Visit to CTUIR marks second visit of Governor’s commitment to visit all nine federally recognized Tribal nation of Oregon this year.

On April 25th, Governor Tina Kotek and First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson spent the day with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). The visit is part of Governor Kotek’s commitment to meet with all of Oregon’s nine federally recognized sovereign Tribal nations in 2024.

“This visit with CTUIR was about strengthening our knowledge of the Tribe’s unique history,” Governor Kotek said. “The Tribe is working on some exciting, innovative initiatives and the state of Oregon is ready to support the good work of CTUIR however we can. I’d like to thank Chairman Burke, the Board of Trustees, and all members of CTUIR for the hospitality they’ve shown us as we’ve listened and learned in their community.”

“We are honored by Gov. Tina Kotek and the First Lady’s visit to the Umatilla Indian Reservation," CTUIR Chairman Gary I. Burke said. "Gov. Kotek has shown us that she is fulfilling her promise to learn in-depth about each of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon such that she and her administration can more effectively work with us as distinct, individual sovereign governments. We thank Gov. Kotek, the First Lady and her staff for taking the time to learn more about the Confederated Tribes, our tribal sovereignty, our treaty rights and the work we are doing here in Eastern Oregon and throughout our traditional use areas.”

Governor Kotek and First Lady Kotek Wilson started the day at the Nixyáawii Governance Center for an invocation prayer and welcome reception from the Board of Trustees and CTUIR staff in the rotunda, followed by a conversation with the CTUIR Board of Trustees about the ways in which the state of Oregon can bolster partnerships on key projects and initiatives with the Tribe.

The Governor and the First Lady then toured the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, where CTUIR members are able to access comprehensive health care services ranging from behavioral health to dental care and physical therapy. Yellowhawk is the first tribal building in the state to enroll in Path to Net-Zero from Energy Trust of Oregon, which offers incentives and resources to projects pursuing net-zero energy use.

Following the visit at Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center, the Governor and First Lady took a tour to see where the Thorn Hollow Bridge was before it collapsed as a result of the 2020 record-breaking floods on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The bridge is a crucial roadway that connects communities, and a public safety concern for residents and emergency services who relied on the bridge.

CTUIR’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has organized its functions and responsibilities through a focus on traditionally gathered foods identified by the CTUIR community as “First Foods,” including water, fish, big game, roots, and berries. The First Foods serving ritual in the community’s ceremonies and cultural events calls attention to the Tribe’s unwritten or natural laws called Tamanwit, which is about the reciprocity between people and the foods upon which we depend. The Governor and First Lady received the First Foods presentation from CTUIR over lunch at the Immeques Fisheries Acclimation Facility.

The Governor then hosted a ceremonial signing for Senate Bill 1567, the Walla Walla 2050 Strategic Plan, a landmark piece of legislation that allows for the implementation of the roadmap for cooperative water management in the Walla Walla Basin.

Following the ceremony, they visited the exhibits at the Tribe’s Tamástslikt Cultural Institute. The Institute's featured exhibit is Portraits in Red: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Painting Project. Nayana LaFond’s painting project began in 2020 with one painting, “Lauraina in RED,” created for the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. Each portrait is of someone who is missing, was murdered, survived, their family member or friend, or an activist/hero fighting for the cause. The Governor and First Lady ended their visit with CTUIR by having dinner with the Board of Trustees.

In 1855, the tribes and the United States government concluded a treaty in which the tribes ceded more than 5 million acres, reserving 512,000 acres for their exclusive use in the form of a reservation. Various congressional acts of diminishment resulted in a significantly reduced reservation. In the treaty, the CTUIR reserved their inherent fishing and hunting rights and the right to gather traditional foods and medicines within the ceded areas.

The traditional way of life of the tribes is called “Washat” or “Seven Drums prayer service.” The Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Nez Perce languages are spoken and a language preservation program is helping to re-establish use of these languages by youth.?