said, affirmative: “We adding that the Tribes have debt and loans “created the casino” all over the place. to make money to buy What we don’t back reservation land. want to do is get Treasurer Wheelin trouble. We’ve er said the contingot things on the gency fund wasn’t burner now.” designed to spend Rabb said “it’s on projects or pur- Jeremy Wolf, CTUIR going to be a balchases such as land. Board of Trustees Vice-Chair ancing act” over the Rather, she said, the next several years Tribes are trying to … It’s the ongoing save money in case costs that are the concern. We have to set of a recession for money to operate. At the time, Brigham told George the priorities. This is a huge purchase,” Rabb new BOT “may say something different, said in December – before the flood and the coronavirus. but it will be next month (December).” Rabb also noted that the money being On Dec. 18, the new Board started
‘If we don’t purchase it, it will be another storied history of missed opportunity. Either it is managed by us and we bring the land and animals back or it is broken up and managed by others, either manifest destiny or we break the cycle.’
Confederated Umatilla Journal
spent on the Wheelhouse property will essentially “wipe out” the Land Acquisition budget and reduce opportunities to purchase other land already under consideration. BOT Vice-Chair Wolf continued to voice his strong support for the Wheelhouse purchase. “If we don’t purchase it will be another storied history of missed opportunity,” Wolf said. “Either it is managed by us and we bring the land and animals back or it is broken up and managed by others, either manifest destiny or we break the cycle.” General Council Chair Lindsey X. Watchman said the Tribes should “put our money where our mouth is.” “We’re supposed to take care of the land that the treaty signers reserved for us,” Watchman said. “If you’re asking, this is an easy choice. This is what we’re making money for.” When BOT member Jill-Marie Gavin asked what would happen if the Tribes didn’t buy the land Hufford said the owners could sell to anybody and suggested the buyers could set up hunting camps. BOT member Sally Kosey questioned how many Tribal members would be able to use the Wheelhouse property. “I’ve been told it takes over an hour to walk in if you don’t have four-wheel drive. You think an elder is going to walk in an hour? It’s taken over a decade to get the right of way for Johnson Creek. How are we going to get a right of way? Great fishing, hunting, gathering? Who’s going to be able to get in there if they don’t have four-wheel? Just some people?” Kosey asked. The Board took a vote on whether or not they wanted to discuss it further. It was 4-2 with Wolf, Watchman, Pond and Sampson yes; Minthorn and Kosey no. On Jan. 6, the Board uanimously approved the purchase contingent on the appraisal. Pending that appraisal, the BOT tabled the resolution that would have approved $2.2 million for the following: $100,000 for earnest money for the contract for sale; $1.7 million to pay the balance of the purchase price not covered by a Northwest Farm Credit Services loan; $500,000 for management of the property, including payment of property taxes, fire suppression fees, fence repair, cultural resources assessment, forage assessment and timber “cruise”, as well as to make the loan payments under the NWFCS loan. On Jan. 13, the Board of Trustees acknowledged that the CTUIR Executive Director Ted Wright, in a memo representing several staff, and Department of Natural Resources Director Eric Quaempts, recommended that the Wheelhouse property not be purchased. The BOT directed other staff to investigate whether other funding might be available through grants. The BOT voted 5-0 to continue discussions. Then the Umatilla River flooded. Then coronavirus showed up. On March 20, the Board followed up its earlier financial agreement with the final decision to purchase the property.
April 2020
Joseph to represent Oregon We’re pleased to present the ... tribes on health info council Achievers of the Month By the CUJ
MISSION – Kellen Joseph is the new voice for Oregon Indian tribes on the State’s Health Information Technology Oversite Council (HITOC), which is responsible for developing a three-year health-information strategy for Oregon. Joseph, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center’s Information Systems Manager and Clinical Application Coordinator, was appointed to the HITOC in March to represent the nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon. “There hasn’t been any representative from Oregon tribes for a few years to voice what types of barriers they have related to health information technology,” said Joseph. “For me, being appointed means I can bring information not only from the CTUIR (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla IndiKellen Joseph an Reservation) with insight from Yellowhawk, but also from the other tribes of Oregon.” HITOC, which reports to the Oregon Health Authority, is charged with creating a vision for health care that optimizes information technology. The Council is heading efforts to create an electronic health system exchange so that the state will meet federal requirements for electronic health records. Joseph said Tribes, like the rest of Oregon, face many electronic communication barriers. Among the biggest roadblocks is how patients access personal medical information. The HITOC will be discussing “patient portals” that would keep private medical information secure. “A lot of the information we deal with needs to be protected,” Joseph said. “We don’t want to put health information over unprotected email or text messaging. There needs to be some type of secure transfer.” HITOC’s work will also look at how the health care system can eliminate duplication and make better use of electronic information technology. “How can we integrate electronic health records? Right now for anyone referred out from Yellowhawk to Kennewick or transferred to St. Anthony (hospital in Pendleton) or OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University in Portland) we have to make copies of all the records and when they come back they bring back copies. Some are faxed, some are paper copies handed to the patient. That’s a barrier across Oregon. How can we combine that into one system for easier access?” Although the technology surely exists, it will be easier said than done to accomplish the goal. “Each facility has its own electronic health records and a lot of facilities have million dollar software programs. Yellowhawk and others are still using VA (Veterans Administration) software. We don’t pay millions of dollars for it,” Joseph said. Different software programs could make integration a challenge, but there has to be a way, Joseph said. The Council will “brainstorm to de-
April 2020
velop a strategy” and determine a “best option.” There are some examples to learn from, Joseph said. For instance, during the opioid crisis, it became evident that patients throughout Oregon were double and triple dipping on pain medications. “They were going to St. Anthony for pain meds, then doing the same thing at Yellowhawk, then going to Portland and getting more,” Joseph said. HITOC came up with a system to track patients to emergency rooms that prevented easy access to pain medications. “We developed a system. We know it can be created. They’re doing it with COVID-19, tracking patients across states,” Joseph said. Joseph has 14 years of information technology experience and was recently promoted to the position of Information Systems Manager at Yellowhawk. Kristi Lapp, Yellowhawk’s Chief Financial Officer, said, “This is an important appointment for both Kellen and for Yellowhawk, especially as we move toward a new electronic health records system.”
The CTUIR Youth Leadership has stepped up during the February floods and again during the COVID-19 crisis, helping with cleanup, checking on families, and delivering food to elders.
DID YOU KNOW? Until the early 1900s, the culture of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Indians was based on a yearly cycle of travel from hunting camps to fishing spots to celebration and trading camps and so on. The three tribes spent most of their time in the area which is now northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. They had lived in the Columbia River Region for more than 10,000 years. The most plentiful foods were salmon, roots, berries, deer and elk. Each of these foods could be found in different places and each was available in different seasons. This meant that the Indian people had to move from place to place from season to season to their food and prepare it to be eaten and to be saved for the winter. They followed the same course from year to year in a large circle from the lowlands along the Columbia River to the highlands in the Blue Mountains. In the spring the tribes gathered along the Columbia River at places like Celilo Falls to fish for salmon and trade goods with other tribes. They dried the salmon and stored it for later use. In late spring and early summer they traveled from the Columbia to the foot hills of the Blue Mountains to dig for roots which they also dried. Gathered from ctuir.org.
