Four NCS tracksters, with their coach, Weyekin Wildbill, qualified and competed in the Oregon Class 1A track meet at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon. For more go to Section B.
The monthly newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Pendleton, Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Youth Leadership Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and tribal member Gabe Sheoships are recipients of the 2023 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Awards.
The Indigenous Leadership Awards (ILAs) are a celebration of the wisdom, determination, and continuum of Indigenous leadership throughout the Pacific Northwest, including British Columbia and southeast Alaska.
Since 2001, 60 outstanding Indigenous leaders have been recognized for their unwavering dedication to uplift the environmental, cultural, economic, and social conditions of their communities and homelands.
Continued on Page 4
A Huff Post story about the controversial hunting of bison at Yellowstone features members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. See the story on Page 22A.
By the CUJ
MISSION – The addition of kindergarten through eighth grades at the Nixyaawii Education Center will take a step forward this summer after a consultant is hired in June, according to Modesta Minthorn, director of the Department of Education for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
“K-8 has always been a focus of the Tribes. By the end of June, a consultant should be hired and we’ll be rocking and rolling,” said Minthorn.
Currently, the Education facility includes Head Start and daycare on the south side with Nixyaawii Community School, the 9-12 high school, on the north side. The 64,000 square foot building includes the CTUIR Language Program, a gymnasium, cafeteria, and other adult classrooms, as well as administrative offices.
A request-for-proposals (RFP) was distributed this spring to determine the feasibility of adding K-8.
“We are currently reviewing proposals to hire a consultant, to see if we should or could add the other grades,” Minthorn said. “The focus is to get an assessment to determine in the community will be able to support it, to see if there are enough kids.”
More than 500 Native American students attend Pendleton 16R schools with a high percentage of those students at
Continued on Page 21
Softball and other sports are inside in Section B. Here Avery Quaempts, shortstop for the Pendleton Buckaroo softball team, takes a cut at the ball. The PHS girls won their quarter final game to make it to the final four, but lost 11-10 in eight innings in the quarterfinals to Number 1 Hensley on Tuesday, May 30.
The Confederated Umatilla Journal (CUJ) was created in 1975 as the official publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), which includes the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people. The 6,000+ circulation newspaper is based out of Pendleton, Oregon, is produced by the CTUIR’s Communications Department and is printed monthly in Lewiston, Idaho.
Confederated Umatilla Journal 46411 Timine Way Pendleton, OR 97801
Phone: 541-429-7005
Fax: 541-429-7005
General inquiries via email: cuj@ctuir.org
Publisher : Kaeleen McGuire kaeleenmcguire@ctuir.org
Advertising: M. Moses-Conner monecemoses@ctuir.org
Photographer: Dallas Dick dallasdick@ctuir.org
Print subscriptions can be purchased by contacting the CTUIR Finance Department at 541-429-7150 or visiting the Finance desk at Nixyaawii Governance Center, 46411 Timine Way, Pendleton. Though the newspaper is free around the area, we do charge for mailing subscriptions to cover the printing and postage costs per issue. Those prices are as follows: One year: $15, Two years: $28
$5.50 per column inch
Common sizes: Full page: $417
Three Quarter Page: $323
Half page: $229
Quarter page: $132
Business Card: $52
The CUJ prints on the first Thursday of each month.
• Word limit: 300.
• Letters containing information found to be inaccurate/libelous will not be published.
• Letters containing profanity will not be published.
• One letter per issue will be published. Campaigning is not allowed.
• Author’s full name, address and phone number must be listed for verification purposes.
The Oregon Health Authority has issued a fish consumption advisory for Pacific lamprey in the Columbia River and its tributaries due to high levels of mercury and PCBs found in lamprey tissue.
The advisory is to limit consumers exposure to the toxic substances. The advisory does not include other migratory fish such as salmon and steelhead.
OHA advises a serving limit of four servings per month for adults and children over 6 years old. It set an advisory of two servings per month for children under age 6, women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, women who are nursing babies, and people with thyroid or immune-system problems. PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are the primary contributor to health risks because of the high lipid (fat) content of lamprey tissue.
Corinne Sams, a member of the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation who serves as the Chair of the Tribes’ Fish and Wildlife Commission, said tribes are well aware of the contamination issue and are working to address the cause, which is water pollution.
“We are working diligently to keep our fish from being contaminated,” Sams said. “Our connection, access, and consumption of lamprey and our first foods is imperative to our lifeways.”
Sams said the CTUIR Pacific Lamprey Research and Restoration Project will continue to exercise treaty rights in the Willamette River, where the research has been ongoing for more than 20 years.
The CTUIR lamprey project has developed and implemented supplementation actions for adult and larval lamprey through CTUIR usual and accustomed fishing areas. The project started in 2000 with release of adult lamprey into the headwaters of the Umatilla River. The pilot reintroduction effort was designed to document and identify spawning success in the river system. Restoration continues in the Umatilla
OHA recommends people to limit consumption of lamprey (eels) to:
OHA sampled Pacific lamprey from the rivers listed above and found PCBs and mercury (both can impair brain development and immune system function, especially in developing fetuses, babies, and children). The levels were similar among all three rivers, which leads scientists to suspect the contaminants came from the lamprey’s time in the ocean.
Preparation methods that allow fats to drop off the meat such as smoking, drying, or grilling can reduce the PCB concentration levels. The oils and fats in the fish are where PCBs accumulate.
An adult serving is 8-oz, which is about one of the pieces in the photo.
A child serving is half that (4-oz).
River and more recently has been expanded to include the Grande Ronde and Tucannon sub-basins.
Lamprey, which migrate to the Pacific Ocean and return to spawn, have been observed spawning, rearing and out-migrating in the targeted supplementation basins, Sams said.
In fact, returns of Pacific lamprey to the Umatilla River provided a harvest opportunity in 2019. However, passage through the Columbia River reservoir system continues to contribute to significant loss and delay between dams, Sams said.
This year, it is anticipated that Willamette Falls will be the focal point for Pacific lamprey harvest opportunities. The CTUIR Fish and Wildlife Commission will notify tribal members of the anticipated date for ceremonial and subsistence distribution, Sams said.
The OHA in the fall of 2022 released its fish-consumption advisory, which pro-
Babies, children, people with thyroid or immune system problems, and those who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or are nursing should take extra efforts to follow this advisory. The health effects on developing fetuses, babies, and small children of eating contaminated fish can include lifelong learning problems and cancer.
This advisory recommends limiting lamprey consumption, not removing it from your diet. Fish (including lamprey) are a healthy food source and rich in nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s provide protection from heart disease and are an important brain food for you, your children, and your unborn child.
vides information specific to the number of servings per month for youth to adults.
The OHA set the serving limit to give people a guideline to prevent a dangerous level of exposure to the toxic substances.
“This advisory recommends limiting lamprey consumption, not completely removing it from your diet,” the OHA said in a news release. “Fish, including lamprey, are rich in nutrients – omega-3 fatty acids, which provide protection from heart disease and are important brain food for you, your children, and your unborn child.”
Aja DeCouteau, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, said lamprey have been an important part of the cultures, diets, and ceremonies of Columbia Basin tribes since time immemorial.
“The tribes have been successful leading the effort to restore this threatened fish through the Columbia River Basin, not only to protect its role in the ecosystem, but also to preserve our access to this important first food. As Oregon’s largest consumers of lamprey, the advisory will impact tribal people most of all. We must work together to make limiting consumption a temporary solution because the tribes believe that the long-term solution to this problem isn’t keeping people from eating contaminated fish, it’s keeping fish from being contaminated in the first place.”
“We are working diligently to keep our fish from being contaminated. Our connection, access, and consumption of lamprey and our first foods is imperative to our lifeways.”
- Corinne Sams, member of the CTUIR Board of Trustees
KENNEWICK, Wash. - A Tri-Cities area project the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) played a key part in recently marked its completion with a public celebration attended by several Board of Trustees members.
The project, a restoration of the Port of Kennewick’s 16-acre Clover Island restored a half-mile of shoreline and nearly an acre of shallow water habitat to benefit upper Columbia River spring Chinook salmon, upper and mid-Columbia River steelhead and bull trout. The restoration was also designed to provide benefits to birds, wildlife and aquatic species at Clover Island. For non-wildlife visitors, the river walk was extended and scenic viewpoints, benches, art installations and educational panels were added. The island’s facelift also makes some land available to lease for long-term development.
The 15-year project included the tribes’ support from the beginning.
The CTUIR was one of the project’s key partners –with speakers at the celebration pointing out that the tribes’ support was vital to securing federal funding for the project -- with the Port of Kennewick and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Other partners included the Washington State Recreation & Conservation Office, Benton County, and City of Kennewick.
The port held a public ribbon-cutting May 15 to mark the completion of the project to thank partners, like the CTUIR, for their support and to show the public how the improvements are already leading to benefits, like increased bird sightings.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers specifically identified the port and CTUIR’s collaboration as a reason to award the Clover Island project federal funding, according to the port.
BOT Vice Chair Aaron Ashley, General Council Chair Lindsey Watchman, and members Lisa Ganuelas and Toby Patrick attended the event. Tribal leaders from the Yakama Nation and Nez Perce tribe also attended.
After an opening blessing from Patrick, Ashley provided remarks on behalf of the CTUIR, saying it was important for the tribes to partner on the project because
the island is located within the ceded, aboriginal and usual and accustomed lands of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people. In addition, he said many tribal members from the CTUIR continue to work, reside and exercise their reserved Treaty Rights in this area.
The project will benefit all community members, but its completion is especially gratifying for the CTUIR because it will lead to heathier habitat for salmon and other First Foods and contribute to the tribes’ efforts to improve the Columbia River Basin ecosystem so First Foods can flourish, Ashley told those who attended the ribbon cutting.
The project completion also comes exactly 10 years after the tribes and port signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on projects like the Clover Island Restoration.
The two have previously partnered on successful projects like Wiyákuktpa (The Gathering Place), art and history displays at Clover Island.
In April, members of the CTUIR Youth Leadership Council visited Washington, D.C. to advocate for salmon restoration. They are pictured here with members of the Youth Salmon Protectors for the Idaho Conservation League.
Continued from POage 1A
This year, the CTUIR Youth Leadership Council was selected as an emerging leader for its salmon restoration and protection advocacy and its support of the CTUIR community during COVID.
“Normally, nominations are submitted for adults but this is the first group nomination of young people we’ve received. The letters of support spoke glowingly of the Council’s selfless service and care for their community, culture, and salmon. In the words of one panelist, the Youth Leadership Council breathes the heartbeat of what the Indigenous Leadership Awards stand for,” said Lisa Watt (Seneca), Director of the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Program.
Also recognized with an ILA in 2023 is CTUIR member Gabe Sheoships. Currently the Executive Director of Friends of Tryon Creek, the nonprofit partner of the 660-acre Tryon Creek State Natural Area in Portland, Sheoships leads an organization whose mission is to inspire all communities to identify, cultivate, or reclaim their relationship with nature.
Prior to leading Friends of Tryon Creek, Sheoships worked as a fisheries biologist at the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC). He also serves as an adjunct professor at Portland State University and on several regional nonprofit boards.
“The thoughtful efforts of Gabe and his staff to de-colonize environmental education and re-indigenize landscapes have touched thousands of kids and visitors over the years and serves as a model for other organizations. In addition, his passionate advocacy of Indigenous-led stewardship and traditional ecological knowledge, ecological restoration, and the protection of First Foods have led to this award. We are delighted to recognize Gabe Sheoships,” said Watt.
As ILA awardees, the Youth Leadership Council and Sheoships join a distinguished group of Indigenous community leaders in the Pacific Northwest, who represent a diverse spectrum of Indigenous cultures, languages, landscapes, and professions.
As leaders, they are negotiators,
By Summer Wildbill, CTUIR Youth Council Public Relations
MISSION — The Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Youth Council received a Human Dignity Award from the Rural Organizing Project for advancing democracy and human dignity in rural Oregon.
