OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, August 19, 2021
East Oregonian
Gavin:
Continued from Page A1
hospital, and Shawna volunteered
to take him. Despite going through
her own battle with the virus,
Shawna didn’t want to expose
Jill-Marie.
Even as he was admitted to Prov-
idence St. Mary Medical Center
in Walla Walla, Michael down-
played his condition to his family.
But Jill-Marie remained worried.
She urged her mother to call his
doctors. The doctor’s assessment
was more grim: Michael was now
in the intensive care unit.
Doctors presented intubation
as a possibility early in Michael’s
stay, but the option scared him.
To Michael, breathing tubes were
portentous of something darker.
“He was worried that if he was
intubated, he would never wake
up,” Jill-Marie said. “So he decided
to stay awake and fi ght. And that’s
what he told us: ‘I want to stay
awake and fi ght.’”
For a few days, it seemed like
Michael might emerge from the
other side. He was able to breathe
with less assistance from a
machine. On Aug. 5, he was able
to sit in a chair and eat a meal. He
called old friends and started updat-
ing his social media. With the worst
seemingly behind Michael, Jill-Ma-
rie traveled to Portland to be with
her other brothers, Derek and Lee.
The following day, Michael
went silent over his usual modes of
communication, the only response
he could muster was a message to
Shawna that he was too tired to
talk. Michael’s condition deterio-
rated rapidly. The hospital called
Shawna to tell her that doctors had
intubated Michael. Shawna put out
the news to her children, who cut
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Attendees line the Mission Longhouse on Aug. 11, 2021, for the funeral service of Michael Gavin, 39, who died of
COVID-19 less than a week before.
Every number is a tragedy
off their plans to rush back to Pend-
leton. Midway back, they learned
Michael was going to be fl own to
Portland to receive additional care.
But as medical staff attempted
to transfer Michael to a gurney, he
went into cardiac arrest. They tried
to revive him for 45 minutes before
getting in touch with Shawna, who
knew what Michael wanted.
“My mom knew that he didn’t
like being in the hospital, he didn’t
like being on machines,” she said.
“And so she told them to let him go.
She was worried about the damage
to his body. So we let him go.”
It was Aug. 7. He was 39.
Layoff s:
Michael’s death marks the
Umatilla Indian Reservation’s
second loss and also the second loss
for the Gavin family. Shawna lost
her brother, Chet Tias, in July 2020,
when the reservation and the rest of
the region experienced its fi rst spike
in the novel virus.
Shawna and JIll-Marie not only
bore the responsibility of taking care
of their families, but the CTUIR as
a whole. Jill-Marie is an at-large
board member on the Board of
Trustees while Shawna sits on the
CTUIR Tribal Health Commission
Sams:
under scrutiny from offi cials for its
ability to respond when law enforce-
ment requests help during calls for
people experiencing mental health
issues. In April, the provider again
drew attention for the closure of
Aspen Springs in Hermiston. The
acute care facility provided the
highest level of psychiatric care for
individuals experiencing a severe
mental health crisis before it closed
after being open for just seven
months. It reopened in May as a
secure residential treatment facil-
ity, which is a lower level of care.
Lifeways then protested the
county’s move to award the contract
to CCS, calling the decision “arbi-
trary and capricious.” Hoekstra
claimed at the time that CCS was
“underqualifi ed and underprepared
to take on the signifi cantly more
complex, higher volume work in
Umatilla County.”
As of early June, the provider
served 184 clients with schizo-
phrenic disorders, 491 clients with
major depression, 471 clients with
post-traumatic stress disorder, 215
clients with bipolar disorder and
more than 2,000 clients with adjust-
ment disorders.
Continued from Page A1
Lifeways offi cials did not return
calls and an email seeking comment
prior to press time.
As a nonprofit, Lifeways’ tax
fi lings are a matter of public record.
According to Lifeway’s 2019 tax
form the most recent fi ling avail-
able via www.guidestar.org, which
reports on U.S. nonprofi t companies,
the company reported net revenue
of negative $1.54 million, but total
assessment and fund balances in
excess of $10.7 million.
In June, after the county board
gave the contract to CCS, Lifeways
planned to stay in the county by
“pivoting its services to retain staff ,”
Chief Executive Offi cer Tim Hoeks-
tra said in a press release.
Liz Johnsen, director of Life-
ways at the time, however, could
not provide specifi cs at that time
about the pivot and what it planned
to do with its patients, employees
and facilities.
