News Stories for Wed., Nov. 15, 2017

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation elected its Board of Trustees and General Council officers Tuesday. Willie Sigo IV unseated Alan Crawford as General Council Chair.  The Board of Trustees Chair is incumbent Gary Burke, Treasurer Doris Wheeler, Secretary N. Kat Brigham and at large members are incumbents Aaron Ashley and Woodrow Star, and new members Sally Kosey and Rosenda Shippentower. The seat of vice-chair was a tie between current Vice Chair Jeremy Wolf and Shana Radford. Both received 370 votes each. A runoff election will need to take place to determine the winner for the seat. Shana until recently was the Tribal Liaison for the Warm Springs Health and Human Services Branch.

Warm Springs K-8 Academy Boys Basketball gets going today with a home game against Sisters. 7^th grade plays at 4:00, 8^th grade at 5.

Madras High School Basketball Tryouts began this week. The season will get going with the girls hosting the Madras Invitational December 1^st and 2^nd.

Roy Sampsel was known as a generous, open-hearted leader. He was well-known as a tribal advocate and the first Executive Director of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission from 1977-1979. Sampsel passed away this week. Jaime Pinkham, current CRITFC Executive Director said Sampsel remained a constant figure in the organization over the following 40 years. The CRITFC In Memoriam stated the following: Roy Sampsel had a life-long fascination with fish, water, forests, oceans, wildlife, and the rights of Indian tribes. More than a fascination, he maintained a steady and creative commitment to the sovereignty of Indian nations and the protection of their natural resources. As the first executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, he worked to protect, enhance and implement the tribal fishing rights of the Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes. He worked tirelessly convincing others that tribes have unique skills and abilities as resource managers, and worked both behind the scenes and in front of the scenes to make sure tribes have a very solid seat at the table in the complex natural resource negotiations among federal and state agencies, tribal nations, and other interests. His list of accomplishments is long, including working as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs for the Department of the Interior and with the BIA on putting into action the Indian Self Determination and Education Act of 1975. He spent the last several years of his life serving Indian Country wherever and whenever he could. Sampsel has served on the Warm Springs Ventures Board.