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Stimulus package Continued from page 3A
out to Indian Country.” “Just as we had a strategic approach to get stuff in the bill, and in future bills by the way, we’re going to have a very focused and comprehensive strategic approach that now focuses on the [Trump] administration, to make sure they do what they’ve been asked to do,” Allis said. After days of false starts and intense closed-door negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Senate approved the $2 trillion bill late March 26 to help businesses and millions of unemployed workers survive a public health crisis that has quickly shut down entire sectors of the American economy and pushed health care providers to the brink. The $8 billion “tribal stabilization fund” in Section 601 of the bill makes the emergency funds available from the Treasury Department, which will consult with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s BIA, “to tribal governments who certify that the funds will be used to offset expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” according to Hoeven’s statement. Nearly $2.7 billion in supplemental appropriations in the bill includes funding for Bureau of Indian Education schools and $1.032 billion in Indian Health Service funding, with a minimum of $450 million going to tribes and urban Indian organizations, according to Hoeven’s statement. Tribes, tribal organizations and urban Indian organizations will receive $125 million directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and are also eligible to apply for $1.5 billion in grants and cooperative agreements from the CDC. National Indian Health Board Director of Congressional Relations Shervin Aazami said many of the organization’s priorities were included in the most recent bill after the group requested $2.5 billion for Indian health, and said NIHB will continue to push for its priorities to be included in future bills related to the pandemic. National Indian Gaming Association Executive Director Jason Giles said his organization is focused on how to structure programs to meet the criteria for the $8 billion fund: that the money cover “necessary expenditures” for COVID-19 response that weren’t included in the tribes’ current funding and are incurred between March 1 and Dec. 30 of this year. Giles said NIGA is now using the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act and related IRS opinions as a model for defining essential government functions that would qualify for the new funding.
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able on y Rea our d di mob g ile d ital (and exc evic l e u e v s eryt i v Eas e s hing ily s hare else ) CUJ stor ies
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Wildhorse furloughing 900 employees Continued from page 1A
cost the Tribes upwards of $3 million based on reports of losses of $615,000 over a two-day closure. Wildhorse will suffer “a significant loss in April,” George said. Some 900 Wildhorse employees will be furloughed as of April 13 with hopes the gaming facility will re-open at the end of the month. At that time, the employees would be called back. “It’s devastating to business,” said George. “It’s devastating to the Tribes not to have any revenue coming in. We don’t know how long this will last. It has to come to an end sometime, but the Tribes can’t afford to carry Wildhorse or its enterprises longer than through the summer.” Part of the charge for CTUIR’s COVID-19 Incident Command Team, under the Tribes’ Emergency Operation Plan, is to ensure plans are developed to assist with furloughs and layoffs, said Chuck Sams, Incident Commander. The U.S. Congress passed three COVID-19 Relief Acts in late March. Each of those provide assistance to tribal governments, businesses, health organizations and communities. “The ICT is having legal counsel and the Human Resources Consortium provide guidance to all or our entities as to how best to apply these resources,” Sams said. Sams said the Board of Trustees will conduct work sessions with each of the Tribes’ entities and then make determinations as to how best to use federal, state and tribal dollars moving through the crisis and eventually into recovery. From April 1-12, employees can use vacation or sick leave, George said.
The parking lot is empty in front of the Wildhorse Hotel and will remain that way through April. CUJ photo/Phinney
However, if they don’t have enough of those benefit days accrued, they can consider themselves furloughed and apply for unemployment. George said Wildhorse will pay health benefits through April 26 for furloughed employees. “Ninety five percent of the workforce will be furloughed,” George said. “That will give them the chance to stay on the payroll. We can pay benefits and they can claim unemployment.” George recognized that some employees, such as card dealers, make twice as much in pooled tips as they do at the minimum hourly wage. “It’s going to have an impact on them,” he said. The workforce will be reduced to some administrators and human resources staff, plus a security crew, George said. “It’s the right thing to do,” the CEO said. “We don’t want to put our employees in eminent danger, in unsafe conditions. We don’t know how long this pandemic is going to last and only seems to be getting worse in the state. The more testing we do the more positive results
Resilient communities Continued from page 5A
to strengthen flooding resilience. There might also be some need to provide financial assistance to those residents along the floodplain who are willing but unable to afford relocation. Information gaps around COVID-19 are part of a massive bungling of the national response to this pandemic. Lack of testing has created inaccurate disease estimates, and only confusion and conflicting messaging have been presented at a federal level. Preventing the spread of infection requires everyone to be on the same page and, to be knowledgeable of their role in mitigation tactics, everyone must work to slow the infection. But it also requires access to these strategies, such as running water and electricity, which is not always true of marginalized communities. Coronavirus has also exposed the absurdity of the idea that access to healthcare is not a human right and that paying a living wage those people who make the backbone of an economy is a facet of national security. While our current pandemic continues, climate change is sure to have a greater negative effect on indigenous peoples now and in the future. People who have contributed the least to the crisis and are already suffering from episodic acute and persistent slow violence for centuries, and ongoing environmental and social injustice. But it is indigenous people who have the solutions, and whose leadership must be uplifted in the response. Prioritization of natural solutions to adaptation, celebration of indigenous knowledge, and recognition of the fundamental rights of nature will reposition decision-making toward global sustainability. Tribal communities are resilient and have the knowledge required to build a bright future, so listening to these voices and prioritizing these projects is the only way to act on climate change. Decentralize food infrastructure and expand knowledge for self-sufficiency Individual preparedness can go far in strengthening
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community resilience and there is no greater way to build preparedness than to be knowledgeable about where to get food and how to prepare it. In strengthening access to food, especially in times of emergency, there is both infrastructure and education required for ensuring each member of our community will have what they need. Especially for a tribal community, knowledge of and access to the First Foods is critical to physical, cultural and spiritual wellbeing, as well as being experienced in historic and modern methods of preservation. Cuus (water) is the base of First Foods as the most important, with floods creating flow and habitat for the salmon and aquatic creatures, hydrating the soil for our sister roots and berries, and providing lush wildlife habitat into the summer heat. Tribal people intimately know their land and are connected with their foods, but there are opportunities to strengthen this indigenous food system through support of education and infrastructure of food preservation classes that Yellowhawk’s Community Wellness Department has hosted, as well as with guided First Foods Excursions to expand knowledge of traditional and medicinal foods organized by DNR’s Cultural Resource Protection Program. The panic purchasing of recent days shows the vulnerability of our import/export based economy. The importance of First Foods access and abundance, as well as the value of small scale agriculture and community gardens to the food security of a community has been put on full display by this global pandemic. It has also highlighted the need for individual preparedness, demonstrating that home gardens and food preservation classes are not only good for physical and emotional health, but for disaster preparedness. Global agriculture will be greatly affected by the climate crisis, as we are seeing extreme heat and drought events, or devastating storms in much of the world’s most productive agricultural regions, and import/ export economics are inherently based on the burning of fossil fuels. A re-focus on strengthening and supporting regional and local agriculture for benefit of those people who produce it creates resilience to uncertainty, and communities who are ready and able
Confederated Umatilla Journal
we see.” Meanwhile, construction continues on Whispering Aspen bowling alley on the southwest end of the resort. One vendor, a cabinet maker from Washington State, laid off a workforce of more than 400 when Gov. Jay Inslee declared it a nonessential service. ‘It’s the right thing “They weren’t needed now,” George said. to do. We don’t “They work on small want to put our projects. But they’ll be employees in needed pretty soon for work inside.” eminent danger The shell of the ... We don’t know building is close to behow long this ing done so a lot of the work is happening pandemic is inside. going to last and “It’s plugging along,” George said. only seems to be “Construction is progetting worse...’ gressing and we’re still moving forward.” On March 18, Wildhorse closed the casino floor and the Plateau fine-dining restaurant. The hotel stayed open, but two restaurants went to take-out orders only. Four days later the hotel, the Cineplex and restaurants closed until further notice. Staff was cut back, but remained on the payroll through the end of March. George said March 30 that staff is being notified that Wildhorse likely will be closed the entire month of April. George was scheduled to meet with the CTUIR Board of Trustees on April 1.