The Rural Organizing Project is a state-wide establishment in Oregon with the mission to strengthen resources, leadership, and skills in rural human dignity groups, and help these groups to continue to be a func tioning component of democracy.
The Human Dignity Award was presented to the youth council for their inspiring leadership and visionary organization in areas such as salmon restoration and climate change.
Keyen Singer, former Cultural Ambassador for the CTUIR Youth Council shared her experience at the event and stated that, “I believe this weekend definitely taught us the different ways to share our work and teach the youth to also listen and learn about other issues across
culture bearers, environmentalists, educators, advocates, scientists, knowledge holders, linguists, artists, resistors, farmers, and catalysts for change. All are united in their drive to protect and uplift Indigenous communities.
The awardees are chosen by a selec-
Oregon.”
Lindsey Pasena-LittleSky, former Chairwoman of the CTUIR Youth Council and current Youth Council Mentor shared that,“It is amazing to witness the youth council find their voice individually, we all shared our perspective of the advocacy youth council does and gained new awesome relationships and support across the Northwest.”
The event took place at the 30th annual Rural Caucus and Strategy Session on Sunday, May 20th in Albany, Oregon. The event consisted of other rural leaders, organizers, and activists in Oregon. This session goal was to be able to discuss and celebrate work accomplished in the previous year, while also planning ahead and collaborating together for strategies for the upcoming year.
The CTUIR Youth Council also would like to thank Siedra Pierson, Rural Organizing Project, and the Youth Council Advisors for the opportunity to be awarded the Human Dignity Award.
packages that included letters of support submitted by colleagues, governing councils, friends, and community members to make their decision.
In addition to Cash Cash, other CTUIR Indigenous Leadership Award recipients include Eric Quaempts (2014) and Bobbie Conner (2007), who is a current member of the Ecotrust board of directors.
Also a member of the board is Antone Minthorn, who has lent his counsel to the organization for more than 20 years. In recognition of his many contributions to Ecotrust and advocacy of Northwest tribes, the boardroom at the Redd East was named in his honor as the Himéequis Ka’awn (Big Dawn) Boardroom on June 23, 2022. Big Dawn is the English translation of Minthorn’s Nez Perce name. The dedication was attended by Antone’s family, CTUIR leaders, and many colleagues and friends.
The full list of this year’s ILA awardees, who hail from Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and northern California, will be announced soon.
They will be celebrated in a public ceremony in October 2023 in the Main Hall of Redd East, Ecotrust’s regional food hub and event space located at 831 S.E. Salmon Street in Portland. Details will be announced soon.
For more information about the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Awards, visit the Indigenous Leadership Awards project page.
Ecotrust creates and accelerates triple-bottom-line innovations to benefit the region and inspire the world.
tion panel consisting of previous ILA recipients and Indigenous leaders: Kim Recalma-Clutesi (Kwagiulth/Pentlatch - 2010 honoree) and Phillip Cash Cash (Cayuse/Nez Perce), who was the first ILA awardee in 2001.
The panel reviewed nomination
According to its mission, Ecotrust is “rooted in the region from California to Alaska that holds productive lands and determined people. On the farm, at the coast, in the forest, and across Northwest cities, Ecotrust works in partnership toward an equitable, prosperous, climate-smart future. It recognizes the legacy of colonialism and the deep inequities of this place, and believes that radical, practical change is possible and necessary.
Since 1991, Ecotrust has created durable change and sparked ideas across the globe.
MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is nearing the completion of a five-year economic development plan, the Comprehensive Economic and Community Development (CEDS) Strategy.
When completed, the CEDS will guide DECD economic development initiatives to strengthen the regional economy and help the Tribes navigate challenging economic times and build a future economy that is robust and resilient.
The CEDS will incorporate data from the public and private sectors, identify the region’s economic strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
The federal Economic Development Administration also requires the CEDS document to receive grant funding.
The process kicked off with a bid solicitation through a Request for Proposals for expertise. DECD staff selected Points Consulting, a Moscow, Idaho-based economic analysis firm to update and execute a 2023 through 2027 strategy. An
internal CTUIR work group also assisted Points Consulting with the project.
Work began in January and is expected to be completed by July 31.
Points Consulting presented a draft document to DECD on May 5. The CTUIR Economic and Community Development Committee and Board of Trustees will review a completed document, with the BOT responsible for approving the finalized plan.
A vital step of the work was engaging the community to help guide what should be included in the completed strategy.
That engagement included 155 CEDS survey responses from the community. DECD incentivized the survey with raffle prizes like a Yeti cooler, two Damian Lillard Portland Trailblazer jerseys, and two Wildhorse Resort Packages. Raffle winners have been notified.
Following the survey period, Points Consulting hosted three virtual town hall meetings to gather further community and tribal member input on what to include in the CEDS.
When finalized, the CEDS will be posted online at ctuir.org/departments/ economic-community-development/
To the editor, Back in mid-March, 2023, I mailed Lindsay Watchman, GC Chairman, a legitimate and reasonable request to have tribal dividends on the May 2023, GC agenda. There are no valid reasons, only weak excuses, for Watchman to deny the request.
However, we now know that Watchman refused the issue of tribal dividends to be included on the May 2023, GC agenda. I can only interpret this refusal as Watchman does not support a reasonable increase of 5 percent from 20 percent to 25 percent of our overall tribal business profits to be directed for dividends for all CTUIR enrolled tribal members. Also, his refusal makes it obvious that he does not want grass-roots GC members to have a voice, or any input, on the situation.
In my opinion, this is hypocrisy because the BOT, including Watchman, routinely give themselves, and most tribal employees, a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), which is usually about a 3-5 percent increase in their tribal pay at least every other year, if not annually. Tribal dividends have been at 20 percent
of our tribal business and enterprise profits for at least 15 years now.
Before the May 23rd GC meeting, I wrote Watchman a note asking why he did not include tribal dividends on the agenda. Watchman left me a voice mail stating I could bring up the issue on the “Open Mic” portion of the agenda. However, I refuse to be restricted to five minutes or so to discuss an important tribal issue.
In 1949, our founding fathers of our constitutional form of government must have anticipated a future General Council chairman would attempt something like Watchman is now wrongfully trying to do. Thus, in Article V of our tribal Constitution is a petition process that allows GC members to convene a GC meeting. The petition process requires only 20 GC signatures.
Pursuant to Article V, I will soon be submitting a petition to call for a GC meeting on tribal dividends only. After GC discussion, a motion will be made to increase tribal dividends from 20 percent to 25 percent of our tribal business profits. We tribal members own our tribal businesses, and we have a right to have a voice in how our profits are used.
Sincerely,
Bob ShippentowerMISSION – Dazon Sigo has been hired by Cayuse Native Solutions (CNS) as the first certified operator of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones.
Sigo joined the Cayuse team in May after successfully completing a four-week training course and passing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 exam to become a certified drone pilot.
Sigo is the first to be hired by CNS as part of its recently launched drone service, which aims to help tribes and tribal entities address an array of needs with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).
“Cayuse gave me an amazing opportunity to become a certified drone pilot and start working for them right away. Volatus Group has incredible instructors that gave me the confidence and support I needed to be successful,” said Sigo, who is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and a 2019 graduate of Nixyaawii Community School.
“We’re happy to welcome Dazon to our team. I appreciate his commitment
to learn about the UAS industry and support our goal of helping tribes,” said Debra Croswell, Cayuse Native Solutions President.
Jeremy Edwards, Volatus Group Site Operations Manager, said “Dazon came to us with no prior knowledge of UAS operations and with big ideas of how to utilize UAS to better his tribal community, from search and rescue, to improving agriculture, and marketing local tribal business. During his training, Dazon asked all the right questions, each one with the intent to fill a need. Then to absolutely no one’s surprise he graduated top of his class. We continue to work with Dazon on ideas and solutions to help him reach his dreams.”
His lead instructor at Volatus Group, Ammarae Broncheau, said this: “Dazon showed up every day with a great attitude and willingness to learn. Learning something new is not easy and he dedicated his time and energy to this program. It has been a lot of fun to watch Dazon’s confidence grow, his future is bright!”
Croswell is hopeful that Cayuse’s new drone efforts will help open the door for other tribal members to start a career in the UAS industry. She notes that longterm goals are to partner with company owner, CTUIR, to expand workforce development initiatives focused on the UAV industry.
“The Pendleton UAS Test Range operates at the Pendleton Airport, adjacent to the Umatilla Indian Reservation, which offers a prime opportunity for tribal members interested in UAV careers,” she said. Cayuse is partnering with Delmar Aerospace and its subsidiary, Volatus Group, on the drone services and training courses.
Croswell says they hope to train and hire more tribal members as drone operators as the drone service for tribes grows. Those interested should go to cayusenativesolutions.com to learn more and click the “Let’s Talk” button to reach out to Croswell.
Cayuse Native Solutions is a subsidiary of Cayuse Holdings, a family of companies owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Cayuse Holdings employs more than 600 people who are stationed around the United States and overseas. For more information, go to www.cayuseholdings.com.
A new basketball court made by “Cool Courts” is ready for hoops in the northwest playground of the old projects on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The court is the first phase of improvements in the neighborhoods, which will include an upgrade of playgrounds, better parking, fencing and lighting, a perimeter walk path around the court, and a structure for shade. Future amenities could include bleachers, benches and a BBQ pit.
Keyen Singer, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) was named Miss Indigenous at the 55th annual Mother’s Day Pow Wow at the University of Oregon. Singer, a UO freshman, is a 2022 graduate of Nixyaawii Community School. She has been a leader of the CTUIR Youth Leadership Council and said she hopes to continue her advocacy work to save salmon and inspire native youth. She recently traveled with the CTUIR Youth Leadership Council to Washington, D.C.
William Curtis Stacona
On May 20, 2023, William Curtis Stacona beloved father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend passed away at the age of 70 from natural causes. William was born in Warm Springs, Oregon to Curtis Stacona and Marcelene Gensaw-Stacona.
Survivors include his children Andrew Stacona Jr., and Jordan Stacona; brothers Chris Requa (Lalani), Mark Stacona (Eugena), Jason Stacona (Gina) and Louis LeClaire (Rose Scott); sisters Charlene Stacona-White (Dennis White Jr), Debra Stacona, and Marcelene Foltz (TJ Foltz).
He was survived, too, by grandchildren Elsie Alexandrea Blackwolf-Thomas, Briana Marie Stacona, Anthony Stacona, Kortney Rae Stacona, Mariah Elizabeth
Stacona-Alexander, Andrew Stacona, Monika Zelma Stacona, Yadira Seri Stacona, Riyah Jade Stacona, Azariah Ann Whitelance, Jaime Mariano Stacona, Carol Tada Stacona; and great-grandchildren
Priscilla Jayann Arty Thomas, Tijay Rylee Thomas, Viola Rowena Thomas, Hannah Elizabeth Williams, Tryston Jace Williams, Ethan Rey Stacona, Olivia Haylee Stacona, Keira Marie Saldana, Nash Anthony Gengler, Amirah Marie Alexander, Sophia Grace Alexander, Monika Rose Stacona, Marleina Reyna Diaz Stacona, Maribel Izadora Diaz Stacona; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his son Anthony Stacona, his father Curtis Stacona, his mother Marcelene Gensaw Stacona, his brothers Curtis Stacona Jr., Renaldo Greystar, Manuel Stacona, Charlie Stacona, and his sister Cheryl Heath-Stacona.
William worked in various occupations and departments including a tree faller, the Housing Department, Wildhorse Casino, Salmon Corps, Museum at Warm Springs, Indian Head Casino, Plateau Plaza and also as a silversmith and owning his own business called Bend a Rock Studios.
Growing up he played and excelled in numerous sports including, baseball, football, basketball, golf, and boxing. He played with the Oregon Travelers & The Magpies. He was well known across Indian Country for his exquisite skills. He was a part of the 1970 Madras White Buffalo team that won the state championship.
