CTUIR’s Dept. of Natural Resources Hosts First Foods Open House

MISSION – Showcasing its work with First Foods, the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Department of Natural Resources (DNR) held an open house on Thursday, April 24 at the Nixyáawii Governance Center.

DNR Director Eric Quaempts said the public event shared DNR’s advancement in implementing the CTUIR’s First Foods mission. That mission consists of protecting, restoring and enhancing foods such as water, salmon, deer, cous and huckleberry for the CTUIR’s cultural, economic and sovereign benefit.

“The event is another form of progress reporting and provides the opportunity for our staff and the community to interact directly,” he said. “I think it helps remind our staff who we work for, better relate their work to the community and provides an opportunity for the community to get to know staff and to share ideas with staff. The goal is also to provide tribal members input on issues and concerns they have, as well as hear ideas they have for future First Foods work or access to First Foods.”

Quaempts said the open house featured examples of First Foods-related work performed by DNR’s 153 employees in eight programs: Administration; Cultural Resources Protection; Water Resources; Wildlife; Range, Agriculture & Forestry; Fisheries; Energy & Environmental Sciences; and First Foods Policy.

DNR staff members presented posters, information handouts, videos and First Foods-inspired appetizers. Community members also got to ask questions, voice concerns and ideas as well as help identify future First Foods management work.

“We hope people better understand the complexity of the issues we are working on, the long-term nature of the work, the broad geographic extent of our work and share information about what resources and areas they’d like to see more work on in the future,” Quaempts said.

Attendees also got a chance to participate in the “Cops & Bobbers” fishing event in which they could catch trout with the Umatilla Tribal Police Department (UTPD) in a stocked catch pond. UTPD provided the poles and bait, taught participants how to rig a pole, catch a fish and then clean it.

Quaempts said although the primary audience was CTUIR membership, the event was open to the public so people could better understand the CTUIR’s rights and goals as they relate to First Foods and hopefully become supportive of them.  

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is comprised of the Cayuse, Walla Walla and Umatilla Tribes, and formed under the Treaty of 1855 at the Walla Walla Valley, 12 Stat. 945. In 1949, the Tribes adopted a constitutional form of government to protect, preserve and enhance the reserved treaty rights guaranteed under federal law.