to care for each other. I won’t deny the strangeness of life these days, but we are seeing in countries around the world that these preventative actions are effective and have a tangible impact if we can all act collectively. For the last couple months, the world has felt like a very unfriendly place as things that used to support us seem to have become threatening and unfamiliar. But I think it is important to take lessons from our natural world and remember that all things exist in a cycle. There is opportunity to examine the gaps that need to be addressed and to let go of narratives that are no longer helpful. Local flooding and global pandemics will pale in comparison to the challenges that the climate crisis will bring to our grandchildren and their families, but now are in a powerful position to lessen their burdens and be good ancestors. While it is difficult to think of planning community meetings in this time of uncertainty, we have to envision a future after all this has passed and be able to see the forest through the trees. Floodwaters do indeed bring destruction, but they also bring life and rejuvenation, and are essential for a healthy river. I am still planning to host community meetings for the development of the Climate Adaptation Plan in 2020 and I sincerely hope to have your participation and perspective in this process! Meetings currently are planned quarterly: a spring meeting tentatively planned for Tuesday, May 26, and others later this year, in early July, late August, and late October. Meetings will span a three-hour block of time around lunch, and it is anticipated that CTUIR employees may be granted time to attend. The format is intended to be informative and interactive, with each meeting boasting a panel of experts to give topical updates, and then opportunities for public testimony in diverse and creative ways. There will be raffle prizes around the preparedness theme, such as emergency kits, solar phone chargers, and air purifiers to be won by participants, and refreshments will be provided. There will be a draft version of the plan available to view on the CTUIR website, so attendees can view the materials ahead of time and come prepared to earnestly engage.
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News & Sports The monthly newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation ~ Pendleton, Oregon
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November 2019
Nixyaawii Community School players react after they beat Crosshill Christian for third place in the Oregon Class 1A State Championships in Baker City March 7. From left, the Golden Eagles players include, Tyasin Burns and his brother, Dylan Abrahamson, Magi Moses about to catch Saint Schimmel, Mick Schimmel in the pink shoes, Moses Moses behind Saint in the gray shoes, and Shane Rivera at right.
Nixyaawii boys take third at Class 1A tourney By the CUJ
BAKER CITY – The boys from Nixyaawii Community School had to settle for third place March 7 at the Oregon Class 1A State Basketball Tournament. Led by senior Mick Schimmel, a unanimous all-star selection, the Golden Eagles defeated Crosshill Christian 55-54 for third place and Trinity Lutheran 66-63 in their tournament opener March 5. The loss came in their second game against Damascus Christian, a headscratching 61-53 setback to the team that would end up second to Triad in the championship. The number-one ranked Triad beat number-two ranked Damascus 58-56 for the title. There’s no point revisiting the loss, so we’ll focus on the wins. After building a 17-point first half lead, Nixyaawii found themselves trailing by two points, 63-61, with 1:28 to play. It was extra tense because starting point guard Tyasin Burns, a second team all-star selection, had fouled out with 3:40 to play. Nixyaawii boys on page 2B
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Earning third place in the Oregon Class 1A State Basketball Tournament in Baker City was the Nixyaawii Community School Golden Eagles. The team consisted of, front row from left, Moses Moses, William Sigo, Saint Schimmel, Aaron Barkley, Dylan Abrahamson, and Kirk Houle; and back row, Assistant Coach Alan Crawford, Head Coach Shane Rivera, Magi Moses, Shane Rivera, Mick Schimmel, Jace Ashley, Reuben Bronson, Tyasin Burns, Assistant Coach Ken Mayfield, and Assistant Coach Aaron Ashley.
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Nixyaawii boys Continued from page 1B
A pair of free throws by Schimmel knotted the score at 63 with less than a minute and 20 seconds later his canned another to give the Golden Eagles a 64-63 lead with 31 seconds to go. The clock ticked down to 17 seconds when lanky freshman Shane Rivera picked the ball clean at half court and loped to the basket for a lay-in that gave Nixyaawii its final three-point edge. Trinity’s last hope ended with a double-dribble turnover. Schimmel led the team with 25 points and added five rebounds and four steals. Rivera had 13 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Magi Moses scored 11 with seven boards and Tyasin Burns scored 10 with four steals. It was the first time Burns has fouled out in a high school basketball game. “It was scary but I had confidence in them,” said Burns. Coach Shane Rivera said he was a little worried when Burns went to the bench, but said Aaron Barkley stepped up. “He’s a capable player,” the Coach said. “Sometimes young players don’t know any different and they play without any worries.” Crosshill Christian was the last game for Schimmel, who played on Nixyaawii’s championship squad last year. He played the entire 32 minutes, finishing with a game-high 18 rebounds to go with 13 points. Two others were in double figures – Moses Moses with 14 and Shane Rivera with 13. Magi Moses had 10 rebounds to go with seven points. It was a tough defensive battle which was evident by the scoring percentages. Nixyaawii shot 34 percent, Crosshill Christian shot 38 percent. However, defense had nothing to do with the Golden Eagles’ dismal 4 of 12 from the free throw line.
Crosshill jumped out to a 7-0 lead and by the reaction of their fans you’d thought they’d already won the title, but the tide began to turn as soon as Moses Moses canned his first jumper at the 5:26 mark. Back-to-back buckets by Rivera, a three by Burns, and a lay-up by Rivera off a Burns steal tied the game at 14. Moses Moses scored 8 in the second period, leading Nixyaawii to a 34-28 halftime edge. Crosshill Christian pulled to within a bucket a couple of times and then to within one, 53-52, with less than two minutes to go. Schimmel hit a jumper to give the Golden Eagles at 55-52 lead. Crosshill’s Andrew Stoddard hit a jump shot to pull within a point, but there would be no more field goal attempts taken in the game. Defending at the buzzer, Burns didn’t allow the Crosshill shooter to get the ball off. Some tournaments stats: Top shooter – Shane Rivera 13 for 21 for 62 percent Top 3 point shooter – Moses Moses 6 for 23 for 27 percent Most field goals – Mick Schimmel 25 of 59 (42 percent) Top free throw shooter – Mick Schimmel 10 of 19 for 53 percent Top rebounder – Mick Schimmel with 33 (Magi Moses had 24 and Rivera had 21) Total points – Mick Schimmel 62, Rivera 31, Moses Moses 29, Burns 28, Magi Moses 20, Aaron Barkley 4 Points per game average – Schimmel 20.6 Assists leader – Burns with 9, Schimmel 5 Steals leader – Burns 9, Rivera 8, Schimmel 5 Minutes (total of 96 in three games) – Schimmel 94
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Tyasin Burns was named to the second all-tournament team. He led the team in steals with nine in the three games and averaged almost 10 points a game at state.
Hoop shots from Baker City
Magi Moses dribbles in the paint against a Trinity defender. Moses scored 11 and pulled down 7 rebounds in that game. He had the second most rebounds for the team in the tournament.
In his final game as a Nixyaawii Golden Eagle, Mick Schimmel played every minute against Crosshill Christian in the third-place game. He grabbed 18 rebounds and scored 13 points. Schimmel led the team at the tournament with the most field goals, the best free throw shooting, the most rebounds, the most points, the best scoring average, and the most minutes played. He was a unanimous pick among Class 1A Coaches as a first-team tournament all-star.
Dylan Abrahamson, far right, hugs his brother, Tyasin Burns, after the Nixaawii Golden Eagles game against Crosshill Christian at the Class 1A State Tournament in Baker City March 7.
Shane Rivera had the team’s top shooting percentage, had the second most points and the second most steals.
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Moses Moses topped the Golden Eagles in three-point shooting and kept the team in the game during the second half of their third-place contest.
Senior Mick Schimmel is introduced before the start of the third-place game March 7 at the Class 1A state basketball tournament in Baker City. Nixyaawii defeated Crosshill Christian 55-54 to take the trophy. CUJ photos/Phinney
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Washington OKs sports betting at tribal casinos SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – A bill to allow sports gambling in Washington state, but only at tribal casinos, was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on March 25. Inslee said the bill would allow the state and Indian tribes to enter into new gaming compacts to cover sports betting. “This will allow people to participate in a new gaming activity that is safe and well-regulated by the tribes,” Inslee said as he signed the bill, which was easily passed by both houses of the Legislature. Washington Indian Gaming Associa-
tion Executive Director Rebecca Kaldor thanked Inslee for supporting the bill. “The revenue generated by tribal gaming funds critical needs in our communities,” Kaldor said. “Tribal communities and governments are currently dealing with the devastating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic,” she said. “As we recover from this crisis, the addition of this amenity will help tribal governments fund the essential services their members will need to get back up on their feet.”
