Category: News

By the CUJ MISSION – Modesta Minthorn, the CTUIR’s Director of Education, explained the difficulties facing tribal families with distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic to the Board of Trustees Nov. 25. But a bright spot has been the Tribe’s After School Program for students of all grade levels. Three cohorts of 10 students are allowed to participate from the…

MISSION – Hazard mitigation has been of the utmost importance in the area since February’s Umatilla River Flood. “The river’s changing course and moving as it wants to, and (a flood) is going to happen again,” Planning Program Manager Patty Perry told the Board of Trustees (BOT) for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) in November. Perry…

By the CUJ MISSION – Seven out of 10 students at Nixyaawii Community School graduate on time, according to the statewide 2019-2020 Report Card issued in November by the Oregon Department of Education. Pendleton High School graduates about eight of 10 Native students on time. Among other things, the report card indicates the percentage of Native American/Alaska Native students at…

CTUIR will provide USDA commodity foods on Reservation By Wil Phinney of the CUJ MISSION – The Pandemic Preparedness Building under construction in Coyote Business Park South will include a food pantry to provide commodity foods – everything from fruit to nuts – to members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). About one-tenth of the 10,500…

By the CUJ MISSION – The Confederated Tribes plan a new round of purchasing a dozen fractionalized interests on a dozen parcels, some of which have more than a dozen owners. The process can be long and cumbersome, especially if the parcels are in the probate process for owners who have died. The 12 parcels are 40-80 acres in size,…

MISSION, OR – Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center will receive 300 COVID vaccinations this week. The clinic will begin administering the vaccine to healthcare staff, first responders and Yellowhawk patients over the age of 75 on Saturday and Sunday, December 19 and 20. “Yellowhawk staff are working hard to protect the CTUIR community and now they are starting to get healthcare…

“I have said time and again that hope is on the way. Today, I can tell you that help is here.” (Salem, OR) — Governor Kate Brown issued a video statement today as the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine began arriving at Oregon hospitals. “In recent weeks, as COVID-19 vaccines reached the final stages of approval, I have…

(Salem, OR) — Governor Kate Brown held a press conference today to update Oregonians on the status of COVID-19 and the pending distribution of vaccines. The Governor was joined by Patrick Allen, Director of the Oregon Health Authority (OHA); Dr. Dean Sidelinger, State Epidemiologist; and Darrah Isaacson, an Oregonian who has experienced COVID-19 symptoms for nearly 10 months. “Oregon is…

I was going into the interview cold. I didn’t know the subject at that March 2014 meeting; she didn’t know me; anything could’ve happened. As a reporter, you have to be proactive and reactive for interviews, but I was not quite prepared for this one. Pauline Stensgar, one of the last fluent speakers of one of my tribe’s ancient dialects,…