JUNE 2025
NEWS DAILY @ CUJ ONLINE
VOLUME 33 ISSUE 06
THE MONTHLY NEWSPAPER OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE UMATILLA INDIAN RESERVATION
CTUIR celebrates 15th annual Flag Day
CTUIR tribal member military veterans participate in posting of the colors outside the Nixyáawii Governance Center during the tribe’s annual Flag Day ceremony on May 20, 2025.
CHRIS AADLAND The CUJ MISSION - Dozens of community members gathered last month to recognize the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation holiday recognizing the tribal flag. The annual event – the only holiday the tribe recognizes that isn’t shared by anyone else – was held at the Nixyáawii
Governance Center on May 20. About 60 attendees heard remarks about the significance of the flag to the CTUIR, along with witnessing a procession that was opened and closed by the big drum to mark the 15th year the day has been recognized. The CTUIR flag was adopted by the General Council in May 2001 and by the Board of Trustees on May 20, 2002.
BOT leaders designated May 20 as Flag Day in 2010. General Council Chairman Alan Crawford and Vice Chairman Michael Ray Johnson provided opening remarks and an invocation, while General Council Secretary Martina Gordon provided the dedication for the flag. “Our tribal flag is our representation of who we are,” Crawford told attendees. “We want the tribal flag to be flown on our ceded lands. It is in the schools. Last year, we brought one to Ukiah, we brought one to Weston-McEwen High School. Our flag flies at our state capitol.” CTUIR Education and Training Committee Chairman Boots Pond – who said he was in first grade when the BOT adopted the flag in 2002 – gave this year’s address, saying the day is a day for celebration, honoring, reflection and to carry on the vision of the tribe’s ancestors and leaders who signed the Treaty of 1855. The flag is a timeless symbol that will always reflect the CTUIR’s history, experiences of its members and the
tribe’s place in its homelands. “There’s been a lot that’s happened to me to get to this day – some good, some bad. For everyone else, your past to get to this day has been vastly different,” he said. “What has remained unchanged after all this time, what’s remained unchanged, is the way the CTUIR flag carries and will continue to carry [memories]. Our memories as Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla [people] will survive with the flag.” During the ceremony, CTUIR military veterans led a procession and posting of the colors, as well as raising the new flag and retiring the old one that had flown outside of the Nixyáawii Governance Center. The CTUIR flag was adopted by the General Council in May 2001 and by the Board of Trustees on May 20, 2002. BOT leaders designated May 20 as Flag Day in 2010.
2025 Happy Canyon Appreciation Award honors two women
scene is beautiful as the Tribe lines
CTUIR 46411 Timine Way Pendleton, OR 97801
PENDLETON - The Happy Canyon Board of Directors The Awards began the awards in 1982 to recognize those key individuals who are devoted and have gone above and beyond to see the continuing success of Happy Canyon. TRINETTE MINTHORN Trinette Minthorn is a fifth generation show participant, and her family has taken part in the show since the Tribal scenes were added in 1916. She is also a relative of Anna Minthorn Wannassay, who helped Roy Raley write the current script around 1916, adding in the beautiful Tribal scenes we enjoy today. Trinette began in the show as a baby in a baby board which is what show volunteers like to call “voluntold”. Her family, including her mom, Theresa Parker, put Trinette in the parts performing at the top of the scenery with the Tribal actors in Regalia – this
across the top of the wooden scenery. Trinette then was asked to act in the beginning of the show in the morning scenes with Loretta Pinkham Alexander, who performed part of the weaving demonstration. This was a huge honor for Trinette to do this part with Loretta. In 2007, Trinette was asked by Armand Minthorn and Marjorie Waheneka to help with narration. The Happy Canyon Show narration is a key and important part of the show, and she continues to serve in narration
today. The narration was added in 2002 to help the audience understand the traditions and culture of the Tribal member scenes. Trinette’s children are now also performing key parts, continuing her long family tradition. They each have the same love of the show and its legacy in their family. To Trinette, Happy Canyon means legacy and the story of family, partnerships and relationships. One of her favorite memories of the show was Continued on page 6
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