PENDLETON – The Happy Canyon Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Avery Quaempts and Korie Spencer as the 2025 Happy Canyon Princesses. The two young women will serve as the official ambassadors for the Happy Canyon Night Show, held every evening during Pendleton Round-Up week in September. “We’re excited to welcome Avery and Korie as the 2025 Happy…
By CHRIS AADLAND PENDLETON – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation held a voter registration event on Thursday evening to give the public an opportunity to check their registration status and learn about other resources ahead of the upcoming elections. The event, held at Hamley Slickfork Saloon, featured live music, food and refreshments, election information and speakers who…
By GRAHAM LEE BREWER and MATT O’BRIEN MIAMI, Okla. (AP) — Shawnee Tribe Chief Ben Barnes grew up playing video games, including “probably hundreds of hours” colonizing a distant planet in the 1999 title Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. So when that same game studio, Firaxis, approached the tribal nation a quarter-century later with a proposal to make a playable character…
Non-partisan event will be free and open to the pubic to aid registered voters in checking their status and to help those who are eligible to vote get registered in time for the Nov. 5 election. PENDLETON – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) will host a voter registration drive from 4-8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10…
By CHRIS AADLAND, The CUJ MISSION – For Nixyáawii Community School (NCS) teacher Niccole Harrison, becoming a teacher was “just kind of a lucky coincidence.” Harrison, who teaches language arts at NCS, was originally pursuing a career in social services before taking an unplanned elective course on early elementary education at Eastern Oregon University that set her down a different…
MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) hosted hundreds of elders from various tribes for fun and food at its annual Elders Honor Day Luncheon on Sept. 6 at the Wildhorse Resort & Casino. Kathleen Elliott, Local Food Purchase Assistance Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Food Distribution coordinator with CTUIR’s Children and Family Services, said historically…
By LISA SNELL, The CUJ PENDLETON – A self-professed “typical horse crazy girl,” Kayla Fossek was born and raised in Pendleton, and she always knew she wanted to be a princess. The kind of princess that rides horses. But this year’s Pendleton Round-Up Queen didn’t grow up with horses. She didn’t even know how to ride a horse until she…
PENDLETON – The InterMountain Education Service District (IMESD) will host its annual Children’s Rodeo at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 12 in the Pendleton Round-Up Arena. Sponsored by IMESD and the Pendleton Round-Up Association, the event gives children with special needs ages 5-10 the opportunity to be cowboys and cowgirls. Students from IMESD’s component school districts in Baker, Morrow, Umatilla and…
Local Cancer Advocate Receives National Recognition from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) WASHINGTON – Karen Malcolm was awarded ACT Lead of the Year by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) for her exceptional commitment to advocacy work and making cancer a national priority. This annual award is given to a lead congressional district…
Gabe Sheoships, Cayuse and Walla Walla, is a recipient of the 2023 Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Awards. By NIKA BARTOO-SMITH ICT + Underscore News In a cornflower blue dress shirt with applique floral designs and a gray snapback with the phrase “Land Back” stitched on the front, Gabe Sheoships walked through the forest paths at Tryon Creek. Along the way, he…