Continue to Stand in the Gap: Umatilla County

Umapine Church, Umatilla County, OR

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. Isaiah 35:1

Umatilla County - home to Hermiston watermelons, the Pendleton Roundup, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

The three-member Board of Commissioners for Umatilla County comprises Dan Dorran, George Murdock, and John Shafer.

The Umatilla County Sheriff is Terry Rowan who oversees a county of over 3,000 square miles and a population of 77,000. The county seat is Pendleton while the largest town is Hermiston.

We’ve written about the various sections of Umatilla County, the growth around Hermiston and other historical information, including some of the church history of the area here, here, and here.

Umatilla County, Oregon

As I wrote this over the weekend of February 25^th, a celebration took place in Pendleton at the Pendleton Convention Center. Called “Two Cultures, One Community Powwow,” it took place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This is the first such powwow held in Pendleton and is hosted by the nine-time Grammy Award nominee, Northern Cree, a 15-member drum group from Alberta and Saskatchewan. The group first started in the 1960s and has since performed all over the world. They have won Native American Music Awards, Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, and Indigenous Music Awards, among others.

The event was organized mainly by volunteers from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Other sponsors included Travel Oregon, and Amazon Web Services. With over thirty vendors registered to attend, from several different states, and thousands expected to attend the powwow itself, it was a major event for Pendleton.

The nice thing is that this is an attempt to include all members of the community in the powwow, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. “Across self-governing Indigenous communities, celebrations – or powwows – are always open to the public, but non-Indigenous people often shy away, unsure if they are welcome at the cultural events.” (From the OPB article linked below) Pat Beard, the manager of the Pendleton Convention Center, is quoted as saying that the name of the event, Two Cultures, One Community, sums up what they hoped to accomplish by having the event. “The Confederated Tribes have been here for more than 10,000 years and that is one of the real reasons Pendleton is such a unique and special place,” he added. (read full article from OPB) There is hope this event will draw the various members of the community together in a shared celebration.

Pray for the various ways the people of Umatilla County work to heal wounds of the past and create unity.

In 2019 the Oregon State Legislature passed HB 2625 instructing Oregon law enforcement to increase and improve the reporting and investigation of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. While the Covid epidemic hampered efforts to put things in motion, awareness and improvements are slowly moving forward. This month (February) the Tamastlsikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Indian Reservation is displaying the work of Nayana LaFond, an artist who began making portraits of missing and/or murdered Indigenous Women. We wrote about her when her work was displayed in Lincoln County. She began with one, “Lauraina in Red,” and has now completed over 50 portraits.

In 2022, the Yakima Herald-Republic ran an article about an Umatilla woman who was still seeking answers about her mother’s murder, which occurred in 1957 on the Yakima Reservation where she was visiting. Mildred Quaempts spoke at a Toppenish, Washington meeting of a task force that was collecting information on missing and murdered Indigenous people – part of the current efforts to improve investigations all across the country, including Oregon and Washington. There are an inordinate number of these cases around both the Yakima and Umatilla Reservations, and few are ever solved. According to the Association on American Indian Affairs, 4 out of 5 American Indian and Alaskan Natives will experience violence in their lives. Mildred’s mother was 32 when she was murdered.

“In August 2019, Mildred stood at her mother’s grave in the small cemetery behind Tutuilla Presbyterian Church outside Pendleton. A strong summer breeze ruffled the tall grass around the flat granite stone. Mildred picked up a chipped decorative plate with the words “To Mother With Love” and gently leaned it and a small hand mirror against the simple gravestone.” (Yakima Herald-Republic, March 27, 2022).

Historical note: Tutuilla Presbyterian Church was established in 1882 on the Umatilla Reservation. One of Mildred's ancestors was a convert of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.  

Pray for law enforcement as they seek to find answers and improve reporting and investigation. Pray for the healing of Native American families affected by these tragedies, and for improved protection and accountability for vulnerable groups.