Supporters of the bill said betting on sports was widespread in Washington already, and legalizing it would protect consumers. Supporters also said tribal casinos were the logical place to expand. The bill passed despite objections that it granted a monopoly to the state’s Indian tribes while hurting smaller commercial card-room casinos. Those opposed to the bill included Nevada-based Maverick Gaming, which in the past year acquired 19 of the state’s 44 commercial card-room casinos. Mav-
erick contended its venues should also gain access to the lucrative sports gambling market. Sports gambling has long been illegal in Washington and almost everywhere nationwide. But the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 quashed a federal law banning such gambling in all but a few jurisdictions, leaving it to individual states to now decide their own course. The bill would allow betting on professional and college sports, but not on college teams based in Washington state. Bets must be placed at Indian casinos, which are spread across the state. Maverick Gaming Chief Executive Eric Persson argued in public hearings earlier that the state will lose up to $50 million annually in tax revenues by not authorizing sports gambling beyond tribal venues. Persson has vowed to spend up to $30 million this election cycle on litigation, campaigning, television advertisements and anything else to block the bill from becoming law.
April Birthdays 2nd: Jace Morris 3rd: Jakoby Van Pelt 5th: KC Picard 6th: Quanah Picard and Karen Askins 8th: Chenoah Begay and Abner Quaempts 10th: Jayden Van Pelt 11th: Bambi Rodriguez 12th: Louie Quaempts, Lisa Marsh and Allis Simmons ~ Happy 1st! 15th: Jordyn Brigham 16th: Michelle Shippentower 18th: Iosefa Brigham 20th: Ezra Squiemphen 21st: Peighton Campbell 22nd: Michael Eickstaedt 23rd: Kelsey Burns 24th: Robin Marsh, Isaac Kash Kash and Ella Stewart 26th: Dennis Quaempts, Jr., and Marcellus Scott 27th: Caitlyn Gillpatrick 28th: Kathryn Morrison and Raymond Harrison
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Dr. Fauci was a basketball captain. Now he’s America’s point guard. His teammates in high school looked to Dr. Anthony Fauci for leadership. They’re still doing it more than 60 years later. By Ben Cohen, The Wall Street Journal
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he basketball team at Regis High School had a 1-16 record as the players entered a rival’s gym in the winter of 1958 fully expecting to leave with yet another loss. The other team’s star was a future NBA coach who would one day run the New York Knicks. Regis was led by a diminutive future doctor who would one day run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Nobody gave us a chance,” said John Zeman, a Regis alumnus. “Everyone figured it was going to be a blowout.” But there was one teenager who looked at this demoralizing collection of data and came to a wildly optimistic conclusion. “Tony said no,” he said. “We’re going to win this game. And we did.” Tony, the team captain better known as Fauch, a short kid with a thick Brooklyn accent who led his overmatched team to a highly improbable victory in the biggest game of his life, now answers to a name that most Americans have come to recognize: Dr. Anthony Fauci. The infectious disease specialist who has long been regarded as a national treasure has become a source of trust for hundreds of millions of people over the last month. He is the raspy voice of reason. Fauci’s deep expertise, avuncular demeanor and direct style of communication have turned a distinguished 79-year-old
immunologist into the world’s unlikeliest celebrity. As the point guard of the U.S. response to public health scares, Fauci understands that crisis reveals character. But so does high-school basketball. The way that a bunch of teenagers come together as a team at such a formative time can be a powerful force that shapes the rest of their lives. And one win can stick with you forever. “I don’t know how he could forget it,” said Bob Bastek, his Regis classmate. Fauci, who keeps a miniature basketball hoop in his office, has been called “my hero” by Bob Cousy and “the GOAT” by Stephen Curry for his role in this pandemic, which would have delighted a child who grew up playing sports and worshiping Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider. When he earned a scholarship to Regis, an elite Jesuit school in New York for boys with academic and leadership potential, the free tuition was worth the fantastic schlep: a bus in Brooklyn to a local train to the express train to the IRT to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He learned to finish his Latin and Greek homework on the commute to get a few hours of sleep at night. “Basketball was important,” said Jim Higney, the team manager. “Homework was more important.” Fauci always knew he wanted to be a doctor. “My interest in medicine stems from my keen interest in people, in asking questions and solving problems,” he said in 1989 for a National Institutes of Health oral his-
Dr. Anthony Fauci holds up a Regis High School basketball team photo at a White House press conference. Illustration from Wall Street Journal / Photos: Reuters, Regis High School
tory. But there was another way for him to scratch that itch before medical school: basketball. When he learned that Fauci was the captain of his basketball team, his former colleague Mike Goldrich once replied: “Tony, how could you possibly be the captain of a basketball team?” But he also knows that some people are smaller than their heights. Fauci was always bigger. Here’s the scouting report on Fauci: classic point guard, excellent ballhandler, pesky defender. Six of his classmates and teammates described him as a tenacious competitor in short shorts and striped socks whose feistiness on the court defied some parts of his personality and reflected others. “He was ready to drive through whoever was in his way,” said Bob Burns. “He was just a ball of fire,” Zeman said. “He would literally dribble through a brick wall.” There is no evidence of Tony Fauci literally dribbling Dr. Fauci on page 16B
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Watchman recruited to EOU lacrosse team Women’s program starting in 2021 at La Grande college By Wil Phinney of the CUJ
LA GRANDE – When the women’s lacrosse program begins next year at Eastern Oregon University (EOU), Kiana Watchman will be an integral part of the Mounties inaugural team. Watchman, the daughter of Lindsey X. Watchman, General Council Chair of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, was the second young woman recruited to the team by new coach Monica Plut. Kiana, who is currently attending Snow College in Utah, played high school lacrosse in Boise, finished her junior and senior seasons as a varsity attacker at Centennial High School. She plans to start her second year of college at EOU next fall where she will continue studying physical therapy. Kiana is excited about attending EOU, where he father graduated in 2000. “I’m getting back to my roots,” Kiana said. “Eastern is a lot closer to my family between Boise and Pendleton. I’m pretty tight with my half-siblings; we’ve gotten pretty close over the years and now I’ll be over there a lot more often.” Kiana said her father has shared with her a lot of the history of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people, a culture and tradition Kiana Watchman that’s been missing from her life. “That’s also why I feel so passionate about getting back to my roots since I haven’t got to grow up in Pendleton with all the culture,” she said. “This definitely brings it a lot closer. It will help me have a stronger relationship with the people.” Kiana graduated from Centennial High School in Boise, Idaho in 2019 and took the fall off before starting at Snow College in Ephriam, Utah. “I wanted an out-of-state experience,” she said. “I toured some small schools and Snow fit. I’ve been training out here and keeping up my skills.” Kiana played volleyball through her freshman year in high school but during sophomore training “fell out of it.” “I knew I still wanted to play sports,” she said, so instead of a non-contact sport like volleyball, she considered lacrosse and rugby. A friend suggested she try the sport started by Native Americans back in the 17th Century. Additionally, her father, Lindsey, was helping Tribal youth learn lacrosse in the CTUIR Recreation Program. “I played with them and it was natural. I fell in love with it,” Kiana said. She made the junior varsity club team at Rocky Mountain High School before transferring to Centennial the next year. The state high school athletic association considered lacrosse a club sport in the first year, but all the high schools in the Boise valley also had non-sanctioned teams. In her junior and senior years, however, lacrosse was recognized and began to receive funding with access to a trainer, equipment, etc. Kiana played the offensive position of attacker, which is a front-line scorer. She’s quick with the ball and leads team transitions. If she doesn’t score she’ll be in on assists. “I’m speedy and accurate, too,” Kiana said. “I also draw control when I’m in the middle.” Coach Monica Plut recruited Kiana without meeting her.