He shared is knowledge, his passion and his kindness to anyone he talked to.
A BOLSTER (Building Our Life Skills, Training, and Employment Readiness) crew, led by Babbette Cowapoo, works pulling rye from a wheat field near at Coyote Business Park on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. BOLSTER contributes to several projects throughout the year. Pictured are, from left, Bonnie Crane, Babette Cowapoo, Will Minthorn, James Marsh Sr., and Paul Lavadour. BOLSTER is a program within the Department of Economic and Community Development. Cowapoo works for the CTUIR Farming Program.
Willie was known for this infectious laugh, his quick wit and his stories.
Willie had so much love and pride for his children and grandchildren.
Even though he is no longer here his legacy and charismatic spirit will continue to live on through the love and pride of his family and friends.
The Community Center
Marvin F. Patrick, Jr, 56 died on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 in Pendleton. He was born on March 20, 1967 in Pendleton, Oregon. Dressing Ceremony will be held on, Thursday, May 25, 2023 at Burns Mortuary with Washat Services at the Agency Longhouse at 7:00 p.m. Final Seven Friday, May 26, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. at Agency Longhouse with burial to follow at Tutuilla Cemetery.
Gerald Wesley Cree, 39 of Pendleton, died on Saturday, May 20, 2023 at his home. He was born on November 22, 1982 in Walla Walla, Washington to James Smith & Esther Cree. Dressing Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 24th at 3:00 p.m. at Burns Mortuary, Washat Service will follow at the Agency Longhouse at 7:00 p.m. Final Seven will be on Thursday, May 25h at 7:00 a.m. at Agency Long-
house with burial at Agency Cemetery.
Laura A. Allen, 66 died on Friday, May 19, 2023 at OHSU hospital in Portland. She was born on January 25, 1957 in San Francisco, California. Viewing will be held on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 at Burns Mortuary of Pendleton at 2:00 p.m. with Recitation of the Holy Rosary at Agency Longhouse at 6:00 p.m. to follow the Washat Service at 7:00 p.m. Final Seven at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at Agency Longhouse with burial at Agency Cemetery.
Marvin Ross Shawaway, 66 died on Thursday, May 25, 2023 in Washington. He was born on July 8, 1957. Viewing was be held on Monday, May 29, 2023 at Merritt Valley Hills Funeral Home in Wapato, WA at 2:00 p.m. with Washat Services at the Toppenish Creek Longhouse at 7:00 p.m.. Final Seven at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 with burial to follow at Union Gap Cemetery in Wapato, WA.
PENDLETON – Toni Minthorn, who began her participation with Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon before she was a year old, has been named as a 2023 inductee to the annual event’s Hall of Fame.
The Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame Board of Directors announced inductees in four categories May 9 at their organization’s annual meeting.
In addition to Minthorn (Indian category), the other inductees include Fred Whitfield (contestant), Virginia Roberts (RoundUp volunteer), and Omega Supreme “Omega” (animal).
The inductees will be celebrated at a banquet during Round-Up on Sunday, Sept. 11. They also will be honored in the Round-Up Arena on Sept. 13 during the Wednesday rodeo performance. Further, the inductees will be featured in the Hall of Fame with special exhibits later this summer.
Minthorn began camping in the Indian Village during Round-Up and participating in Happy Canyon when she was 9-months old. Minthorn was the first woman to serve on both the Happy
Canyon and Round-Up Courts. She was a Happy Canyon Princess in 1978 and a Round-Up Princess in 1982.
Minthorn has continued to work for Happy Canyon and the Round-Up unofficially for more than 40 years, and officially since 2004 as the Happy Canyon Court chaperone and since 2006 as the Round-Up court-riding coach. She is considered an expert horsewoman, trainer and teacher, and she has provided past princesses with horses, and trained them to ride.
Minthorn also has been an outrider in the American Indian Beauty Contest, pulled a travois in Happy Canyon and in the Westward Ho! Parade, and has carried flags and pennants in multiple parade representing Happy Canyon throughout the West.
Minthorn, 61, is director of the Enrollment Office for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Whitfield was an eight-time World Champion, seven as a tie-down roper and once as an all-around winner, contesting in the Round-Up for more than 20 years. He has won three Round-Up championships in tie-down roping in 1995 (a tie), in 1996 and 2005. He was the first African American to win the tie-down roping at the Round-Up and became the third cowboy in history to surpass the $2-million mark in career earnings. Whitfield has always been known to be “cool under pressure” and for his notorious “raise the roof” salute
to fans. He lives in Texas with his wife, Cassie, and has two daughters.
Virginia Roberts, now in her 90s, still volunteers for the Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame as a historian and archive expert. She has dedicated nearly 30 years volunteering for the Hall of Fame and the retail store with her primary responsibility of preserving all the donated items to the museum and creating
files of the historial information for each artifact. Roberts is a former Pendleton First Citizen, and also has volunteered at the Umatilla County Historical Society, public library, coached community members on tracking family heritage, as well as city and Round-Up history, and has dedicated service to helping Olney Cemetery trace family histories and genealogy.
Omega is the stallion leopard Appaloosa ridden for more than 25 years by Umatilla Chief Gary Burke as a raider and a scout in the Happy Canyon Night Show, during the daily Round-Up Indian presentation, and in various parades. The photogenic horse won many awards around the Northwesdt, participated in more than 420 shows, parades, events, photo shoots. Omega was ridden by Burke’s daughter in the American Indian Beauty Pageant. Additionally, Omega is featured in a portrait with Chief Burke displayed in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Omega was owned by Doug and Nee-Nee Haynie of Pilot Rock. The horse was born in 1986 and died at the age of 30.
The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame is located at 1114 S.W. Court Avenue, adjacent to the Round-Up grounds. The Hall of Fame operates March-November and entry is free.
For more information visit rounduphallofframe.org and follow on Facebook at facebook.com/ruphalloffame.
Board of Trustees
Chair
N. Kathryn Brigham
Vice Chair
Aaron Ashley Treasurer
Sandra Sampson
Secretary
Sally Kosey
At-large BOT Members:
Boots Pond
Corinne Sams
Lisa Ganuelas
Toby Patrick
General Council
Chair
Lindsey X. Watchman
Vice Chair
Michael Ray Johnson
Secretary
Shawna Gavin
Interpreter
Thomas Morning Owl
Executive Director: Donald G. Sampson
Deputy Executive Directors: Jonetta Herrera & Shana McConville Radford
Since time immemorial, the Peoples of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have actively managed their territories to maintain healthy ecosystems capable of ensuring the provision of The First Foods.
In the forested uplands of the Blue Mountains, Tribes would traditionally apply fire to the ground as they transitioned from their late summer hunting and gathering camps back to their winter settlements in the river valleys. These fires, together with naturally ignited fires sparked during summer thunderstorms, would creep across the landscape through grass thatch, down wood, and other low-lying vegetation, partially consuming forest fuels and leaving a patchwork of vegetation types.
Native Americans have been prevented from managing their homelands in traditional ways. Overgrazing and agricultural development reduced the tall bunch grass communities that would have carried grass fires up the foothills like a conveyor belt.
Many forest stands were more open than they are today, composed of a high proportion of large, fire adapted trees. These upland conditions were able to receive this fire as a restorative disturbance, providing high quality habitats for Upland First Foods. In many forested areas, fire would occur every 5-20 years.
Since the beginning of European-American settlement 150 years ago, dry forest landscapes of the West have been altered tremendously. Native Americans have been prevented from managing their homelands in traditional ways. Over-grazing and agricultural development reduced the tall bunch grass communities that would have carried grass fires up the foothills like a conveyor belt.
Individual property ownership and the infrastructure it depends on (like roads, fences, powerlines, and homesites) have carved the landscape into a complex patchwork of ownership boundaries that is difficult to manage ecologically and must be aggressively protected from wildfires. Economically motivated (“High-grade”) logging approaches removed most of the large, old, thick-barked ponderosa pine and western larch trees from the forest, trees which would have persisted for centuries through regular fire cycles.
Over time, inland western forests have become less spatially diverse, and many areas have become carpeted with dense stands of vegetation highly susceptible to drought, extreme fire behavior, and other forest health problems. Shade-tolerant tree species like Douglas-fir and grand-fir have filled spaces where they historically would have been cleared by regular fires. Tall, decadent woody shrubs and closed canopy forests have replaced areas that historically would have provided more grass, tender forbs, and young shrub forage -- foods more palatable to grazing wildlife. Many huckleberry stands are now overtopped by a dense canopy of trees, and do not have access to the sunlight and moisture needed for productive berry crops.
Over the last decade, CTUIR’s DNR-Range, Ag and Forestry program, in close collaboration with the BIA Fire/Fuels Program, DNR Wildlife program, and other CTUIR programs and external partners (e.g. US
Forest Service, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, and Oregon Department of Forestry) has been building capacity and support to implement the management approach developed in the 2010 CTUIR Forest Management Plan and further refined in the First Foods Mission and Upland Vision.
This holistic management approach is based on traditional ecological knowledge and the best available modern science. The overarching goal is to restore and maintain healthy forests that can support the many cultural and subsistence values of the CTUIR, while also providing for forest conditions that can remain resilient in the face of future forest disturbances and climate impacts. We primarily manage stand densities and vegetation structures through a combination of commercial thinning (timber sales), precommercial thinning, and prescribed fire, as well as modern grazing practices and invasive plant treatments.
In the last decade, this work has become ever more important. Many of CTUIR’s forestlands were not proactively thinned in the second half of the 20th century under BIA management, and have grown far more dense than is appropriate. Trees in these dense stands can become chronically stressed for water and sunlight and become likely to succumb to drought, bark beetles, and other forest health problems.
Extreme drought and heat waves have become regular summer events in the last decade, and spikes in tree mortality has ensued in CTUIR forests. In response, our staff have pursued an expedited timeline to bring
The Emigrant Springs Timber Sale involved commercial thinning, precommercial thinning, and prescribed fire of more than 700 forested acres along the rim of North Fork McKay, near Deadman Pass rest area on I-84. Here, the smoke from a prescribed fire smolders following a burn in the Spring of 2021 following these thinning treatments. Both flat and steep stands that were thinned are apparent in the photo.
large blocks of CTUIR’s forest land within desired forest conditions, recoup timber value for landowners, and mitigate the potential for a catastrophic fire in populated and heavily used areas (such as along the I-84 corridor and in the vicinity of Indian Lake).
Since 2014, CTUIR has implemented thousands of acres of forest management centered around these areas. You may notice driving up over Cabbage Hill some of the footprint of our recent commercial thinning projects abutting the south side of I-84 along the rim of North Fork McKay. Some of this work involved sophisticated machinery that can perform low-impact logging on steeper slope. Around Indian Lake, we have used mechanical equipment (masticators) and chainsaws to thin the understories of nearly 2000 acres of extremely dense stands and we are also in the process of implementing prescribed fire to many of these units to reduce this thinning residue and re-establish fire as a restorative disturbance to these areas.
These broadcast burns typically must take place in the Fall to ensure safe conditions for burning and mitigate smoke impacts to the surrounding communities. CTUIR DNR-Wildlife has also been working hard to restore healthy forest conditions on the Rainwater Property in SE Washington.
This year, we will continue with a final phase of thin
Continued on Page 23A
THURSDAY
8:00 AM Gather for Parade | BIA Parking Lot
9:00 AM Parade Start | BIA Parking Lot
10:30 AM Parade End | Veteran's Memorial
11:30 AM Box Lunch & Vendor Booths | Longhouse
12:00 PM Speaker | Longhouse
12:45 PM Gifts for Attendees | Longhouse
1:00 PM Close
2:00 PM Horseshoe Tourney | Wetlands Park
8:30 AM Parent & Pet Dress Up Costume Show
10:00 AM - 2:00PM Stickgame Exhibition
All Activities @ July Grounds Lacrosse Inflatable Slides Open Gym Yoga With Tania Wildbill Community Street Market
(K-12) 3 on 3 coed Basketball @ New Courts
For Information:
Brittney Eickstaedt - Volunteer Coordinator 541/ 429-7309
Thomas Morning Owl - Vendor Coordinator 541/ 969-9777
James Hall - Parade Coordinator 541/429-7801
Tananmáami Kanáywit Tananmáami Kanáywit
“The Work of Our Native People” “The Work of Our Native People”
PORTLAND – A new children’s book – “My Name is LaMoosh” by Warm Springs elder Linda Meanus - is set to hit the shelves this month.
Meanus will talk speak at a book launch June 20 at the Oregon Historical Society, 1200 S.W. Park in Portland. The talk will be followed by mingling and a book signing.
Meanus grew up near Celilo Falls with her grandmother Flora Thompson and grandfather Chief Tommy Thompson and, as a young girl, was the subject of a children’s book called “Linda’s Indian Home.”
The new book addresses the flooding in 1957 of Celilo Falls by the construction of The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River. Celilo Falls was a mighty fishery about 13 miles upstream from present-day The Dalles.
Linda persevered through the historic trauma and life’s challenges to teach young people about the Indigenous ways of the people who lived along the Columbia River. She lives now at Simnasho on the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, which is south of Celilo Village, an unincorporated community.
Intended for young readers to learn more about Native American history through a first-hand account, My Name is LaMoosh also reminds them that the Indigenous people maintain a cultural connection to the land and river that gave them their identity.
My Name is LaMoosh includes fact boxes that provide historical, cultural, and environmental context for Meanus’s personal story. Hundreds of books exist about Lewis and Clark and their journey of “discovery.” This book balances the understanding of American history with the long-neglected voices of Indigenous people. Her story is not just about historic trauma, but also about resilience, perseverance, and reciprocity.
“It was an honor to do this book,” Meanus said. “People don’t know our history, and I thought it was time to share an original story from the river, from a real historical site.”
The book honors the teachings of her grandmother, a longt6ime advocate for fishing rights and Celilo Falls.
Meanus, now an author, is an educa - tor who shares her knowledge on traditional Indian foods at events across the West, from elementary schools to the National Indian Child Welfare Association.
The book will be published by Con fluence and Oregon State University Press.
Confluence is a community-sup ported nonprofit that connects peo ple to the history, living cultures, and ecology of the Columbia River system through Indigenous voices. More at confluenceproject.org.
OSU Press “informs and inspires” scholars, students, and curious readers by publishing works of regional importance and lasting cultural values. OSU Press extends and advances the university’s land-grant mission by cultivating responsible scholarship, promoting creativity, and disseminating ideas and knowledge.
The books was published in collaboration with Confluence, OSU Press, and Dr. Katy Barber. Funding was provided by Meyer Memorial Trust. Copies of the book can be sold at the Oregon Historical Society gift shop. The book also can be ordered through OSU Press.
By the CUJ
Efforts to implement a 30-year water plan in the Walla Walla River watershed, in which the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) play an important role, are picking up steam.
For more than 100 years, the Walla Walla River basin’s water has been over-allocated, which means that there are more rights to use the water than there is water available. Further, climate change is expected to decrease water flows and winter snowpack more, and lead to warmer water.
The basin is also within the ancestral homeland of the CTUIR and within the area where the tribes reserved fishing, hunting and gathering rights in the Treaty of 1855.
So, the CTUIR, states of Washington and Oregon and other stakeholders developed the Walla Walla Water 2050 Strategic Plan, which was released in 2021, to improve streamflows and water
availability in the basin and ensure it can meet the water needs of all who rely on it, including spring Chinook Salmon and other First Foods.
Recent developments are making it possible for the CTUIR and water managers in Oregon and Washington to begin planning for implementation of that plan.
In April, the Washington Legislature unanimously passed HB 1322, a bill that sets the legal framework to begin implementing the plan and directed the state to begin collaborating with the state of Oregon on the strategic plan.
On May 4, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation, with Board of Trustees member Lisa Ganuelas at his side.
But since the watershed straddles both Washington and Oregon, similar legislation must pass the Oregon Legislature and be signed into law to allow both states to officially work together in tandem with the CTUIR to manage the watershed and work on projects in the plan.
Still, as the Oregon proposal works its way through the Legislature, the CTUIR
From the CTUIR Tribal Planning Office
MISSION – A 20-year Transportation System Plan has been adopted by the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
The BOT action follows work, since January 2022, by the CTUIR Planning and Public Works departments, along with several other community groups.
This project included supporting organizations like a consultant team led by Kittelson & Associates, Oregon Department of Transportation, Umatilla County, Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, U.S. Forest Service, Kayak Public Transit, Wildhorse Resort
& Casino, and the CTUIR Department of Economic & Community Development. Planning and Public Works staff conducted 13 in-person outreach events, and attended eight committee and commission meetings in an effort to reach all segments of the CTUIR community.
Community feedback was assessed for relevance and feasibility for inclusion in the plan, with a large majority of public comments directly incorporated.
One of the concerns regarded the plan’s under-representation of the Riverside neighborhood. In the last week before the final Public Hearing, the planning team
MISSION - CTUIR community members are being asked by the CTUIR Capital Improvements Committee (CIC) to provide feedback on future capital projects.
A list of planned and potential Capital Improvement Projects is displayed using the online webmap.
The webmap is an interactive application that allows you view project information, and provide comments on specific projects.
Capital projects are larger development projects that provide services, protect resources, and improve the community. Input is being sought from the community to help the CIC make recommendations to the Board of Trustees for project priorities over the next few years. There are a range of projects such as housing, community services, recreation, natural resources, and economic development.
Some of the projects shown on the webmap are already on the adopted list of CTUIR projects. Other projects (labelled New Proposal) were recently suggested by departments or committees/commissions.
People who do not have access to the internet can contact the Tribal Planning Office at 541-276-3099 or TPO@ctuir.org to receive paper materials for review.
If there is a project tribal members feel is important to the community that is not yet on the list, contact the Tribal Planning Office and consider completing a New Project Application form.
Public input on the Capital Improvement Projects will be gathered through the month of June 2023.
developed one new sidewalk project in the neighborhood, and adjusted the proposed alignment of a trail along Mission Road to include either a spur trail to Riverside, or routing the main trail through Riverside directly. This proposal was very popular at community engagement events, and has quickly become the preferred route for the trail.
The updated plan proposes 70 projects supporting safety and connectivity improvements across all travel modes – cars and freight, transit, walking, rolling, horseback riding, and more.
The new plan can be found at https://tinyurl.com/CTUIR-TSP
Continued from Page 15A has already been working to restore self-sustaining spring Chinook salmon populations in the basin, one of the key goals of the strategic plan.
Earlier this spring, the CTUIR Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Program worked with the City of Walla Walla to release 100,000 juvenile spring Chinook salmon smolts at the City’s water system intake dam in the Mill Creek watershed from the South Fork Walla Walla hatchery. The department overall released more than 200,000 smolts into the basin this spring.
Completed in 2022, the hatchery is dedicated to restoring and enhancing the spring Chinook salmon population, which went extinct in the early 1900s, in the Walla Walla River basin. With a target of 5,000 returning adult fish each year, the hatchery plans to release a staggering 500,000 spring chinook smolts into the basin each year. While it was the hatchery’s second overall spring Chinook salmon release, it was the first where CTUIR DNR Fisheries Program staff at the hatchery reared the fish from egg to smolt.
MISSION – Talk about every vote counting.
A single vote could have changed the outcome a three-person race for two spots on the Nixyaawii Community School Board May 11.
Wynema Thurman won the community-member position with 28 votes and
Jaimie Crane won the tribal-member position with 27 votes. A third candidate, Robert Fossek, finished with 26 votes.
A total of 42 ballots were cast with a single write-in vote for Dionne Bronson.
The two new members will be sworn in at the Board’s June 26 meeting. The four-year terms run through June of 2027.
Candice Patrick, chair, and Marissa Baumgartner, vice-chair, will be leaving the Board. Returning with the two new members are Steven Hart, representing the Board of Trustees for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; Ashley Picard, appointed to fill a vacancy left by Brianah Spencer’s resignation; and Boots Pond, appointed by the CTUIR Education and Training Commission.
The Board meets on the fourth Monday of the month. In case of holidays or school breaks, the meetings are on the third Monday of the month.
Nixyaawii Community School is a public school chartered under the auspices of Pendleton School District 16R. It is not a “tribal school” and anyone in the immediate region can attend.
PORTLAND, Ore — The Portland State University Master of Urban & Regional Planning student team has completed two rounds of community engagement events for the Nixyáawii Watikš project.
The Nixyáawii Watikš project, aimed at developing a multi-use path that would connect Mission to Pendleton, has received support and participation from the CTUIR community.
These community engagement events, held in March and May, provide input from community members and tribal commissions regarding their priorities for the trail, and feedback on determining a feasible trail route.
During the engagement events, participants voiced their opinions and concerns regarding various aspects of the
trail. The common themes emerged from community feedback include ensuring trail safety, coordinating vehicle and pedestrian traffic, the desire for recreational amenities, and the need for river access while acknowledging the importance of river preservation.
Moving forward, the team will incorporate the collected data and comments to develop a comprehensive and inclusive draft trail plan. The plan, scheduled for completion by the end of June, will serve as a guideline for the development and implementation of Nixyáawii Watikš.
For more information about the Nixyáawii Watikš project or to stay updated on its progress, contact Dani Schulte, CTUIR Transportation Planner, at 541429-7525.
After their most successful season in recent memory, tribal hunters face the backlash for problems they didn’t create.
By Roque Planas, HuffPostEvery winter for the last decade, Andrew Wildbill has driven 12 hours from the Umatilla Reservation in eastern Oregon to lead a bison hunting party on the northern border of Yellowstone National Park.
It’s a hit-or-miss hunt, dictated by the weather. Last year, it didn’t snow enough to push the animals north in search of forage, to where they could be legally hunted.
“We didn’t come home with anything,” said Wildbill, who serves as the wildlife program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). “But it’s always great just to return to where your ancestors went on an annual basis.”
This year was different. After back-to-back mild winters, the park’s bison population had ballooned to 6,000. When snow hit early, then kept piling up into the spring, bison streamed toward the park’s northern border. The result was the most successful hunt in more than a century, with tribal hunters taking home nearly 1,200 bison.
“Being able to provide bison back into our communities is great,” Wildbill said. “These foods are vital to our ceremonies.... These foods are celebrated. This hunt gives us that opportunity as Indian people to continue that relationship that was absent for over a century.”
Success has come at a steep cost. After taking federal culling and Montana state hunters into account, this year’s bison kill tops 1,600 ― among the highest since the federal government started rebuilding the park’s herd in the late 19th century from two dozen stragglers that had escaped the species’ near-extermination. Critics have raised a furor over both the death toll and the fact that most of it takes place in a narrow corridor, describing it as a “bloodbath” that threatens the future of wild bison. Billboards posted across Montana by a pair of environmental groups read: “There is no hunt. It’s slaughter!”
Mass bison killings are politically explosive events that occur outside Yellowstone during harsh winters. They routinely happen to avoid conflict with Montana’s powerful livestock industry, which fears the bison will spread disease to cattle.
But in the past, federal authorities have culled most of them. The biggest difference this year was that tribal hunters killed far more bison than slaughterhouses did. The change has left tribal hunters in the uncomfortable position of becoming the public face of a herd-thinning strategy they have long opposed.
“It was sight unseen. The same exact thing was going on, except now the tribes are exercising their treaty rights,” said Jeremy Red Star Wolf, the former wildlife chair for the CTUIR. “Does that mean this is what we want forever? No. We would like to have animals out on the landscape.”
