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Thursday, December 30, 2021
East Oregonian
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Judge:
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“Twenty-fi ve years ago, Judge
Johnson began a campaign to have
tribal court judgments be recog-
nized in Oregon courts,” Wade
said. “Judge Johnson had built the
Confederated Tribes court into a
professional organization worthy of
all the other courts in Oregon. He
faced immense resistance, mostly
born of ignorance about how
tribal courts operate. It took him
25 years, but in 2021, the Oregon
Legislature passed the statute
giving full faith and credit to tribal
court judgments in Oregon courts.
Now tribal court defendants cannot
avoid support awards or domestic
violence restraining orders simply
because they do not reside on the
reservation. It is a tremendous
achievement.”
Johnson keeps the shiny plaque
he received in his offi ce at the Nixy-
aawii Governance Center, perhaps
as a reminder to never give up.
Johnson, the fi rst member of the
CTUIR to graduate law school and
pass the Oregon State Bar exam,
came to the law serendipitously
after he read a Newsweek arti-
cle in the early ‘70s that reported
there were only two Indian lawyers
in the country at the time. Johnson
liked the idea of increasing those
numbers.
The Pendleton High School
graduate did his undergradu-
ate work at Oregon State Univer-
sity and then studied law at the
University of Oregon. After a stint
as a prosecutor for Lane County,
he headed back home to practice.
Still in his 20s, he simultaneously
served as chairman of the CTUIR
Board of Trustees and chairman of
the CTUIR General Council — the
only tribal member ever to do that.
In 1980, he began serving as asso-
ciate judge in the Umatilla Tribal
Court and then acting chief judge.
His fi rst term as chief judge began
in 1988.
Making the world
a little fairer
In 2011, at Johnson’s urging,
the CTUIR Board of Trustees
Workers:
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He said he sees teenagers
suff ering depression, anxi-
ety, grief, loss and more.
Also, many families are deal-
ing with problems resulting
from poverty. As such, he
meets with families to direct
them to resources, including
benefi ts.
Smith, too, said many
students deal with depres-
sion. Often, they choose to
skip school. If they have a
friendly person at the school,
however, they may choose
otherwise, she said, adding
students have told her that, on
diffi cult days, they decided to
go to school just because they
knew they would see her.
“When kiddos get excited
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Judge William Johnson speaks to a large crowd Dec. 4, 2019, at the Nixyaawii Governance Center, Mission, for the swearing-in of members of the Con-
federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Board of Trustees, General Council and Youth Council.
voted to create an independent
judiciary. This was a necessary
move, he said, that ensured the
court was autonomous from tribal
government.
Behind the bench, Johnson has
a reputation for being imposing,
yet courteous and respectful, and
not above injecting humor. He
said he considers tribal customs
and traditions while meting out
justice and he is mindful that his
native language has no word for
judge, the closest being a word
that means decider.
to see you, you see that you
are doing something right,”
she said.
Moore obtained her
master’s degree at Boise
State University and said
she is enjoying her first
year as a social worker for
the district’s elementary
students. Young children
face plenty of hardships, she
said, from the coronavirus
pandemic to life changes,
including divorce.
Moore pointed out some
of the most serious prob-
lems, including suicidal
ideation and self-harm, the
latter mostly in the fourth
and fi fth grades. By giving
themselves physical pain, she
said, they mask the emotional
pain they are suff ering. She
explained she addresses self-
harm by helping students
reduce stress, increase stress
In his tribal courtroom, John-
son presides over criminal cases,
juvenile cases, traffi c infractions,
contract disputes and whatever
else lands before him. Behind his
bench hang the CTUIR, Oregon
and United States flags. While
tribal courts and non-tribal courts
aren’t mirror images of each other,
he said, many of the codes are simi-
lar to federal laws.
Johnson has long advocated
for the federal Violence Against
Women Act, which covers some
of the same ground as the new
tolerance and develop coping
skills.
The students, she said,
inspire her with their resil-
ience. Many students face
serious problems, she said,
yet they are able to laugh at
recess and communicate the
best part of their day.
The district long wanted
to hire a social worker,
Medina said, and is likely to
hire more in the future.
Smith said she always is
looking for new and better
ways to speak to students.
She also helps students and
their families at the district’s
Newcomer Program, which
offers lessons in language
and culture to students who
are new to the United States.
She said parents can
sometimes feel scared to
ask about their children’s
feelings, especially if they
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Students depart Hermiston High School at the start of winter break Dec. 17, 2021.
Search:
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Board members also wondered whether
the district’s $145,000 to $155,000 salary
range still was competitive.
“I don’t want to trip over a $100 bill to pick
up a nickel,” board member Patrick Gregg
said.
Jordan and Hernandez said that, based on
their research of local superintendent sala-
ries, Pendleton’s off er was competitive for
the region.
While the board provided a timeline most
pertinent to the public, Northwest Leadership
Associates suggested additional steps to try
to secure the best candidate, including reviv-
ing the practice of site visits — having board
members visit the superintendent fi nalists at
their current workplace. The experience is
supposed to give board members a chance to
observe the candidates in their home envi-
ronments and hold candid conversations with
people who work with them.
Lieuallen said board members held a
series of site visits during the 2016 superin-
tendent search when all three fi nalists worked
in Eastern Oregon. That search resulted in the
hiring of Andy Kovach, who lasted less than
a year on the job before resigning and depart-
ing the district. When the district repeated the
process the following year, Lieuallen said the
board did not conduct site visits with its four
fi nalists, two of whom worked in districts
outside the Northwest.
The board ultimately chose Fritsch, then
the assistant superintendent of Longview
Public Schools in southwestern Washington.
Oregon law. When VAWA was
reauthorized in 2013, it included
new provisions add ressi ng
violence against Native women
by restoring tribal jurisdiction
over non-Native perpetrators of
domestic violence that occurred
on tribal land. In 2014, the CTUIR
was one of only three tribes
initially allowed to participate in
the program. Domestic violence is
the only crime for which non-In-
dians can be prosecuted. Clamp-
ing down on domestic violence
remains one of Johnson’s passions.
suspect depression. Still, she
insisted, communication is
important. Middle school
students in particular are
facing hormonal changes that
they may not understand.
“It’s not the happiest
time,” Smith said.
Native American women are 10
times more likely to be murdered
than other Americans. The U.S.
Department of Justice reports
tribal women are more likely to
experience rape and domestic
violence, often at the hands of a
non-Indian perpetrator.
This new Oregon law offers
positive change.
“This is a long time coming,”
Johnson said, “and benefi ts tribal
nation judicial systems as well as all
who use those systems by promot-
ing certainty and uniformity.”
If they can talk with
trusted individuals, they can
be helped.
Smith said having social
workers in Her miston
schools provides another
safe place for young people
to talk about their problems.
Local providers, she said,
are all booked, and the wait-
list to get help can be three
months long, and therapy can
be expensive. At the schools,
however, students can meet
with social workers with little
wait and there is no cost.