Johnsen said Aug. 18 that she “is
no longer with Lifeways.”
In late spring, Lifeways came
Taliban:
States began withdrawing troops.
On Monday, Aug. 16, President
Joe Biden defended his decision to
withdraw the troops.
“We gave them every tool they
could need. We paid their salaries.
Provided for the maintenance of
their airplanes,” Biden said of the
Afghanistan government, which
crumbled in a matter of days. “We
gave them every chance to deter-
mine their own future. What we
could not provide was the will to
fi ght for that future.”
Biden echoed a sentiment held
by many veterans and their families
across the nation: “How many more
generations of America’s daughters
and sons would you have me send
to fi ght Afghans — Afghanistan’s
civil war, when Afghan troops will
not?”
Duane Carter, a Hermiston
resident and veteran of the United
States Army, 24th Infantry, served
in Operation Desert Shield in Saudi
Arabia and Desert Storm in Iraq.
Carter said he has grown numb to
the news.
“It didn’t surprise me,” he said of
watching the Afghan government
crumble. “But at least we’re getting
out of there.”
But scenes from the Kabul
steward of the gems of America’s
natural beauty.
“Today is a proud day for
Oregon. Chuck Sams is among
Oregon’s fi nest, and I can’t think
of a better person for the import-
ant role of National Park Service
Director,” Brown said. “I have
worked closely with Chuck for
many years, and have witnessed
fi rsthand his unparalleled devo-
tion and service to his Tribe, our
state, and our nation.”
Sams was chosen earlier
this year by Brown as one of
Oregon’s two representatives
to the Northwest Power and
Conservation Council. He held
positions with the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, including executive
and deputy executive director,
communications director, and
environmental health and safety
offi cer/planner. He’s a veteran of
the U.S. Navy.
Sams also has been an adjunct
professor at Georgetown Univer-
the refugee admission caps and
take other emergency humanitar-
ian actions that will save lives at this
pivotal time.” It says the state must
“take all the necessary steps to be
prepared to resettle families when
they arrive.”
“It’s not right, morally, to aban-
don our friends in tough situations,”
Hansell said.
Hansell said he would support
efforts aimed at expediting the
process of getting Afghans safely
to the U.S. He said he has grown
“concerned” and “frustrated” with
the U.S. government’s actions lead-
ing up to the Afghan government’s
collapse.
Pendleton Mayor John Turner,
an Iraq veteran and retired colonel
and infantry offi cer who served in
the 1st, 3rd and 4th Marine divi-
sions for 28 years, said he thought
the collapse of Afghanistan was
very predictable.
“I think any of us that were
paying close attention were a bit
surprised by the rapidity of how
the Afghan government fell,” he
said. “I don’t think anybody was
surprised by the fact that it actu-
ally fell.”
Turner said it was an incredibly
diffi cult issue and it will continue in
the weeks to come with the United
States only being able to evacuate
about 5,000 people a day. Since the
United States still has tremendous
Local leaders speak out
Now a refugee crisis is sweep-
ing the world, as Afghan citizens
desperately seek a way to escape the
country.
Oregon Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Ath-
ena, is one of a handful of Repub-
lican legislators who have so far
signed a letter that seeks to create
a safe passage for Afghan refugees.
The letter, sent to Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown and U.S. Sens. Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley, calls on
the Biden administration to “lift
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combat power, though, he said he
thinks the Taliban will be sensible
and let the evacuation take place
peacefully.
While he’s sure it’s frustrating
to veterans who served in Afghan-
istan, Turner said they still accom-
plished their goal to eliminate the
Taliban as a source of power and
a safe haven for terrorism train-
ing — even while they might not
have been able to convert Afghani-
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Biden had not yet taken offi ce
in January when Brown wrote
to him suggesting Sams for the
National Park Service position.
“During your administration,
I envision students — both young
and old, tribal and nontribal alike
— visiting Yellowstone, Arches,
Mesa Verde or Oregon’s Crater
Lake, and hearing the stories of
our past and present, including
the important stories of the tribal
peoples who have inhabited
these special places,” she wrote.
“Chuck is a consummate story-
teller, and has the skill set and
passion to inspire the dedicated
staff of the NPS to tell those
stories, and to fi nd new and inno-
vative ways to make our parks
accessible to all Americans,
while conserving and preserv-
ing those lands.”
Sams’ last day in tribal
government was March 12. His
work was hailed by tribal lead-
ers.