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Kiana Watchman, the daughter of Lindsey X. Watchman, Chair of the General Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, was the second recruit for the Eastern Oregon University women’s lacrosse team. Here she is playing for Centennial High School in Boise.
“After talking with her I could feel her passion and understood she had the heart to keep playing,” Plut said. Kiana was Centennial’s top scorer, which doesn’t always mean you’re the best player on the field, Plut said. “The top scorer of a team can also be lazy,” the Coach said. “I asked her, ‘Do you play with heart? What do you like about lacrosse? Do you practice outside of practice?’ We talked about all of that. From those answers I made my decision. I don’t think she’s reached her full potential yet and she wants to work hard toward that goal.” Plut’s first recruit was Sydney Shaughnessy from Meridian High School, a team also from the Boise area. Both young women fit into Plut’s plan. “I’m looking for competitive people. I want to try to build a family attitude, a culture of sports psychology. Kiana said she was looking for a place to lift everyone up, to work harder and to work together. She knows lacrosse needs a team, that you can’t do it by yourself and she Coach Monica Plut wants to have that team relationship.” Plut, who was born in Toronto and grew up in Georgia, began playing lacrosse at the age of 10 years old. She played defense and midfield in high school and club lacrosse at Georgia Southern University where she earned a degree in management and marketing. Certified as a coach by U.S. Lacrosse, Plut took her first coaching job at a high school in Chicago where she was working in logistical sales making 500 cold calls a week as a middle-man between truck drivers and product. She didn’t really like that kind of work. She moved to Lexington, Kentucky, and went to
Confederated Umatilla Journal
work for the Hyatt Hotel chain and found a team to coach in Woodford County. The year before she arrived the team didn’t win a game. Her first year they won non-sanctioned games in competition with Lexington and Louisville teams; the second year they reached the state championship. She coached next at Sayre School in Lexington where the girls made the state semi finals in their second year as a team. She moved on to Division 2 Adams State University in southern Colorado. “I jumped at the opportunity. I took over a program with nine girls who had never played before against schools in our conference that were number three, five and eleven in the nation. I spent a year trying to develop a new program, keeping it positive, making sure our experienced players didn’t get bored. “I grew a lot as a coach and became closer to the players. We redefined success because you don’t always find it on the scoreboard. Sometimes you cut down on turnovers and complete transitions to find success,” Plut said. Plut started a sports psychology master’s program in August at Adams. “It’s kind of how I coach now. It’s a mental game. Supportive, confident. I want to dive deeper into that aspect.” Then she saw the posting for a women’s lacrosse coach at Eastern. “When that opened I kept my eye on it. I thought it would be awesome,” Plut said. “I always wanted to live in Oregon.” She visited the state twice last year, first to a recruitment tournament in Portland. And a second time when she drove from Boise to Pendleton, a halfway point where she met a friend. They actually met at Wildhorse Resort & Casino on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. At Eastern, Plut sees the chance do something few get to do. “It’s an opportunity to build a program from Watchman recruited on page 9B
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The Native American players used sticks with netting, much like today’s rackets, however, preparing for the game was very similar to preparing for war. Players would adorn war paint and decorate their sticks with paint and feathers. They used small leather-hide balls, stuffed with animal hair. Some early versions of the ball were made from wood, while others were made of stuffed deer hide or even solid rubber. Playing fields could go on for miles, and typically the game time lasted from sun up until sundown.
Native Americans introduced lacrosse in 17th century
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acrosse was given its name by early French settlers, using the generic term for any game played with a curved stick (crosse) and a ball. Native terminology, however, tends to describe more the technique Dehuntshigwa’es in Onondaga (“men hit a rounded object”) or, begadw in Mohawk (“little brother of war”) especially in the southeast, to underscore the game’s aspects of war surrogacy. The game has also been called baaga’adowe (bump hips”) in Ojibe and kabucha in Choctaw. There is evidence of Native Americans playing the game in the 17th century in the Great Lakes area, according to The History of Lacrosse, which is part of American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War, written by Thomas Vennum Jr. In his book, Vennum writes: There is no evidence of non-Indians taking up the game until the mid-nineteenth century, when English-speaking Montrealers adopted the Mohawk game they were familiar with from Caughnawauga and Akwesasne, attempted to “civilize” the sport with a new set of rules and organize into amateur clubs. Once the game quickly grew in popularity in Canada, it began to be exported throughout the Commonwealth, as non-Native teams traveled to Europe for exhibition matches against Iroquois players. Ironically, because Indians had to charge money in order to travel, they were excluded as “professionals” from international competition for more than a century. Only with the formation of the Iroquois Nationals in the 1980s did they successfully break this barrier and become eligible to compete in World Games. Apart from its recreational function, lacrosse traditionally played a more
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As many as 1,000 men from opposing villages or tribes would participate in games that could last for several days. The games were played on open plains located between the two villages, and the goals could range from 500 yards to six miles apart.
serious role in Indian culture. Native American ball games often involved hundreds of players, according to “An Indian Ball-Play, by George Catlin, who wrote about and made paintings of Choctaw Indian games in the mid-1800s. As many as 1,000 men from opposing villages or tribes would participate in games that could last for several days. The games were played on open plains located between the two villages, and the goals could range from 500 yards to six miles apart. Rules for the games were decided on the day before. Generally there was no out-of-bounds and the ball could not be touched with the hands. The goals would be selected as large rocks
or trees; in later years wooden posts were used. Playing time was often from sunup until sundown. The game began with the ball began tossed into the air and the two sides rushing to catch it. Because of the large number of players involved, the games generally tended to involve a huge mob of players swarming the ball and slowly moving across the field. The object of the game was basically the same as it is today: to get the ball through the other team’s goal in order to score points, using body checks and stick checks as needed to steal the ball from the other team. Passing the ball was thought of as a trick and it was seen as cowardly to dodge an opponent. The medicine men acted as coaches
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and the women of the tribes were usually limited to serving refreshments to the players. However, there was a women’s version of lacrosse called amtahcha, which used much shorter sticks with larger heads. The Native American players used sticks with netting, much like today’s rackets, however, preparing for the game was very similar to preparing for war. Players would adorn war paint and decorate their sticks with paint and feathers. They used small leather-hide balls, stuffed with animal hair. Some early versions of the ball were made from wood, while others were made of stuffed deer hide or even solid rubber. Playing fields could go on for miles, and typically the game time lasted from sun up until sundown. Each team was required to place wagers on the game, which included valued items, food or tools, even horses. The winner of the game would receive the prizes, which were on display during the game to spurn players on. At the end of each game, there was a ceremonial feast for each tribe and their players, the original form of sportsmanship. Since the game was very rough and people could be injured and even die while playing, Native Americans used lacrosse as a way of training young men to be warriors, and the game was used to settle disputes without actually going to war. Vennum wrote that a Creek versus Choctaw game around 1790 to determine rights over a beaver pond broke out into a violent battle when the Creeks were declared winners. Still, while the majority of the games ended peaceably, much of the ceremonialism surrounding their preparations and the rituals required of the players Native American lacrosse on page 9B
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School work distributed
Representatives from the Pendleton School District brought homework packets to the Community Gym March 27. The packets include five weeks of grade-appropriate school work and will continue to be distributed as needed. On the right, Sarah and Matt Yoshioka hand third grade packets to Sedia Crane.To obtain a packet, parents or guardians can call Yoshioka at 541-966-3260. CUJ photo/Casey Brown
Thank you letter THANK YOU TO ALL who were first responders after the flood. Such gracious, thoughtful, sincere help. I cannot thank you enough. I am truly, truly grateful and blessed. Sincerely, Judy Beers
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Wash your hands.
STAY HEALTHY! Through April we will be ‘open’ 10-3 on weekdays (Doors will be locked, but we’ll be inside working)
Closed Sat & Sun thru April
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Native American lacrosse Continued from page 7B
When disputes arose over land or resources, tribes would agree to a contest instead of rushing into war. These contests would be scheduled at agreeable times for both tribes and would end the dispute with less bloodshed, though broken bones and severe injuries were not uncommon, and death was not unheard of in the contests. A number of factors led to the demise of lacrosse in many areas by the late nineteenth century. Wagering on games had always been integral to an Indian community’s involvement, but when betting and violence saw an increase as traditional Indian culture was eroding, it sparked opposition to
lacrosse from government officials and missionaries. The games were felt to interfere with church attendance and the wagering to have an impoverishing effect on the Indians. When Oklahoma Choctaw began to attach lead weights to their sticks around 1900 to use them as skull-crackers, the game was outright banned. Lacrosse may have served as a more sensible replacement for war, but it wasn’t solely a dispute-settler. The sport was also used by tribes to cultivate social relationships. Each tribe had different mythology regarding the origins of the game, and the ball was representative of the sun and the moon, which according to legend, the gods tossed back and forth in the original
game. Lacrosse also had religious significance among some tribes. It was called the Creator’s Game, and it helped the players put their lives into perspective and teach lessons, some of the most valuable lessons being that everyone has struggles and opponents and the key to survival is friends and allies. Meanwhile, the spread of non-Native lacrosse from the Montreal area eventually led to its position today worldwide as one of the fastest growing sports (more than half a million players), controlled by official regulations and played with manufactured rather than hand-made equipment— the aluminum shafted stick with its
plastic head, for example. While the Great Lakes traditional game died out by 1950, the Iroquois and southeastern tribes continue to play their own forms of lacrosse. Ironically, the field lacrosse game of non-Native women today most closely resembles the Indian game of the past, retaining the wooden stick, lacking the protective gear and demarcated sidelines of the men’s game, and tending towards mass attack rather than field positions and offsides. Several sources were used to compile the information for this article, including the U.S. Lacrosse Association, as well as an article penned by Grady Winston and journals attributed to George Catlin.
Watchman recruited Continued from page 7B
scratch,” she said. “I’m not fixing a program. It’s an opportunity to build a program, to get the players I want on my team. It’s cool, a unique situation.” Plut sees the opportunity to introduce lacrosse to the La Grande area and plans to visit outlying schools. She wants elementary schools to incorporate lacrosse into their PE curriculums. Meanwhile, Plut is continuing her Adams State University psychology classes on line. And fulfilling her off-season coaching duties: “recruit, recruit, recruit.” Any lacrosse players are encouraged
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to reach out to her, Plut said. “I want to work with athletes over the summer. I don’t care how long you’ve been playing if you have potential and want to work hard to get there,” she said. There could be scholarships available for experienced lacrosse players and academic scholarships as well, the Coach said. “The season actually begins in the spring so this year we’re getting ready. We may have some games in the fall,” Plut said. Right now there are only two Cascade Collegiate Conference schools that play lacrosse – EOU and Corbin. There
need to be five or six teams for lacrosse to be considered as a conference sport. “Next year we’ll literally play anybody and everybody,” Plut said. “Hopefully in the next couple of years it will be a conference sport.” Plut said lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the United States. “Even more so on the girls’ side,” Plut said. “We want to be trailblazers and bring something new to the region.”
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A Family Happy Birthday to Ian Bratlie, Keets Kerwin, Serenity Taylor, Warren Williams and Samantha Kunz
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46314 Timine Way 541-966-9830
Pendleton, Oregon 97801 www.yellowhawk.org
‘Our Tribal Community achieves optimal health through a culture of wellness.’
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Yellowstone slaughters bison to shrink park’s herds By MATTHEW BROWN of the Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. - Yellowstone National Park is done capturing wild bison for the year after rounding up almost 550 of the wild animals and sending most to slaughter as part of a population control program, park officials said. The culling is carried out under a legal agreement between federal and state officials aimed at preventing the spread of an animal disease to cattle. In addition to those captured, about 270 bison have been killed by Native American tribal hunters as the hulking beasts migrated outside the park to graze
at lower elevations in Montana, according to figures released March 27. The annual slaughter of an iconic animal that’s featured on the National Park Service logo has long drawn criticism from wildlife advocates and some members of Congress. Officials insist the program is necessary to prevent cattle in the Yellowstone region from being infected with brucellosis, which can cause abortions in pregnant animals. Park officials had sought to reduce Yellowstone’s approximately 4,900 bison by 600 to 900 animals this year. At least 822 animals have been killed or removed, according to figures provided by park
officials. Before closing down the bison capture pens along the park border near the small Montana community of Gardiner in recent days, workers consigned 442 bison to slaughter, said Yellowstone bison biologist Chris Geremia. The meat is distributed to members of American Indian tribes. Of the animals that were captured, 105 were kept alive for potential enrollment in a quarantine program that transfers disease-free animals to locations outside the park. One bison died in the park’s holding pens. After bison calves are born this spring, the park’s herds are likely to be down
slightly in numbers compared to last year, Geremia said. Members of some American Indian tribes with treaty hunting rights in the Yellowstone region were expected to continue harvesting bison through the end of this month and possibly longer. To reduce the number of bison slaughtered, state and park officials have allowed the animals to roam more freely in parts of Montana and recently sought to expand the quarantine program so bison declared disease-free can be relocated. But that has not satisfied critics. Wildlife advocates last week filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington D.C. seeking to protect Yellowstone bison under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has previously rejected calls to protect the animals.
SD Governor signs bill that criminalizes so-called ‘riot-boosting’ PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed a bill that revives the state’s criminal and civil penalties for rioting and inciting a riot, the Republican governor’s office said. Noem had told lawmakers months before the session began that she would revive the so-called ``riot-boosting’’ penalties. A federal judge found parts of the state’s riot laws unconstitutional last year, in part because they were targeted at opponents to the Keystone XL pipeline. The proposal drew demonstrations from Native American and environmental groups, but did not face any major opposition from Republican legislators. Noem said the bill uses the ``narrowest’’ definitions of rioting and inciting a riot and only goes after people who commit violence or cause damage. But opponents said the bill would have a ``chilling effect’’ on peaceful protests and creates a false narrative that Native American people are violent. The South Dakota Legislature passed a similar law last year aimed at demonstrations against the pipeline. At the time, Noem said it was necessary to have civil penalties for people or groups that fund violent demonstrations, calling the action ``riot boosting.’’ But a federal judge last year found parts of that law, as well as several older laws on the books, to be unconstitutional. One of the reasons the judge found parts of a ``riot boosting’’ law passed last year to be unconstitutional was because it was created in response to potential demonstrations against the Keystone XL pipeline. Several Indian tribes in the state opposed the bill, putting a strain on the governor’s relationship with the tribes.
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EASTERN OREGON CENTER FOR
INDEPENDENT LIVING
Wildhorse celebrates 25 years
Wildhorse Resort & Casino celebrated 25 years with its popular fireworks show March 14, even as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning its march across the United States. The pyrotechnics extravaganza put on by Wildhorse draws onlookers from across the region and, in fact, causes motorists to stop along Interstate 84 to watch the sky light up.
A Global Disability Resource and Advocacy Center EOCIL is a proud supporter of the CTUIR community and other communities and programs that promote and value inclusion, equality and opportunities for people with disabilities. EOCIL is a global disability resource and advocacy center that provides an array of services for people with disabilities. EOCIL is operated by people with disabilities.
