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TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2017
141st Year, No. 226
WINNER OF THE 2017 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
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HERMISTON
CTUIR
passes
on pot
question
Board declines to
vote on whether
to send legalized
marijuana to voters
A call to the Board
of Trustees was directed
to board Secretary Kat
Brigham, who declined to
comment. Crawford did not
return a request for comment
as of press time.
Under tribal government,
the General Council is
comprised of every tribal
member over the age of 18.
The General Council votes
for its own offi cers as well as
the members of the nine-seat
Board of Trustees.
In an interview before
the meeting, Woodrow Star,
a member on the board,
explained some of the
recent activity surrounding
marijuana legalization on the
reservation.
Star said some tribal
members have been inter-
ested in legalizing marijuana
since the state did it several
years ago, although the
tribes’ uncertainty on federal
prohibition of the drug kept it
from moving forward.
“It was more or less a
wait-and-see,” he said.
Although the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice under former
President Barack Obama
wrote a memo that stated that
federal resources would not
be used to enforce marijuana
laws on reservations that had
legalized cannabis, current
U.S. Attorney General Jeff
Sessions’
anti-marijuana
views have put legalized
marijuana’s status in doubt.
Star said tribal opinions
on marijuana varied, with
many elders opposing it
while younger members
support legalizing cannabis.
Although no Board of
Trustees members voted for
or against the referendum,
a Confederated Umatilla
Journal
questionnaire
published in November 2015
gives some insight into their
opinions on marijuana.
While
stressing
the
need for a tribal survey and
support from the federal
government, Jeremy Wolf,
the board’s vice chairman,
wrote that there was some
merit to marijuana.
“Marijuana has been
scientifi cally proven to be a
viable and safer alternative to
See POT/8A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Principal Laura Jacobsma, left center, watches over the exodus of students as they leave for home after the fi rst day of class Monday
at Desert View Elementary School in Hermiston.
CHAOS CONTROL
New principals join effort to direct busy, exciting fi rst day
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Hermiston’s fi rst day of school
continued a tradition of enrolling
plenty of new students on the fi rst
day, but this year some of the “new
kids” are on the staff.
Laura Jacobsma, principal of
Desert View Elementary School,
had her fi rst day of school in Herm-
iston School District Monday, as
did Christie Petersen, who joined
the district as principal of Sunset
Elementary School.
After popping in and out of
classrooms all day, Jacobsma
wrapped up with a short assembly
to introduce herself and all of the
school’s teachers to a gym full
of children wiggly with fi rst-day
energy.
“I am so excited to be here
today, and so excited to have
you all with me,” she told the
students. “We have been preparing
ourselves all summer to have
you back in school so it’s a really
exciting time.”
Afterward, as she got ready to
help direct the year’s fi rst bus-and-
parent pick-up, she said she felt the
fi rst day had gone well.
“There’s been lots of excite-
ment and smiles,” she said.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Sunset Elementary School principal Christie Petersen has a
background in English as a second language and literacy
development.
After the fi rst day it’s hard to
tell where enrollment numbers
will settle, as the school’s staff was
handling last-minute registrations
all day but also taking note of
students who hadn’t shown up
for the start of the school year.
Jacobsma, who came to the district
from Eugene, said she’s still
learning about Hermiston School
District and its students, but there
are many similarities between all
school districts. So far, she’s just
glad to fi nally have kids in the
building.
She said one of her biggest
areas of focus at the beginning of
the school year will be building
relationships, whether it’s between
colleagues, between teachers and
students or between the school and
the community.
Over at Sunset Elementary,
Petersen was having an exciting
Reconnecting from inside
Inmates, family take part in
powwow at state prison
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Inmate Rick Weaver welcomed visitors
to the second annual powwow at Two
Rivers Correctional Institution by bathing
them in a balmy, fragrant smoke made by
burning dried sage and sweet grass in a
small shell bowl.
The ceremony, known as smudging, is
a custom of American Indian culture, done
to purify the body and remove negative
energy and spirits. Weaver, who is affi li-
ated with both the Cherokee Nation and
Lakota people, used a single eagle feather
to waft the smoke over each individual,
from head to toe.
More than 70 inmates and 65 guests
attended Saturday’s powwow, with
traditional drumming, dancing, food and
gifts. The event was organized in large
part by Red Lodge Transition Services,
a nonprofi t organization based in Oregon
City that helps American Indians success-
fully reintegrate into society after leaving
prison.
Weaver, who also goes by the name
White Eagle, is serving 25 years at TRCI
on two counts of robbery and attempted
aggravated murder. His earliest release
date will be in 2035.
Meanwhile, Weaver said he is trying to
reform his life and be a positive infl uence
within the American Indian population at
TRCI. The powwow is one way inmates
like himself can heal, he said.
“Having a powwow every year is
special, to bring us all together,” he
said. “It helps with our rehabilitation,
See TRCI/8A
fi rst day of her own as the fi nal
minutes of the school day ticked
down and the school had still not
been given a master list for which
students ride which bus. The
hiccup meant staff — including
Petersen — had to carefully check
each student’s address before
directing them to the right bus.
“There will be plenty of people
out there to help sort children and
verify addresses and get them on
the correct bus,” Petersen assured
staff during her fi rst all-school
announcement over the intercom.
As she emerged from her offi ce
a moment later, she greeted the
parents who had congregated
around the front offi ce and offered
them the same assurance.
“It was a good fi rst day, we’re
just working on getting the busing
fi gured out,” she said.
After that she was off to reas-
sure the students who were just
emerging from classrooms, eager
to get home and tell their families
about their fi rst day.
“It’s OK,” she said, giving a
quick shoulder squeeze to a crying
boy in a Mario-themed backpack.
“If you go to this school then we
have your name, and we’ll get you
on the right bus.”
See FIRST DAY/8A
TRCI
inmate
Eagle Eye
Leonard,
a Chero-
kee Tribe
member,
dances
with a
visiting
dancer
during
Saturday’s
powwow
at the
prison in
Umatilla.
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney