MISSION – The Land Buy Back Program will soon return to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), offering eligible landowners a third opportunity to participate in the land ownership consolidation program. The Program will be based upon the availability of funds remaining and will tentatively mail offers to landowners during the summer of 2021. Because of the…
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…
CTUIR opens COVID-19 vaccine clinic to 11 counties across ceded territory
MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) has opened their two day mass vaccination event to any resident (16 and over) who resides in the 11 counties that span the CTUIR ceded territory. The 11 counties include Benton, Walla Walla, Columbia and Garfield counties in Washington and Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, Grant, Baker, and Malheur counties…
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,…
NEW HEIGHTS: How the Allen brothers have made their own legacy on the court
By Brandon Hansen for the CUJ While four years of age and several times zones apart, brothers Tru and Trevon Allen, the two members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have a bond that is hard to break. Growing up in Lapwai, Idaho, the two went to Clarkston High School in Washington and each made their mark…
Uniquely Umatilla: Prayer Power in the Rotunda
NPR and a iHeartRadio were silently and then loudly conflicting as I attempted to get a miniature sound bar working in my new office on March 22. As I resolved the issue that morning, I heard an overpowering sound in the distance. There was a bell, a few booming voices and a slow migration to a small circle in the…
Vega Rector rejoins CUJ
By The CUJ MISSION – Three years removed from her last stint with the Confederated Umatilla Journal, Miranda Vega Rector has returned as a temporary reporter through mid-July. A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Vega Rector is a former Native American Journalist Association award winner who took a hiatus from journalism following the birth of her…
Lucky 7 Redevelopment Project in full swing
By The Office of Tribal Planning The Tribal Housing Development Services Team has been working diligently on a number of housing projects that are coming to fruition in 2021. Lucky 7 is the first that has been in full swing of construction. Lucky 7 is an existing manufactured home park on the Reservation near the “Four Corners” intersection of Mission…
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,…
Food Distribution counts record high number, announces upcoming change
By the CUJ MISSION – The Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) saw its highest turnout to date Feb. 28, as 375 showed up. DCFS Director Julie Taylor anticipated the amount after the previous distribution came up short. “It’s growing,” she said. “People are having more need for food. They are going back to work, but they still have…