Services Available: - Informational and Referral - Independent Living Skills Training (budgeting and financial management, cooking, application assistance, etc.) - Peer Counseling - Individual Advocacy - Life Transitions (school to employment, home to home, corrections to community, etc.) - LGBTQ and two spirit resources
- Support Groups - Youth Mentoring Project - Representative Payee Project - Emergency Financial Assistance - Accessibility Assistance - HIV/AIDS Independent Living Project - And many other services
Locations: EOCIL has three locations: 322 SW 3rd St., Pendleton, Ore. webpage: www.eocil.org Email: eocil@eocil.org 541-276-1037 711 Relay Toll free: 1-877-711-1037 1021 SW 5th Avenue, Ontario, Ore. 541-889-3119 Voice 711 Relay Toll free 1-844-489-3119
The Dalles Office 400 East Scenic Drive Building 2, Third Floor, Suite 2 The Dalles, Oregon 541-370-2810 Toll free: 1-844-370-2810 Providing services in Harney, Malheur, Baker, Union, Grant, Wallowa, Umatilla, Morrow, Wheeler and Gilliam, Wasco, Sherman and Hood River counties.
CUJ photo/Dallas Dick
Washington utility to buy power from Montana tribal group BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Washington state electric utility signed a contract to purchase hydroelectric power from a Montana tribal company. Puget Sound Energy Inc. signed the 15-year contract to draw power from a project operated by Energy Keepers Inc., owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, The Billings Gazette reports. The Selis Ksanka Qlispe hydroelectric project, which includes a Flathead River dam, will provide 40 megawatts of power to Puget. The deal will supplant Puget’s delivery of coal-fired electricity from the Colstrip Power Plant in Montana after 2025. Washington utilities face a 2025 deadline to stop billing customers for coal
EOCIL is a supporter of: aocil.org • endhivoregon.org • adrcoforegon.org 14B
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power under the state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act, which requires electricity to be free of greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Puget is cutting its coal ties. The Bellevue, Washington, utility agreed to sell its 25% share of Colstrip Unit to NorthWestern Energy Corp., pending regulatory approval. Energy Keepers in Polson, Montana, is benefiting from the move away from coal. The company finalized the deal with Puget in February and began supplying energy in March. Several large Montana customers that previously bought electricity from Talen Energy Corp., which sells the Colstrip plant’s power, have been picked up by Energy Keepers, an official said.
Hang on... April 2020
CUJ Briefly Oregon Humanities offers chance to connect with new pen pal during stay at home orders PORTLAND – Oregon Humanities has created a letter-exchange program to offer a chance for connecting. They invite Oregonians to exchange a letter with someone they’ve never met. Oregon Humanities is a statewide organization that brings people together to talk, listen, and learn from one another. “With many of us isolated physically this spring, the need for human connection feels more urgent than ever,” says Ben Waterhouse, communications manager for Oregon Humanities and creator of the Dear Stranger project. “We can’t bring people together in person right now, but we can still provide ways to reach out and be heard.” They state that the aim of the program is to “create shared understanding among Oregonians with different backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs.” Oregon Humanities says the premise is to write a letter, get a letter, and make a new connection. Participants should send their letters to Oregon Humanities along with a signed permission form (also available
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at oregonhumanities.org). “Letters are swapped anonymously, and each person receives a letter from the person who received the one they wrote. What happens next is up to the writers. If they’d like to write back, they can do so through Oregon Humanities.” Youth are welcome to participate with a signed consent form. Prompts can be found at oregonhumanities.org, and letters will be address to Oregon Humanities, ATTN: Dear Stranger, 921 SW Washington St., Suite 150, Portland, Oregon, 97205. For more information about the Dear Strangers project, contact Ben Waterhouse at b.waterhouse@oregonhumanities.org.
Yellowhawk offers social media spirit week for National Public Health Week April 6-10 MISSION - Join the Spirit Week April 6-10 hosted by Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center. It is in support of National Public Health Week. “Each day this week, join us in recognizing an important public health topic.” Monday, April 6 is “Mindful Monday,” and the color to wear is green.
“Speak out to reduce the stigma of mental health.” On Tuesday, wear turquoise to support maternal and child health. Yellowhawk asks you to check if your workplace supports the need of new and expecting parents. On Wednesday, wear read to support violence prevention and honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls (MMIWG). On Thursday, wear blue to support environmental health. Yellowhawk says you can take action to prevent worsening climate change. They ask you to do that on Thursday as part of the spirit week. On Friday. Wear Nixyaawii gear to support quality education. The activity on that day is to advocate for quality education that helps students succeed. Find information on Yellowhawk’s Facebook page each day for more tips on what you can do to raise awareness and create a healthier CTUIR community.
Studded tires allowed in Oregon until May 1 SALEM- Vehicle owners in Oregon will not be required to remove studded tires until May 1. This change is in response to the current public health emergency as we are all taking steps to
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slow the spread of COVID-19. The extension beyond the original March 31 deadline was approved by the Oregon Department of Transportation due to limited business hours and social distancing measures currently in place. For additional information about steps ODOT is taking to slow the spread of the virus, visit their website.
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Head 2 Toes Full Service Salon & Spa 221 South Main St. Suite 2 Pendleton, OR 541-379-0010
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Dr. Fauci was a basketball captain. Now he’s America’s point guard. Continued from page 5B
through a brick wall. But the Regis gym was bricklined until his junior year. By the time he was a senior, Fauci was a natural choice for team captain. He also happened to be one of Regis’s best players. Fauci was the outside threat, and his pal Artie Guarino was the inside force. “It was like Mutt and Jeff with Guarino and Fauci,” said George Garces, one of the school’s three cheerleaders. Fauci scored 10.2 points per game, according to the school yearbook, but his teammates say those stats were deceptive. The team would have fallen apart without him. “The leader doesn’t always score the most points,” Zeman said. “He was the leader.” “He wasn’t a yeller, and he wasn’t a rah-rah-rah guy, but everybody looked up to him,” said Tom McCorry, a classmate and future college-basketball coach. “He worked hard and he was very unselfish—kind of the way he shows now. He really is the same person.” Regis’s players needed his leadership as they crammed into a subway car on the way to a rival school in the Bronx one afternoon. They also could have used talent. It had been a lousy season. They had only won one game. Fordham Prep had come to Regis a few weeks earlier and won by 16 points. And there was no reason to believe this night would be any different. The exact details of what happened in this one magical game have been forgotten to history. But the game itself was unforgettable because of the final score: Regis 64, Fordham Prep 51. Regis’s players didn’t know how to react to this strange phenomenon otherwise known as winning a basketball game. They ran to the locker room to
celebrate before realizing they were being called back to the floor to collect a trophy that Fordham Prep figured would be staying at Fordham Prep. “I remember that game like yesterday,” Zeman said. The upset was such a seminal event that Fauci’s teammates believe it must have left a permanent mark on him. This is someone who’s lived through the AIDS epidemic and the swine flu pandemic, cared personally for Ebola patients and now finds himself dealing with a virus that has long been his worst fear. But they insist he would remember this one high-school basketball game. “I would bet a lot of money on it,” Burns said. Fauci couldn’t be reached to reminisce about his high-school basketball career. It would take more than six decades for the other team’s star player to find out the name of Regis’s captain. Fordham Prep’s star that season was an all-city guard named Donnie Walsh who played at the University of North Carolina, coached the Denver Nuggets and built the Indiana Pacers and his hometown Knicks. Not until last week did he discover that he also crossed paths with a doctor he now admires on television. “I am sure Regis is proud to have him as an alumnus,” Walsh said in an email. The other players on that Regis team keep tabs on Fauci by turning on their TVs and watching the rest of the nation come to respect him. On the day in January when the White House announced its coronavirus task force—another team of 12 people who treat Fauci as their captain—Higney sent him an email with the subject line “Note from Regis Classmate” not knowing if he would hear back. Fauci responded that night. “I hope that you are well,” he wrote. “Those were indeed the good old days.”
t c e El
PAT MAIER Candidate for
Umatilla County Commissioner I believe in: - God and our Christian Nation before all others - Our Constitution and our First and Second Amendments. - Less government and taxes, balanced budgets and financial transparency. - Openness, honesty and integrity in our government; no back room deals. - No foreign land ownership in USA. - Government entities receiving tax dollars should not compete against private businesses. - Legal immigration only. - Small business ownership and entrepreneurs. - Drug and alcohol testing for those on public assistance. - Helping the homeless rejoin society. - Support 40 hour living wage.
