The planning of a prescribed fire involves meticulous care and consideration, especially after an active wildfire season. Umatilla National Forest burns only when objectives can be met, which include creating fire-resilient landscapes and protecting values at risk, like homes, infrastructure, and drinking water. 

State holding open house meetings on community wildfire programs

The Umatilla Indian Reservation area meeting will be held from 7-9 p.m. in La Grande on Tuesday, June 4, at Union County Fairgrounds, Mount Emily Building, 3604 N 2nd Street. SALEM — A series of six open houses about the state’s new community wildfire risk reduction programs are scheduled June 3 through July 1 across Oregon. These events will offer opportunities to…

ODFW staff donned Tyvek suits, respirators, layers of gloves and eye protection in a mission to get the toxic cow carcass out of the forest before it could kill more wildlife.

Alarming incidents lead to collateral damage for wildlife, pets

ENTERPRISE —The target was likely a wolf, the latest poisoning in a disturbing trend that has killed 19 wolves in Oregon since 2015. Whatever the target, the collateral damage in northeast Oregon’s ongoing poisoning cases now includes golden eagles, dogs, and other carnivores.   The latest case was announced by Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division (OSP F&W) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife…

Willamette Falls, the second largest by volume in the country and holds ancestral and cultural significance to Native nations that have been here since time immemorial. Since the 1800s, colonization led to the privatization of the falls. Photo by Jarrette Werk Underscore News / Report for America

Warm Springs asks state to repeal agreement with Grand Ronde

Nine months after Oregon passed a historic agreement with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs filed a petition to repeal the agreement, saying the state didn’t consult them about an agreement that threatens their treaty rights. BY NIKA BARTOO-SMITH, Underscore News + ICT The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs asked the Oregon Department of…

The Cayuse Five memorial project site is on the McLoughlin Promenade, a 7.8-acre linear park overlooking the historic location of their public hanging near Willamette Falls.

CTUIR, Oregon City honor 5 Cayuse men with tribute

OREGON CITY – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and Oregon City have worked together for three years on a project to honor five Cayuse men who were unjustly taken into custody, charged, and hanged for the death of missionary Marcus Whitman in Oregon City Territory in 1850. According to CTUIR historians, Whitman was suspected of coveting…

Kola Shippentower, Oregon Ravens team member and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives advocate, poses with her family after the Ravens home game against the Seattle Majestics on May 4, 2024. L to R: Abraham Shippentower, 14, Samuel Shippentower, 7, Kola Shippentower and Tommy Thompson, Jr. All are enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. JARRETTEWERK | UNDERSCORE NEWS + REPORT FOR AMERICA PHOTO

Oregon Ravens honor missing and murdered relatives

Ravens player Kola Shippentower, Umatilla, and youth from her nation shared song and dance to honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives during a May 4 football game against the Seattle Majestics. By Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore News + ICTand Jarrette Werk Underscore News + Report for America MILWAUKIE – In honor of the National Week of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous…

WWII veteran Charles Shay pays tribute to soldiers during a D-Day commemoration ceremony of the 78th anniversary for those who helped end World War in Normandy, France, Monday, June 6, 2022. On D-Day, Shay was a 19-year-old army medic who saved many on the beaches of France. JEREMIAS GONZALEZ | AP FILE PHOTO

On D-Day, 19-year-old medic Charles Shay was ready to give his life, and save as many as he could

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and SYLVIE CORBET, Associated Press BRETTEVILLE-L’ORGUEILLEUSE, France (AP) — On D-Day, Charles Shay was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic who was ready to give his life — and save as many as he could. Now 99, he’s spreading a message of peace with tireless dedication as he’s about to take part in the 80th anniversary commemorations of…

General welfare needs is how the CTUIR now classifies its allocations to tribal members. The CTUIR is one of the few tribes so far that have made tax code changes to how it shares gaming revenue with tribal citizens. CUJ | STOCK PHOTO

CTUIR member dividend payments increase  

By CHRIS AADLAND, Reporter MISSION – Tribal members will see a larger quarterly revenue sharing payment this month. May payments will be calculated using the new formula approved by Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) leaders last year. Tribal officials told the Board of Trustees (BOT) on May 6 that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) had finally…

Red dresses and shirts with messages or names of murdered or missing people, personalized messages planted outside on miniature dresses and a parade of community members wearing red helped demonstrate on May 6 that their loved ones haven’t been forgotten and that solutions are still needed.

CTUIR hosts MMIW events, display

By CHRIS AADLAND, Reporter MISSION – Red dresses and shirts with messages or names of murdered or missing people, personalized messages planted outside on miniature dresses and a parade of community members wearing red helped demonstrate on Monday that their loved ones haven’t been forgotten and that solutions are still needed. The displays were part of two Confederated Tribes of…

Homicide is the fourth-leading cause of death among Native American women between the ages of 1 and 19 years and the sixth-leading cause of death for ages 20 to 44, as of 2017 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. May 6, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation honored and remembered those Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

MMIW Awareness: A Day to Remember Centuries of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women

Guest Opinion By: Professor Victoria Sutton May 06, 2024 Our awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) may be relatively new within the last decade, but it started long ago with Pocahontas, or Matoaka. Contrary to the Disney movie built on historical legends of early America, Pocahontas was forced to marry a colonist from the Jamestown Colony in order…

A map shows the footprint of the nearly 2,000 acre Thornburgh resort site in relation to Redmond, Oregon. MacGregor Campbell / OPB

Warm Springs Tribes win treaty rights appeal over Central Oregon resort

By Emily Cureton Cook Oregon Public Broadcasting Deschutes County officials have backed plans for Thornburgh’s 950 luxury homes, lodgings, a golf course and a private lake. Judges on the Oregon Court of Appeals delivered a win to tribes from the Columbia River basin May 1. Three appeals court judges found the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA, made…