Bison once roamed across most of North America, with numbers as high as 60 million at the time Europeans first arrived. Today, America’s wild bison number around 20,000 ― less than a tenth of a percent of their former size. Yellowstone National Park holds the greatest concentration. (“Bison” and
the informal term “buffalo” refer to the same species named Bison bison.)
Unlike virtually all other wildlife, Yellowstone’s bison cannot venture far beyond the park’s boundaries. The policy of caging them in the park is driven by fears that they’ll get close enough to cattle to spread brucellosis, a bacterial disease that causes weight loss and spontaneous abortion.
That dynamic causes major conflicts in years with heavy snow, which pushes the bison to amble off toward lower ground with easier-to-access food. To keep the bison and cattle apart, officials have for decades relied on the unpopular policy of culling.
The harsh winter of 1996-97 marked a major turning point. Like this year, bison steadily migrated out of the park. Officials killed enough of them to reduce the herd by more than two-thirds, to fewer than 1,100 by winter’s end
The public outcry over the killings, along with a major court settlement with the state of Montana, led to sweeping changes.
Tribal governments began playing a greater role in managing the herd. Tribes historically connected to Yellowstone with treaties guaranteeing the right to hunt unoccupied lands worked with the state of Montana to reestablish bison hunts. And in recent years Yellowstone has increasingly trapped migrating bison, then live-shipped them to reservations, allowing tribes to build new conservation herds.
With Yellowstone’s bison confined to the park, federal and Montana authorities have historically culled with a heavy hand, removing about a quarter of the bison population during harsh winters at least three other times since 2008. They planned to do it again this year, according to Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly, with the goal of returning the park to around 4,500 bison after calves are born in the spring.
That’s pretty much what happened. By the time it became clear in March that the unusually efficient tribal hunt might push the total kill over the planned limit of 1,500, Yellowstone staff corralled bison within the park’s boundaries, at one point holding back about 1,000 animals.
With winter over and most hunting seasons wrapped up, the final count overshot the mark by about 100 animals ― a figure that includes federal culling and about 75 bison killed by hunters holding tags issued by Montana.
“I get it that people don’t like how many bison have been taken out of the population in a single year,” Sholly said. “But keep in mind, had we hit our targets in the last two years, there would have been somewhere around 1,800 bison taken out of the population.”
“I think tribal hunting opportunities and state hunting opportunities are a good way to manage the population,” Sholly added.
Though planned, the number of dead bison ran far too high for many critics.
Jason Baldes, representative of the Eastern Shoshone Tribal Buffalo Program, worried that the scale of the killing could endanger a critical bison transfer program.
Adopted in 2019, the program has moved hundreds of Yellowstone bison ― prized for their nearly cattle-free genetics ― to tribal reservations across the country to start new herds. Before they can go, park authorities trap and isolate them to ensure they are free of brucellosis. About 60 percent of them test positive and are killed.
“It’s good that the tribes are taking animals and exercising their treaty rights, because a majority of those animals are going to die and are not going to end up in tribal communities,” Baldes said. “But we want to ensure that we can get that 40 percent out of the population alive.”
The Buffalo Field Campaign, a conservation group, views this year’s bison kill as an existential threat. A lawsuit from the group forced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year to consider whether Yellowstone’s bison merit federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. One key element is whether the park’s two distinct herds have the genetic diversity to sustain themselves over the long term.
“If we continue down this path, the bison’s going to go extinct,” said Dallas Gudgell, a board member
of the Buffalo Field Campaign.
The group’s executive director, Mike Mease, called the tribal hunts a “logistical nightmare.”
“The amount of buffalo getting killed in one square mile is insane,” he said.
Still, he didn’t see hunters or treaty obligations as the problem.
“The bottom line is that this is all at the behest of the state of Montana and its zero tolerance policy for bison,” Mease said. “If you want to point the finger, the state of Montana and its Department of Livestock are 100 percent the cause of this calamity.”
The cattle industry and the state of Montana are the two major voices saying that Yellowstone isn’t doing nearly enough to squelch the country’s largest remaining wild bison herd. In a letter from February 2022, Mike Honeycutt, the executive officer of the state’s Department of Livestock, urged the park’s authorities to “commit every effort” to cleave the Yellowstone buffalo population in half.
The same month, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) insisted that Yellowstone’s bison population should never have passed 3,000, calling attempts to let the population grow beyond that “absurd.” He threatened to sue the National Park Service to make it happen, according to an NPS briefing statement recently made public under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Montana officials’ hostility toward the official national mammal stemmed mostly from brucellosis concerns. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the authority to summarily exterminate infected cattle herds, and an outbreak would threaten the state’s access to export markets for beef.
Because most of the national forest land along the northern migration route is too high or too wooded to produce much feed for bison through the winter, free-wandering bison would gravitate toward the private land and ranches along Paradise Valley, said Gilles Stockton, eastern director for the Montana Cattlemen’s Association.
“What’s all this nostalgia about bison?” Stockton said. “I find the advocates for that to be incredibly selfish. They want somebody else to raise these bison in order to fulfill their fantasy. If you love the bison, go buy some land and raise some bison.”
Skeptics, including many tribal leaders, often point out that no such restrictions exist on the free movement of elk, despite the fact that they also carry the disease and have spread it to cattle in the area at least 17 times over the last two decades.
“It’s the same argument that has been told since settlement began,” Wolf said. “They’re fighting for grazing land. That’s all it is.”
At least 27 federally recognized tribes once lived in, traveled through or hunted the area currently known as Yellowstone National Park. Eight of them
― the Blackfeet, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, Shoshone-Bannock, Northern Arapaho, Crow, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Nez Perce, and Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation ― have reached agreements with the state of Montana allowing them to hunt bison there.
Tribal hunters prize the meat, both for its cultural significance and as an especially nutritious food in communities that often struggle with diet-linked disorders such as Type 2 diabetes
“I’ve been to so many doors and left so much meat to different people,” Wolf said. “The smiles on the faces, the full bellies ― these are the things you cherish.”
Tribes that depended on bison also traditionally used the hide, bones, tail and other parts of the animal in religious ceremonies and artwork.
And traveling to the Yellowstone area for the hunt reestablishes a broken cultural link that many described as “returning home.”
“We as Nez Perce have traveled to places that contributed to our way of life,” said Erik Holt, the tribe’s fish and wildlife chairman. “To always have that connection to that place ― it’s deeply important to me.”
But the growing size of the hunt has also brought problems. Most huntable bison funnel toward a small choke point on the Custer-Gallatin National Forest called Beattie Gulch, leading both tribal and state hunters to stack up there. The confined space and predictable bison migration in snowy years clashes with many observers’ idea of a fair chase hunt. Putting that many rifle hunters in one spot also presents safety concerns.
And this year added another glaring problem: bad
optics.
Tragedy nearly struck when a bullet fragment hit a member of the Nez Perce tribe in the abdomen. The scale of the hunt left trails of blood, organs, spines and ribcages strewn across Beattie Gulch ― a spectacle described and photographed in a major piece for The New York Times, casting national attention on the hunt.
“This year was the worst of the worst,” said Bonnie Lynn, who lives next to Beattie Gulch and has emerged as the hunt’s most prominent critic, waging a years-long legal battle to halt it and force the National Park Service to evaluate the environmental impact of such concentrated bison killing.
“I’m not against their treaty rights and I’m not against them being able to have spiritual hunts,” said Lynn, a hunter. “They deserve better than this.”
Most agree the hunting grounds are far too small for so many kills.
“What Montana has set up for political reasons is this firing range,” Gudgell said. “It’s intentionally made to have the tribes look like the bad guy. If there were tribal co-management of the bison, there would be fair chase.”
One way to relieve crowding might be to allow tribes to hunt within the park, some said. The plain language of the tribal treaties used to gain access to national forest land ― all of which precede the Lacey Act, which banned hunting in Yellowstone in 1894 ― appear to allow it.
“I do believe we have a right to hunt in Yellowstone ― a right to hunt and gather and conduct ceremonies,” Wildbill said. “At some point, that needs to be addressed at the federal level. Tribes should be co-managers of the entire national park.”
“The treaties that tribes signed didn’t give us anything that we didn’t already have as aboriginal people,” Wildbill added. “We had title to the land, we had our access, we had our sustenance, our culturally appropriate medicines and foods. The treaties gave rights to non-Indians to settle among us.”
Superintendent Sholly said that he did not know how to interpret treaty rights but that the tribes themselves would have to start the process.
“Being able to provide bison back into our communities is great,” Wildbill said. “These foods are vital to our ceremonies.... These foods are celebrated. This hunt gives us that opportunity as Indian people to continue that relationship that was absent for over a century.”
- Andrew Wildbill CTUIR Wildlife Program ManagerHunters from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation cut up bison they killed earlier this year near Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Lee Gavin
PENDLETON – Second-year Nixyaawii Community School teacher Nicci Harrison has been honored with a Crystal Apple “Excellence in Education” Award.
NCS students nominated Harrison, who teaches Language Arts and Foods.
Students in her classroom praise Harrison because “she makes assignments fun, is a very good teacher, and inspires learning.”
One of her students said Harrison is always willing to help with other classes and gives good advice.
Ryan Heinrich, principal at Nixyaawii Community School, said Harrison was deserving of the award.
“Like most new teachers she had to work through the struggles, but the kids know she really cares about them,” Heinrich said. “Ms. Harrison is involved in several other activities outside the classroom and her efforts didn’t go unnoticed.”
The InterMountain Education Service District (ESD) annually honors educators at an awards banquet, which this year was held May 16 at Pendleton Convention Center.
The purpose of the award, according to ESD, is to recognize outstanding
individuals in the education field who are dedicated to the success of students.
“Exceptional principals, assistant principals, teachers, and classroom assistants, office and school staff deserve recognition and praise for their hard work in school every day,” an ESD news release states. “The Crystal Apple Awards are a way to show appreciating to these individuals.”
Educators from across Eastern Oregon were recognized. Others receiving the Crystal Apple Award locally include:
Pendleton School District - Emilee Oja (Math Teacher), Sunridge Middle School; Jan Peterson-Terjeson (Paraprofessional), Pendleton High School; Shelby Torgeson (Special Education Teacher) Sherwood Heights Elementary School; Rayella Walker (Custodian), Sherwood Heights Elementary School.
Pilot Rock School District - Scott Reding (Paraprofessional/Substitute) Pilot Rock Jr./Sr. High School ; Alexis Young (Middle School Math Teacher), Pilot Rock Jr./Sr. High School.
Athena-Weston School District - Cyndi Calvert (Paraprofessional), Weston Middle School; Tara Fox (Special Education Teacher), Athena Elementary School.
For more details call Renee 541.240.1928
Continued from Page 1A
Washington Elementary on the east of town.
There also is the question of the “charter,” which is needed to operate a school under Pendleton 16R School District. NCS is a public charter school, not a tribal school, with any students within the region able to attend. The same would hold true for a k-8 addition, whether those classes would be held in a separate two-story building or in space that could be added on the west side of the current facility.
Minthorn said it is important for the community to recognize that NCS and K-8 classes would operate under a Pendleton 16R School District charter. NCS receives state funding, which passes through 16R, for students in the public system.
“There’s no money for a tribal school,” she said, noting that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) no longer funds schools, with the exception of some institutions like Chemawa Indian School in Salem and some Native American colleges.
At issue could be the loss of funding for Pendleton School District 16R if lots of Native American students were to transfer to a charter school on the reservation.
However, Minthorn said, 16R administrators in the past have been supportive of schools on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, referencing NCS as an example.
Matt Yoshioka, Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, said School District 16R has always recognized the CTUIR as a sovereign nation with a goal to educate students by preserving language and culture.
“We’re not here to fight that at all,” Yoshioka said. “We support them because they are our kids too.”
NCS receives state per-student funding, which is funneled through 16R and that would be the case if the charter is expanded to include k-8, Yoshioka said.
“We could be looking at reduced enrollment and we’d plan accordingly,” he said, noting that many of estimated 85 students at NCS would otherwise be attending Pendleton High School.
Minthorn said she’s pleased that School District 16R has taken a stand in support of tribal sovereignty.
“We thought that lack of support from the School District could be an obstacle, but hopefully we can mark their support off our ‘to-do- list’ as we begin our assessment,” she said.
Minthorn said the Nixyaawii Education Center was built with the intention of facilitating the lower grades.
“It was in the Master Plan for later consideration,” she said. “The building was built with additional classroom space in mind but if we can’t combine k-8 we may have to build a separate building.”
At the time of construction in January of 2018, Minthorn said, finances thwarted the additional space needed for other than the high school. Sanctions against China created a shortage of materials like steel and concrete, which caused prices to soar.
“We did not reduce square footage because [CTUIR] Finance found funding to keep the original design,” Minthorn
said, but that did not include the funding for additional classrooms.
Had it been built, Minthorn said, it would have likely separated the “little guys” in one wing and “older” students in another wing.
Minthorn said the Tribes would also like to consider preschool through kindergarten, which would mean adding space for a 0-5-year-old learning center. Right now, Nixyaawii Education Center offers the federal Head Start program for 3-5 year olds and a daycare facility for younger kids. Curriculum for children up to age 7 could also be added to include the Tribes’ After School Program.
Some parents are opting to send their children to five-day-a-week daycare rather than Head Start, which is on a four-day-a-week schedule, Minthorn said, so they can work without having to worry about childcare on that fifth day.
“We’re busting at the seams already,” she said. “It will be about space for the
pre-K guys. Early learning has needs for additional space and since k-8 has always been a goal of the Tribes this opportunity provided a way to assess the need for additional space for early learning programs.”
Of course, Minthorn said, a K-8 school on the Reservation would provide an opportunity to include an extensive curriculum that includes cultural and traditional learning, along with the core classes necessary to meet state education standards.
“We would want a curriculum that includes language and culture so there is no big transition from daycare to Head Start to k-8 and high school,” Minthorn said, noting that students would still have to “meet the milestones” of traditional learning – reading, writing, and arithmetic for example.
Head Start currently uses a curriculum that adheres to federal standards, but Minthorn would like to see the cultural component integrated more thoroughly.
She believes that students will benefit from more traditional instruction with better coordination between early learning program educators, including Head Start Culture Activities Coordinator Kimberly Allen, the Early Learning Culture Coordinator Trinette Minthorn, and other Early Learning teachers. Kimberly Allen already is coordinating pow wow drumming and longhouse protocol classes for Head Start kids and Trinette Minthorn is working on cultural lesson plans for integration to the Head Start curriculum.
Modesta Minthorn said the Tribes have been trying to prepare for younger educational opportunities ever since NCS came into existence.
“We’ve always wanted k-8 and now we have to determine the best possible route for the Tribes,” she said. “We want to offer that tribal perspective and what better place to do that than on the Reservation.”
“In four and a half years, I’ve never received a request formally from any tribal leader to exercise hunting rights inside Yellowstone,” Sholly said. “When those requests come in, there’s a lot to look at there.... We’ll cross that bridge when we get to that point.”
The irony of all this is that tribal hunters and the conservationists decrying this year’s bison kill want the same thing: more buffalo, with more freedom to roam.
Federal and state authorities have worked with environmental groups to retire grazing permits and expand “tolerance zones” in recent years, giving the bison more access to winter range.
The state of Montana isn’t likely to support more of it. Gianforte’s letter to park officials from last year made it clear that “any assumption of continued tolerance zone expansion presumes too much.”
For many, corralling a migratory species so intertwined with Indigenous
history in an area too small to hold it provides an unsubtle reminder of the same history that wrenched the tribes from their land and consigned the survivors to reservations.
“It all goes back to white supremacy and settler colonialism, and the idea to remove buffalo and remove Native peoples to make room,” said Cristina Mormorunni, director of the nonprofit group Indigenous-Led. “Everything we’re dealing with today is the legacy of that. The tribes need to be put into a leadership, guardian position.”
In the “vast settlement era” of today, as Wolf puts it, the bison has been left with a tiny fraction of its habitat. But if it were up to tribal hunters to decide, bison would wander a lot more freely ― like elk, deer or pronghorn.
“When they tried to wipe out the buffalo, that was our food source and our life source ― our way of life,” said Holt, the Nez Perce fish and wildlife chair. “We want to see five million buffalo back on the landscape, not 5,000.”
Reprinted with permission from Huff Post.
Continued from Page 10A
ning and prescribed fire work in areas just East of Indian Lake. We will also be implementing understory thinning along BIA System Roads around Telephone Ridge/Johnson Creek to maintain access for First Foods gathering and natural resource management and reduce the risk of fire along these overgrown trails.
We are also currently in the final stages of planning more landscape-scale forest management projects along the north side of I-84. Many of these dry ponderosa pine stands that have been heavily impacted by drought and bark beetles in the last several years are in this area.
There is still time to protect the remnant old growth ponderosa pine trees, reduce fire hazard, and provide for more healthy stand conditions in these areas.
We expect another large commercial thinning and prescribed fire project
along Telephone Ridge to commence in 2024 and to take 3-5 years to fully implement. Density management in stands west of Telephone Ridge (i.e., Cabbage Hill) is also high priority for the coming years.
Our staff has been working on finalizing an interactive “story map” to provide to the CTUIR Community. This online tool will provide a more in-depth background on the CTUIR forest management approach. It will also allow users to interact with a map that shows the footprint of recent and ongoing forest management projects on the UIR. This map will link to project-specific webpages that provide photos and updates on these projects. Our hope is that this story map will provide the CTUIR community an informative and engaging connection to the work being done to protect and enhance forest health and First Foods habitats in the uplands.
The monthly newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Pendleton, Oregon
Avery Quaempts, shortstop for the Pendleton High School Bucks softball team, leaps into the air after making the final out in Pendleton’s 14-0 quarter final win over La Grande on May 26. The Bucks girls lost their semi-final game to Number 1 Henley on Tuesday, May 30, falling 11-10 in eight innings. Weston-McEwen girls won their semifinal, 7-3, over Willamina and will play for the state title in Eugene on Saturday, June 3.
MISSION - Cayuse Holdings invites enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to apply for its Apprenticeship Program, an initiative designed to support Tribal member college students as they work toward a degree and a career with Cayuse.
According to Cayuse Holdings Chief Executive Officer Billy Nerenberg, “We support our apprentices with a part-time paid job, financial support towards their education, mentorship, and the opportunity for a full-time career with Cayuse after they attain their degree.”
“We’re eager to talk with students who are leaning towards careers in
business, compliance/legal, human resources, marketing, communications and social media, business development, information technology and more,” said Chris Schwartz, Organizational Development Director for Cayuse, who is coordinating the application process and reaching out to CTUIR college students with information about the opportunity.
Debra Croswell, who was the lead organizer of the program, noted “As Cayuse grows, the opportunity to bring on more apprentices is increasing as well. More of our business units are now in a situation to host a student, which means more learning and career opportunities in a wider variety of fields.”
Cayuse is accepting pre-applications now and will invite full applications and hold interviews in the next two months.
“Even if a student isn’t sure of their career path, we encourage them to pre-apply and open the conversation,” said Schwartz.
Students can learn more and express interest at https://www.cayuseholdings.com/jobs.
Cayuse Holdings and its subsidiaries employ more than 600 people who are stationed around the United States and overseas. Cayuse Technologies started in 2006 as a strategic alliance between the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Accenture to create a US-based alternative to offshore delivery centers. Cayuse was expanded in 2018 by adding a holding company, which consists of multiple subsidiary companies, including Cayuse Technologies. The Cayuse family of companies is an enterprise of the CTUIR. For more information, go to www.cayuseholdings. com
ATHENA – Registrations are being taken now for a 3-on-3 basketball tournament set for 5:30 p.m. July 7 in Athena.
The contest is for four-player coed teams in three age brackets – 4-5th grades, 6-8th grades, and 9th grade and up.
Fee is $20 per team with the winning team taking home a $200 prize.
The tournament is sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts in Athena.
To register or for more information call Braydon Rudolph at 541-379-8699.
Birthday ad deadline is the third Thursday of the month.
EUGENE – Five athletes from Nixyaawii Community School competed in the state high school track tournament May 25 and 26 at the world-famous Hayward Field, where the Olympic trials are held, on the University of Oregon campus.
“They were a little overwhelmed,” Coach Weyekin Wildbill said. “It was a great experience for everybody and I’m very proud of them.”
Three of the five stood on the winner’s podium after their performances – Landon Picard was seventh in the high jump, Kyella Picard was sixth in javelin and Ella Stewart was seventh in javelin.
Mersayus Hart “barely missed” the finals in both the 100- and 200-meter sprints.
And Alayna Bevis was close to making the finals in the 400.
Wildbill said “being there and experiencing” Hayward Field was an event in itself. Among so many others, it was the track where Steve Premontane ran in the 1970s. Several world records have been made and broken at Hayward.
Wildbill said he will especially miss the seniors – Picard,
Bevis and Hart.
“We had high expectations and they all did the best they could that day,” Wildbill said.
Coach Wildbill said Kyella Picard should “throw” at the college level.
“I’ll miss Mersayus running for sure,” he said. “There’s beauty in the way she runs, raw natural ability that you don’t see too often.”
Hart, he said, got off to a “bad start” in the 100 meters, a race she won at district, which was held May 19 and 20 at South Wasco High School in Maupin. She also won the 200 meters at district.
Kyella Picard won the javelin and was third in shot put at district, with Stewart, a junior, third in the javelin at district.
Landen Picard, a junior, was second at district in the high jump and cleared 5-feet 10-inches at state.
Bevis was second at district in the 400.
Also at district, Sacas Wildbill was third in the 3,000 meters, but did not qualify for state.’
Kannan Rowdy Weathers won the Oregon Junior High Rodeo Division Bull Riding Championship in Powell Butte May 26-29 and will head to Perry, Georgia, June 18-24 for the Junior High National Rodeo Finals. Weathers, the son of Bill and Kimberly Weathers, is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. In addition to his championship on bulls, Kannan was second in bareback and third in saddle bronc, winning the average in both those events.
Contributed photo
Did you know that the CTUIR sued the United States Corps of Engineers in the 1970s to prevent the construction of a Dam on Catherine Creek in Northeastern Oregon? The Corps argued that the CTUIR did not have treaty fishing rights in the area or, if those rights existed, the fish hatchery planned would mitigate for the loss of the fishery. The court held that the dam would unlawfully impact treaty rights and prevented the dam from being constructed.
uylɨxs (second, six)
Junior girls jingle/fancy – 1, Dazha Joseph. 2, Imani Benson. 3, Elizabeth Bevis.
Junior boys grass/fancy – 1, Joeray Stwyer. 2, Asher Stwyer.
Junior girls traditional – 1, Dymon Say. 2, Isabella Hunt. 3, Hannah Brown.
Junior boys traditional – 1, Amadeo Teewe. 2, Daniel Miza. 3, Brayen Marsh.
Teen girls jingle/fancy – 1, Lillian Watchman. 2, Sylvia Rodriguez.
Teen boys grass/fancy – 1, Garian McDonald. 2, Cashis Bevis. 3, Julian Stwyer.
Teen girls traditional – 1, Tamisa Sherwood. 2, Angel Basie.
Teen boys traditional – 1, Sheldon Joseph. 2, Hiyumm Nowland. 3, Elijah Bauer.
Women Golden Age – 1, Mitzi Nanam kin. 2, Jackie Barkley. 3, Katie Black-
Sky
wolf-Bevis. All ages round bustle – 1, Wilbur Oatman. Consolation – Terry Heemsah Sr. and Amadeo Teewe.
Mens Golden Age – 1, Terry Heemsah Sr. 2, J.T. Williams. 3, John Bevis.
