A Round-Up to Remember

By Cary Rosenbaum of the CUJ PENDLETON – Light, cameras (if you’re a journalist, photographer or spectator), action. After a year without the Pendleton Round-Up, the fun continued — with a level of caution in mid-September. Culture and history were on display throughout the four-day event. And while some declined to attend due to the growing risk of continuing the…

COVID cases jump in July

By Cary Rosenbaum of the CUJ MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation reached a small but grim milestone in July. Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center officials stated a second death has occurred since the pandemic began. And cases spiked in July with 86 locals diagnosed with the virus, according to Yellowhawk Interim CEO Aaron Hines. “The biggest…

Burns, Soaring Eagle, Moses anchor Young Guns to NABI Championship, win trip to NBA Finals game

By Cary Rosenbaum of the CUJ PHOENIX – A trio of CTUIR members played significant roles on an inter-tribal team called the “Young Guns,” which captured the 18th-annual Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) championship in July. With the victory, former Nixyaawii Community School players Tyasin Burns and Magi Moses, and White Swan High School/Haskell-bound Teal Soaring Eagle got to attend…

Wildhorse Pow Wow Cancelled for Second Year

Mission, OR – Wildhorse Resort & Casino announced today the cancellation of the 2021 Wildhorse Pow Wow which was scheduled for July 2-4. The annual outdoor event which normally draws a crowd of 5,000 to 7,000 to the area over three days, was also cancelled last year. A Native American pow wow is a time when many tribes gather to…

Columbia Basin tribes urge Congress to make historic investment in northwest infrastructure

MISSION – This week, representatives from 12 different Northwest Tribes spent two days discussing advancing a salmon and energy proposal from Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) that could make an unprecedented infrastructure investment in the Pacific Northwest to save imperiled salmon runs, protect inland agriculture industries, and transform the region’s energy supply for a renewable future. Beyond the bold salmon and…

HISTORY MAKER: CTUIR member is the second Native American appointed to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council

By Cary Rosenbaum of the CUJ MISSION – Appointment to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is a goal Chuck Sams has had for 26 years. A 24-year-old Sams was working one of his first jobs after his service in the Navy with the Earth Conservation Corp’s Salmon Corps Program. His work regularly crossed paths with the Council. Before long,…

From left to right: Muriel Slickpoo, General Council Secretary Shawna Gavin and Red Lodge Executive Director Trish Jordan participate in smudging during a memorial event for Phyll Mendacino at Two Rivers Correctional Facility.

Two Rivers inmate was advocate for Native rights

-Phyll Mendacino passed away at age 65 due to COVID-19 complications By Jill-Marie Gavin for the CUJ The last time Red Lodge Transition Services (Red Lodge) organized a large event at Two Rivers Correctional Facility (Two Rivers) was in August of 2019. On August 31, 2019, inmates and visitors gathered for the annual “prison pow wow.” Throughout the whole event,…