I believe in: - Tax deferred projects should pay prevailing construction wages to all companies. Owners of deferred projects should pay all costs including roads and utilities. - No business should refuse to take cash which is legal tender. Paid for by the Committee to Elect Pat Maier Umatilla County Commissioner
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Color Connection ‘Our ancestors were great artists with color and designs. As I study the floral designs and geometric designs, they just melt my heart.’ - Ellen Taylor
Ellen Taylor finds artistic inspiration in ancestors By Casey Brown of the CUJ
hen she can’t sleep, Ellen Taylor doesn’t toss and turn. Instead, she channels that energy. She gets up and goes to her studio, puts on her favorite music by George Michael or Sade, and creates artwork with the brightest pinks, yellows, reds, blues, and purples. Orange, if needed. Some black and white for balance, and then more yellows and pinks. Bright colors, straight out of the tube. She was told in art school to tone it down, mix colors to change shades, change hues. But she didn’t listen, didn’t want to change, so she’s kept painting with the colors of the rainbow – out of the tube. “It’s quiet and something happens to your brain during that time of day,” Taylor said. “I like to paint in that state of mind.” Her work is well known in the Plateau region and it’s started to travel beyond here. One of her pieces resides at the University of Idaho as a permanent installation, another in Nashville, and another with a family in Gramercy Park in New York City. Even when she gets up so early, sometimes as early as 4 o’ clock in the morning, she said she doesn’t feel tired throughout the day while she’s at her day job. Because of her artwork’s popularity, Taylor has traveled throughout the region. She has a one-woman show scheduled to take place at the Warm Springs Museum that was temporarily postponed due to social distancing guidelines (to prevent the spread of COVID-19). It will be rescheduled once restrictions allow. As part of her show, she will teach an art class to 20 people. “I enjoy painting, designing, and teaching art,” she
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“Prayer Warrior” painting by Ellen Taylor.
said. “Art is good for the soul.” It won’t be her first time in front of a classroom or hosting a one-woman show. Last year she taught hat-painting classes at Tamáskslikt Cultural Institute; each student painted their own Ellen Taylor style hat. Taylor developed her hat-painting technique, in which she paints Native designs on straw hats, during Art in the Park at the Pendleton Round-Up. It was here way to bridge Indian and cowboy cultures. “People like those,” she said. During her day job, Ellen does marketing at Wildhorse Resort & Casino in the player’s club, Club Wild, which is responsible for promotions and customer service. She attended the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico for two years, where she continued the education she started at Blue Mountain Community College. Her mentor, Sis Moses, also encouraged her as she developed her artistic point of view, and she draws
Confederated Umatilla Journal
inspiration from other Native artists such as T.C. Cannon, John Wilson, Ric Gendron, and Maynard Whiteowl, plus non-Native artists such as Picasso and Andy Warhol. Being in a casino every day increases her chances of seeing decks of cards, which became the inspiration for her to make art. It all began when she took the face cards and repainted them into Native characters. “I feel a spiritual connection to our ancestors. I feel like they are still around us.” Along the way, she learned that she is the greatgreat granddaughter of “Poker Jim,” a well-known figure in the region. Fate led her to a surprise in Milton-Freewater where she felt she “had” to go into a second-hand store that was closing. Inside she found four black and white photographs of her great grandfathers. Her ancestors continue to inspire her. The more she paints, the more she finds her ancestors. “Our ancestors were great artists with color and designs,” she said. “As I study the floral designs and geometric designs, they just melt my heart.” She also thinks about the generations that are here now and the generations to come. It’s important to Ellen to pass on her knowledge. Her main message to young artists? Don’t hurry. “One thing about being a great artist is taking your time with pieces and not rushing your work,” she said. “We have a lot of young artists, and I am always willing to share my experience with them. My art is my business, and I enjoy sharing with new artists and giving them advice.” To all artists she says, “Do not give up.” Details about her one woman show at the Warm Springs Museum can be found on her website ellentaylorartist.com.
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Klamath River symbolizes struggle over western water KLAMATH, Calif. (AP) _ California’s second-largest river has sustained Native American tribes with plentiful salmon for millennia, provided upstream farmers with irrigation water for generations and served as a haven for retirees who built dream homes along its banks. With so many demands, the Klamath River has come to symbolize a larger struggle over the American West’s increasingly precious water resources, and who has claim to them. Now, plans to demolish four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath’s lower reaches _ the largest such demolition project in U.S. history _ have placed those competing interests in stark relief. Tribes, farmers, homeowners and conservationists all have a stake in the dams’ fate. ``We are saving salmon country, and we’re doing it through reclaiming the West,`` said Amy Cordalis, a Yurok tribal attorney fighting for dam removal. The project, estimated at nearly $450 million, would reshape the Klamath River and empty giant reservoirs, and could revive plummeting salmon populations by reopening habitat that has been blocked for more than a century. The proposal fits into a trend in the U.S. toward dam demolition as these infrastructure projects age and become less economically viable. More than 1,700 dams have been dismantled nationwide since 2012. Backers of the Klamath Dam removal say the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could vote this spring on whether to transfer the dams’ hydroelectric licenses from the current operator, PacifiCorp, to a nonprofit formed to oversee the demolition. Drawdown of the reservoirs behind the dams could begin as early as 2022, ac-
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cording the nonprofit, the Klamath River Renewal Corp. Opponents, including a group of residents who live around a reservoir, say without the dams, their waterfront properties will become mudflats and their homes will lose value. ``If we get halfway through and they blow a hole in the dam just to let the water out _ to say, `Yeah, we done this’ _ they can walk away from it. And we have no recourse whatsoever,’’ said Herman Spannus, whose great-grandfather first ran a ranch in the area in 1856. The structures at the center of the debate are the four southernmost dams in a string of six constructed in southern Oregon and far northern California beginning in 1918. They were built for power generation, and none has ``fish ladders,`` concrete chutes fish can pass through. Two dams to the north are not targeted for demolition. They have fish passage and are part of a massive irrigation system that straddles the Oregon-California border and provides water to more than 300 square miles (777 square kilometers) of crops. Those farmers won’t be directly affected but worry the demolition will set a precedent. ``Dam removal on this scale is kind of unprecedented,’’ said Ben DuVal, who farms 300 acres (121 hectares). ``I don’t want to be the one who ends up giving up my livelihood in order to fix a problem down there that was caused by a big experiment.’’ The deolition plan is good business for PacifiCorp, which holds the dams’ hydroelectric licenses. They’re expired, and renewing them would require more than $400 million in federally mandated
modifications. Under under the demolition plan, $200 million will come from California and Oregon ratepayers, and $250 million will come from a voter-approved California water bond, with no liability for PacifiCorp. For the region’s tribes, the push to remove the dams is much more than financial calculus. ``I actually credit a lot of our men and women’s depression to the fact that they fish for days and days and days and days and don’t catch anything,’’ said Georgiana Gensaw, who is Yurok and lives on the reservation. ``We want to bring salmon home.`` Coho salmon from the Klamath River are listed as threatened under federal and California law, and their population in
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the river has fallen anywhere from 52% to 95%. Spring chinook, once the Klamath Basin’s largest run, has dwindled by 98%. Fall chinook have been so meager in the past few years that the Yurok canceled fishing for the first time in the tribe’s memory. In 2017, they bought fish at a grocery store for their annual salmon festival. Yet even demolition advocates say dam removal won’t be enough on its own. Salmon face deteriorating ocean conditions due to climate change, and the many tributaries that feed into the Klamath River are degraded. For their part, homeowners around the biggest reservoir, Copco Lake, feel a strong sense of place in the houses they built decades ago, with no idea the dams could ever come down.
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