Women fancy/jingle – 1, Alayna Bevis. 2, Josephine Penney. 3, Teata Ellenwood.
Mens fancy/grass – 1, Terry Heemsah Jr., 2, Redhorse Wesley. 3, Gary Smith.
Womens traditional – 1, Katrina Miller. 2, Annie Smith. 3, Ida Adams.
Mens traditional – 1, Buck Wallahee. 2, Bryan Adams. 3, George Meninick Jr. Committee Old Style Jingle Special – 1, Alayna Bevis. 2, Teata Ellenwood. 3, Imani Benson.
Mens slick style – 1, Eric Broncheau. 2, Jarvis Stwyer. 3, Eliot Gottfriedson.
Veterans were honored at the Root Feast Powwow on Saturday night.
Everyone that attended and participated in the Red Elk funeral, we would like to sincerely thank each and every one of you! Your efforts, support, and love were appreciated very much. A special thanks to Fred Hill for officiating, and Michael Ray for providing the regalia used. Along with Rico McKay, Damon Billy, Vince Sohappy, Robert VanPelt (Duke Luton), Keith Burke, and Anthony Luton for participating as Pallbearers. A special thank you also to Dana Minthorn for contributing an eagle feather. Also wanting to thank the families for giving us support through this difficult time: Sharon Weathers Family, Garrell, Kevin, and “D” Moore Family, Shanna Alexander, Tom, Deb, and Jerad Croswell, Jerry Mosgrove Family, Erin Fragua, Aaron Webb, Chris Webb, Yvonne Webb-John-
son, Teresa and Gary Parker, Trinette Minthorn, Laatis Nowland, Hiyuum Nowland and Miss Kinsley Nez. Along with the Hunters, Sam Spino and Andrew Wildbill, and all the singers. Special thanks to Armand Minthorn for gifting the family Pendleton merchandise, Marie Dick for all her support and Katherine Peterson. And any close friends and family. The Red Elk and Webb family hope to see you all for the memorial in 2024! (4-8-2024) Thank you!
Kay and Chazz Webb, Lacy Luton and family, Cyrene Red Elk/Kinsley Nez Celebration Committee would like to thank the following organizations and individuals who helped
make the 2023 Spring Celebration a success: Donators/Sponsors: Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton Round Up & Happy Canyon, Wildhorse Resort & Casino, Cayuse Holdings, Pepsi, Sam Spino, Veteran Coordinator; Lorasa Joseph, Lynn Sue Jones, Fred Hill Sr, Thomas Morningowl, Andrew WildBill, Eva Looney, Austin Ancheta, Anson Crane; Committee Members: J’shon Thompson, Quincy George, Syreeta Azure, Gabe Jones, EllaMae Looney. All the drums, dancers, and vendors who made this year’s event a success.
Thank you all. – Committee Chair
LA GRANDE, Ore.—The Union County Sheriff’s Office, ODFW and Oregon State Police responded to a bear attack this morning in the Mount Emily Recreation Area near La Grande.
According to Craig Lankford of La Grande, the victim, he had shot a bear the previous evening (May 23) while the bear had harassed his chickens. This morning, he went to search for the bear, encountered it near his property, and shot it again. Shortly afterwards, the bear attacked him.
At about 10:44 am and with assistance from USDA Wildlife Services, a bear consistent with the victim’s description and near the site of the attack was located and euthanized (shot).
Isabel Brigham, daughter of Terrie Brigham and Lindsey Watchman, was recently inducated in the National Honor Society. She was also named to the second team all Trico League as an outfielder. Isabel lives in Cascade Locks.
WASHINGTON – Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) has appointed Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Executive Director Aja DeCoteau as one of 15 new members to the National Park System Advisory Board. DeCoteau is the first Native American to serve on this board in its 88year history. In this role, Ms. DeCoteau will advise Secretary Haaland and the Director of the National Park Service, Chuck Sams (Cayuse/Walla Walla), on matters relating to the Service’s work.
DeCoteau is a citizen of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and has tribal lineage with the Cayuse, Nez Perce, and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. She has over two decades of experience working on natural resource management and policy issues in the Columbia River basin. She earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Dartmouth College, and her master’s degree in environmental management from Yale University.
“Growing up in Indian Country on the lands of the Yakama Nation, I have always held a deep appreciation and sense of stewardship for our sacred waters and lands that provide our people with our first foods” said DeCoteau. “I am honored to accept this
appointment to help advise Secretary Haaland, Director Sams, and the National Park System as we work to continue to provide all visitors of current and future generations the opportunity to take in and enjoy the natural beauty and wildlife of this country. ”
In addition to its advisory role, the Board also has a regulatory role in recommending new National Natural Landmarks and National Historic Landmarks and provides recommendations regarding the national historic significance of proposed National Historic Trails. In recognition of the importance of hearing from Tribal perspectives when making management decisions that impact public lands and waters, Secretary Haaland added a requirement that at least one member of the Board be from a federally recognized Tribe.
“The challenges faced by the National Park Service reflect the challenges faced by our nation,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. “Whether it’s an increasing demand for dwindling resources, the impacts of a changing climate, or the struggle to understand how our past influences today’s injustices, recommendations developed by the National Park System Advisory Board will help us strengthen our connection to the land and to our history.”
Sunhawk Thomas, dancing round bustle chicken style, has earned a couple of titles in the last year, including Warrior for the National Indian Days Powwow and the Warrior for the White Swan National Indian Days Powwow. He plans to participate in the contest to be MidColumbia Powwow “little warrior” for the Celilo event. An enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Sunhawkwas given the Indian name l‘ikik, which means Hawk, by his grandfather, Joe Thomas, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. At the age of 13, Sunhawk started traditional dancing in teen categories before switching to round bustle when his family moved to the Umatilla Indian Reservation five years ago. Sunhawk has traveled and competed in powwows around the Northwest as well is to Lake Superior. He has been on the CTUIR Youth Leadership Council since sixth grade and currently is vice chair of the Senior Youth Leadership Council, which traveled in April to Washington, D.C. He participates in Round-Up and Happy Canyon, whre he has been part of the hunting party and was a groom in the wedding scene. Sunhawks hunts and fishes and recently celebrated his first kill. He wants to attend the University of Oregon for Native American Studies and would like to be a game warden or work for the Fish and Wildlife Program.
MISSION - The Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) has hired a new apprenticeship training coordinator and TERO assistant.
Michelle Bratlie, former TERO Dispatch Officer, begins as the TERO Apprenticeship Training Coordinator on June 1. Natasha Watchman will start as the TERO Assistant, a position she held as a temporary employee.
Over the past three years Bratlie has been conducting various training seminars related to construction, including flagging, OSHA 10/30 and Hazmat. She will be overseeing a 12-week pre-apprenticeship construction training program under a Ready For Oregon grant obtained last December by TERO.
“I’m really excited about this position. We can help people who want a career in the construction field where they will get better pay and benefits for their livelihood,” said Bratlie
TERO will be conducting the training sessions at the Tribal Sovereignty Center at South Coyote Business Park. TERO has been training Nixyaawii Charter School
students since last December on a CAT simulator that does both front end loader and motor grader.
More recently, a welding simulator purchased from a grant from the Marathon Petroleum Foundation (MPF) has been activated and used for training.
“These students have picked up on the welding simulator and it’s enjoyable to see them getting better each time they get on the simulators,” said Bratlie.
Bratlie has a Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Management degree from Grand Canyon University.
Watchman will be responsible for clerical functions at TERO, including registering TERO workers and coordinating dispatching until that position is filled. She also offers support service to the TERO Commission.
“I enjoy working in TERO and it’s an
honor and privilege to help our people get to work,” said Watchman.
TERO Program Manager John Barkley said training is just a minor component of the TERO program and that outsourcing training is limited.
“Since the pandemic the construction industry has faced a shortage of labor. Implementing a pre-apprenticeship construction training program is necessary to dispatch workers to contractors and meet our hiring goals. This is an opportunity for a younger audience to become familiar with the building trades, and choose a career path in construction, that pay prevailing wages.”
TERO is primarily a regulatory agency of CTUIR and has agreements with various state and federal agencies, such as the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
TERO is involved in ODOT projects as far away as Joseph and Huntington.
TERO workers include laborers, flaggers, operators, carpenters and others trades.
The Timene Apartments project near the Nixyaawii Charter School is done with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held June 1. The prime contractor, Chervenell, has been awarded the contract for a new fire station that is underway.
Wildhorse Resort & Casino is planning an expansion project expected to
begin in the Spring of 2024. A feasibility study includes building a 10-story hotel, 15,000 sq. ft. events center, new restaurant with banquet kitchen facilities, office space, additional 4-screen Cineplex, Pow Wow/Outdoor arena, spa and salon, and parking garage.
The Ready For Oregon grant is a statewide initiative offered by the Bureau of Labor Industries (BOLI) that focuses on construction training.
TERO anticipates enrolling tribal members for its pre-apprenticeship construction training program in June. Several Indian-owned businesses certified by TERO, along with the building trade unions, are supportive of this training effort and have offered letters of support for the grant.
“This is an exciting time to train young people about viable construction opportunities and the support by our Indian-owned businesses is key, serving as mentors and sharing their own valuable experiences,” added Barkley. “The building trade unions are also interested in our projects and will offer support to TERO’s training.”
Training is an essential component to building our future and building the careers for TERO workers, Barkley concluded.
Kimberly Allen, Cicily Moses and Ashleyanne Moffitt lead children from the Head Start Program learning to drum and dance, and other cultural protocol.The Head Start staff, children and parents dressed traditonally and went root digging near Deadman Pass before the Children’s Feast on May 11 at the Longhouse. The children learned to identify roots and how to take care of the roots once they were harvested. Staff, children and parents cleaned roots and prepared for a giveaway on May 9 before the Feast. Children gave their first roots to special people in their lives. The children also donated roots to the Senior Center.
STEVENSON, Wash. - Columbia River Indian Fisher Expo is scheduled for July 28 at Skamania Lodge.
The expo is a conference and trade show highlighting services available to Columbia River tribal fishers.
The event is hosted annually by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), though this will be the first expo since 2019 because of the Covid-19 pandemic that started in 2020.
Information, training and resources geared specifically toward the needs of
tribal fishers on the “Big River” will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the expo venue in Stevenson, Wash.
Expo topics being considered for presentations and classes include equipment maintenance, fisher safety, quality handling, promotion and business practices, T reaty fishing rights and tribal issues, and environment and restoration.
For more information contact Andrea Tulee, Public Affairs Specialist for CRITFC, at atulee@critfc.org or 503-828-8229.
If you should see this film, remember that the Osage people are not relics, we are resilient and we are Wahzhazhe Always
By Shannon Shaw Duty, Editor Osage NewsCANNES, France – The beginning scene of Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” is remarkable.
Warning, spoilers ahead.
Taken verbatim from the book, “A Pipe for February,” by the late Osage author Charles Red Corn, the film opens as the Osage people have decided to give up their old ways, their religion, and to bury their ceremonial pipe as they embrace a new way of life in the white man’s world.
sequences, all while speaking in perfect Osage language, is very beautiful. Honestly, every scene that showcases Osage language and culture is captivating.
“I can’t think of another story up to this time that has helped an audience fall in love with a Native woman so that people will [care] about all of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women that we are dealing with now that people don’t look for, except for search parties, families,” Gladstone said.
“People have to put it together on our own because who’s helping us? This is not history, this is modern, this is contemporary and having a chance to not just have this love story to talk about, how did this play out, like, I mean it serves as a really good analogy for just relations between the government and Native people period, between humanity and the planet.
The scene is heartbreaking, but beautiful filmmaking. The Nonhonzhinga (medicine man), played by Talee Redcorn, prays in Osage as two women, Margaret Sisk and Moira RedCorn, sit behind him crying. The scene is a precursor of what comes next.
The film then explodes into the Roaring ’20s. The discovery of oil on Osage lands, the wealth that makes Osages the richest people per capita in the world, and unsolved Osage murders go uninvestigated while their oil money is left to their killers and henchmen.
Fresh out of the war and right off the train steps Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s picked up by Henry Roan, played by William Belleau, and taken to see his domineering uncle William Hale, played by Robert De Niro. Hale prefers his nephew call him “King” and Ernest bows his head in servitude. It’s clear from the start that Ernest is what Osages call Waux.pah.thi^, meaning pitiful.
While the opening scene of the film may be verbatim from “A Pipe for February,” the film Scorsese has made is definitely not a simple adaptation of Grann’s book, but an adaptation that’s magnified.
The film is told from the points of view of Mollie and Ernest Burkhart, as if the viewer is a fly on the wall in their lives. Mollie is a full blood Osage woman from Grayhorse with three sisters and a mother when she meets and falls in love with Ernest, her handsome taxi driver.
Mollie is played by the incomparable Lily Gladstone She steals every scene she’s in. Her presence, her depth, her control, the nuances she brings to the role, she’s brilliant. In person, she’s as kind as she is beautiful. She deserves
every accolade she receives. If you’re wondering if you should go see this film, at least go see it for Gladstone’s performance.
“It isn’t who did it, but who didn’t do it”
The script was originally 200 pages long, said Scorsese, with the film’s focus primarily on Tom White, the Texas Ranger who leads the investigation into the killings of Osage tribal members. DiCaprio was originally cast as White but as the film changed direction, the role went to Jesse Plemons.
Scorsese said the original script read like a movie he has seen many times before. He decided he wasn’t the director for the job. That is until he visited the Osage community of Grayhorse in 2019. At that fateful dinner, he listened to the community about their experiences and what they knew about Ernest and Mollie Burkhart. It was then he knew the story was more than just a crime drama, it was about complicity.
“That night was the one. That’s what did it, when they [Grayhorse community] got up and spoke, all of them. I think Brandy Lemon got up and she spoke and talked about Ernest and Mollie and I realized, because I was wondering, why this guy had done this,” Scorsese said.
“And how far was he complicit? As a weak man, let’s say, did he feel ‘Well, I’ll just do it this one time. It’s going to go away, they’re not gonna ask me to do it anymore or ask again. They tell him that, and then they really tell him, and he’s just scared. I’m not making excuses for him … but how far was he complicit?
Scorsese said as their research continued and they delved further and further in, one thing became clear: It wasn’t who did it, but who didn’t do it.
“Do we have the strength if we were so tested in our lives to resist this kind of living just to be quiet,” he said. “You
could take it all the way to the World War in the 1930s and 40s and people who were complicit in subtle ways, and not so subtle we know, but even in very subtle ways and made it out. So, for me, that was interesting.”
Rest assured book fans, all plot points are followed and the end result is the same, but what’s different is Scorsese takes you inside their friendships, their relationships, their families, you begin to see why Mollie could love and trust Ernest, and why Ernest could be conflicted by duty and fear of his uncle and the duty and love of his family.
The film stays with you long after it’s over, making you think about this conversation and that, searching for the moment of betrayal, only to realize it snuck up on you too.
In a conversation with Gladstone following the premiere, she spoke about why this film is important. Why the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement should have begun at colonial contact and how our Indigenous women are still in danger every day.
“I’m struggling to think of another film that had such a strong presence that was so real of Native women, Indigenous women. I love my sisters, the actresses who play my sisters and the love that Mollie had for them, because we spend enough time with them and see them as a family in the story that we feel the impact,” Gladstone said.
Mollie’s sisters , Anna Brown, Reta Smith and Minnie Smith, are all killed for their headright money, as is their mother Lizzie Q, played expertly by Tantoo Cardinal. The sisters are played by Indigenous actresses Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins and Jillian Dion. The scenes with the sisters spending time together, the mother and first daughter
“When I was watching the film, making it is one thing, I kind of liken it to you stand up for your friends before you stand up for yourself. I was almost more affected watching Mollie than I was trying to be the actress navigating and finding it in the scenes but then seeing it as a whole … I fell in love with her too. We have so many stunning Native actresses that have held their place so strong and beautifully on screen for a long time and I can’t think of another one where you see this love story that allows the audience in there too.
“Mollie survived but three of the Kyle sisters did not. All of us know somebody, somebody in our family, somebody in our close circles, somebody we grew up with and we don’t know where they are.”
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is directed by Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Eric Roth and Scorsese, based on David Grann’s best-selling book. With a run time of 3 hours and 26 minutes, the Apple Original Film made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20 in the Grand Théâtre Lumière to a 9-minute standing ovation.
The film will be exclusively released in partnership with Paramount Pictures in limited theaters worldwide on Friday, Oct. 6, and widely released on Friday, Oct. 20, before streaming globally on Apple TV+.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” also stars Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, Tatanka Means, William Belleau, Yancey RedCorn, Talee Redcorn, Everett Waller, Jason Isbell, Louis Cancelmi, Scott Shepherd, Sturgill Simpson
‘I’m struggling to think of another film that had such a strong presence that was so real of Native women, Indigenous women.’
- Lily Gladstone, who plays Mollie in the film
MISSION, Ore. - The largely misunderstood history of the Bannock War is told in the recent publishing of Northern Paiutes of the Malheur- High Desert Reckoning in Oregon Country.
Author David Wilson will discuss his book at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute on Saturday, June 24 at 2:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
A 2023 Oregon Book Award finalist, The Northern Paiutes of the Malheur challenges previous notions that Paiute Chief Egan, of Cayuse descent, was the main figure responsible for initiating the Bannock War. Wilson uncovers the larger story of the Bannock War and details the Indian Agent offenses that created an illusion
that the Paiutes were architects of their own misery. The Bannock War ended on the Umatilla Reservation.
David Wilson moved to Oregon to practice law. He also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Law, Willamette University School of Law, and the University of Oregon School of Law. After retiring Wilson spent eight years researching and writing Northern Paiutes of the Malheur.
This is the second program in the lineup of 2023 free public programs--Pepsi Primetime @ the Museum sponsored by Admiral Beverage Northwest.
In addition to the museum and interpretive center, Tamástslikt operates a museum store, and café, and offers meeting room rentals. The Museum Store and permanent exhibits are open from 10 am-5 pm, Tuesday-Saturday. Kinship Cafe is open from 11 am to 2 pm, Tuesday-Saturday.
Tamástslikt is located at 47106 Wildhorse Boulevard at the far end of the main driveway of the Wildhorse Resort & Casino, 10 minutes east of Pendleton, Oregon. Tamástslikt can be reached via Exit 216 off Interstate I-84 or by following the “Mission-LaGrande” sign south off Highway 11 onto Highway 331.
Correction: The Real Final List of Trips
Nicht-Yow-Way Senior Program wants to clarify that its 2023 Travel Destination Plan is limited to six trips, including two that have already occurred.
Seniors visited Siletz May 3 and Yakama May 30. Still planned are trips to Nez Perce June 30, Tulalip in August, Coeur d’Alene in October, and Puyallup Weaving Conference, Oct. 27-28.
Nicht-Yow-Way senior program apologizes that the May CUJ article listed more destinations than possible under the budget. The earlier list represented the total trips as voted by the group. The list was further narrowed down considering budgeting for other costs such as movie tickets and farmers market tokens.
The usual procedure is for Department of Children and Family Services to post a sign-up sheet at the Nicht-YowWay senior center a few weeks prior to the trip. Seniors can also call Katrina Burnside at DCFS, 541-429-7314 or the DCFS office at 541-429-7300.
Save the Date: CTUIR Elders’ Day Sept. 9
Seniors adopted the theme ‘Blue Mountains’ to feature what comes from the land and the cultural life that stems from the high country.
Seniors had many ideas for the up-
coming senior dinner at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino. Lorena Thompson, Vice-Chair, asks elders to consider what kinds of gifts to make for guests. Julie Taylor, Director, DCFS, said room blocks have been set aside for tribes that have attended in the past. In addition, a small limited-space room block has been reserved for CTUIR seniors from off-reservation. CTUIR visitors will be responsible for their own room costs.
Camp Crier: New app CTUIR Seniors 55+
Thanks to Debra Croswell of Cayuse Native Solutions for helping the senior program to potentially improve communications among seniors.
The CTUIR Seniors 55+ is now available for download within the Camp Crier app. Once a senior downloads Camp Crier on their phone, he or she can request to join CTUIR Seniors 55+. DCFS will verify the requester’s enrollment and age and approve or disapprove the request. Events and announcements are to be posted there.
Nicht-Yow-Way seniors meet at the senior center on the first Friday of the month at 9 a.m.
MISSION - The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Education Department hosted the annual Children’s Feast on May 11 at the Nixyáawii Longhouse.
It was the first Children’s Feast since activities were curtailed by the COVID-10 pandemic.
There were more than 200 students involved this year with the root digging, preparation and day of the feast. The students all came from the Education Department Programs - Afterschool, Daycare, Head Start, Language Immersion, and Youth Services.
The CTUIR Education Department has been implementing the Children’s Feast as a parent engagement and student event for more than 20 years, according to Modesta Minthorn, Director of the CTUIR Department of Education. The event began with a simple conversation with the elders in the Language Program about providing opportunities for all of our youth to participate in our tanánawit ‘Indian Ways’. From this conversation grew an event that has helped multitudes of students and families to be active in our traditional ways.
The Children’s Feast is an event that requires coordination between programs within the Tribes and department, Minthorn said. Programs rely on each other to provide the needed support for all students to participate. The coordination team works with elder cultural consultants who guide the team and help organize the event as well as provide the information needed to teach required cultural protocols for the feast.
There are songs to be learned along with identifying the foods, the order of the foods, where to gather the foods, how to gather the foods, how to prepare the foods, and the Longhouse protocols for services (dancing, bell ringing, etc.).
The partnerships developed as a result of the
Children’s Feast have grown and continues to grow every year, Minthorn said. Over the years the Education Department team has offered this event as an opportunity to connect with our local school district staff in order for the school districts to better understand student participation during these important times for our Tribes.
The connection during this event between the school district, students and tribe has improved over the years to the extent that it is now an event that students can attend as a school event. Minthorn said the acceptance by the district has been a huge win for the Education Department Children’s Feast event because it means students will not lose out on attendance days to participate.
“It is the careful dialogue and nurturing of the partnerships by Education Department staff that have allowed for this part of the event to really grow and it is their commitment that drives the event to
be what it has become,” said Minthorn.
Áwš sínwita naamí sínwit, tanantímki. Á č aku inmí timná iwá kákim átawitki. Inmí n č ’í n č ’ima pawá č a λáaxwma pakí’išana Kaúyitpa. Naamí tanánma pawá č a skáw skáw ku pakútkutšana níix Kaúyitpa. Inmíma sapsikwałáma pawá átaw…. kwáalisim áčaku pawínpša níix timná ku pakútkuxa timnáki. Nči kwałá, Cisyawak, Táwtalikš, Kákinaš, Láwiux, Álikalat, Mitáwacumyosnmay, Wutmiiwinmy,
District: Pomeroy Ranger District
Estimated implementation date: May 15th, 2023
Description of location:
Estimated completion date: June 30th, 2023
Lower elevation sites located in Asotin Cr, Lick Cr, Wenaha & Tucannon River drainages, and the following Forest road systems 40, 41, 42, 47.
Species to be treated:
Spotted/ Diffuse knapweed, sulphur cinquefoil, meadow hawkweed, rush skeletonweed, yellow starthistle, Scotch thistle, hounds Tongue
Herbicides to be used:
Milestone™ (Aminopyralid), Escort (Metsulfuron Methyl) Tordon 22K (Picloram)
Method of signing:
Treatment signs at beginning and/or end of treated road segment.
Proposed Treatment Maps found online at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/umatilla/home/?cid=STELPRDB5293532
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