“I can’t thank Chuck enough
for his service to the Tribe,” Kat
Brigham, CTUIR board chair,
said in a statement. “We are sad
to see him go.”
Shekib Rahmani/The Associated Press
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gatherings and powwows that are
woven into CTUIR tradition.
The restrictions slowed the
spread of COVID-19, and before the
spread of the delta variant, the reser-
vation had mostly tamped down new
cases. As time went on, Jill-Marie
and Shawna would hear from people
about how fortunate the tribes were
to lose only one person to COVID-
19. Those comments stung, espe-
cially as Michael came down with
the illness, the virus seemingly
tracking the Gavin family specifi -
cally.
“It’s hurt so badly that we spent
the last 18 months trying to keep
people safe and I wasn’t able to
keep my brother safe,” Jill-Marie
said. “The rules that are in place
are not to infringe on their personal
rights. They’re there to keep people
from having to bury their brothers,
and their uncles and their mothers
and their grandmothers. And while
I’m so happy that our death toll has
been lower than most reservations,
people can get lost in the numbers
and not realize that every single one
of those numbers is a tragedy for
some family.”
Michael wasn’t vaccinated,
despite his family’s encouragement.
Jill-Marie said he wasn’t firmly
against the vaccine, but wasn’t
comfortable getting the shot yet. The
family didn’t want to dwell on it or
turn Michael into a talking point,
but did refl ect on what his death
might mean for others.
“I don’t want it to be a hardcore
message,” Shawna said. “Just please
reconsider your stance on vaccina-
tion.”
Michael was a Christian and a
youth pastor at Pendleton’s Bethel
Church. Not everyone in his family
shared his faith, but they drew
comfort that he knew where he
was going.
Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at
a perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday,
Aug. 16, 2021. That day, the U.S. military and offi cials focus was on Ka-
bul’s airport, where thousands of Afghans trapped by the sudden Taliban
takeover rushed the tarmac and clung to U.S. military planes deployed to
fl y out staff ers of the U.S. Embassy, which shut down Aug. 15, and others.
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sity and Whitman College. He
serves on the boards of the
Oregon Cultural Trust and Gray
Family Foundation. He holds a
bachelor’s degree in business
administration from Concordia
University-Portland and a master
of legal studies in Indigenous
Peoples Law from the Univer-
sity of Oklahoma.
Sams climbed the ladder in
tribal government after return-
ing home in 2012, culminat-
ing in a second stint as interim
executive director in late 2020.
Despite the opportunity, Sams
quickly told the board he would
not consider the job on a perma-
nent basis.
Sams said he already was
starting to think about other
opportunities outside tribal
government prior to his appoint-
ment to the Northwest Power and
Conservation Council. Sams is
the only enrolled tribal member
on the power council and only
the second American Indian in
the council’s 30-year history.
Sams’ appointment was
endorsed by Sen. Ron Wyden,
Sen. Jeff Merkley and Brown.
Continued from Page A1
Airport, showing Afghan citizens
desperately climbing onto aircrafts
to escape, did surprise Carter. Some
citizens who clung to planes fell to
their deaths, according to news
reports.
Carter said he “had no doubt” the
Taliban would reaffi rm its grip on
the nation after the U.S.’s departure.
But what was surprising, Carter
said, was the speed at which the
Afghan government fell.
“I feel sorry for all the guys who
served over there, lost their lives,
got wounded,” he said. “This must
crush them. There was a lot of time
and eff ort over there. And it’s just
gone.”
The most important thing now,
Carter said, is to “get all the troops
out” safely.
“We’ve already lost too many
people,” he said.
Continued from Page A1
and serves with her brother Michael
Ray Johnson on the General Coun-
cil. Collectively, they worked with
an incident command team to coor-
dinate the emergency response to
the pandemic. The early days of
COVID-19 brought unprecedented
measures to the reservation. The
Wildhorse Resort & Casino closed
its doors and the tribes suspended
many cultural and spiritual practices
that brought tribal members together
in close quarters. Jill-Marie remem-
bered the sleepless nights she had
during this time, worried that tribal
elders were spending the last years
of their life without the celebrations,
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government over the following
19 years.
“We probably should have with-
drawn 15 years ago,” he said. “This
is a problem that’s been faced now
by four American presidents over
a 20-year period. Afghanistan is
a unique country. It’s got a tribal
culture. It’s not necessarily adapt-
able to Western democratic prin-
ciples, so I don’t think anybody
who served there was surprised by
what happened.”