MOTHER-DAUGHTER DUO TINGELSTAD OFF TO
START HOME BAKING BUSINESS SOLID START WITH C OF I
BUSINESS, A6
$1.50
SPORTS, A9
THE WEEK
IN
PHOTOS
The Back Page, A16
137th Year, No. 4
WINNER OF THE 2020 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Coming home
Kellee
Sheehy
Enterprise
She celebrates
‘small-town
victories’
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa United Methodist Church, built in 1910, was handed over to the Nez Perce Tribe, the original inhabitants of the land, Thursday,
April 29, 2021, during a ceremony between church offi cials and the tribe.
Tribe gets more homeland back
Methodist Church
handed over
to Nez Perce
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
W
ALLOWA —
The Nez Perce
Tribe
took
another
step
toward reestablishing itself in
its traditional Wallowa County
homeland Thursday, April 29,
when it received the title to the
now-former Wallowa Method-
ist Church.
The ceremony on the lawn
behind the church included
about 60 people, most of whom
were Nez Perce tribal members
from the Lapwai, Idaho-based
reservation. Also in attendance
were members of the United
Methodist Church’s Ore-
gon-Idaho Conference, which
has held title to the land and
building since it closed June 30.
It was a time of thanksgiv-
ing, reconciliation, tradition
and blessing on all parts.
“It’s the transfer of deeds
so this church is going back
to the Nez Perce Tribe. We’re
very honored to be able to
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Gift exchanges were part of the ceremonies Thursday, April 29, 2021,
when the United Methodist Church handed over the ownership of
the now-closed Wallowa Methodist Church to the Nez Perce Tribe,
the original inhabitants of the land. Here, Tribal Chairman Shannon
Wheeler, right, holds a fl at of lavender plants considered integral in the
tribe’s food sovereignty program. At left, Vice Chairman Casey Mitchell
holds a staff and a bag of eagle feathers the tribe will make use of.
be here today for this,” said
Casey Mitchell, vice chairman
of the Nez Perce Tribal Exec-
utive Committee. “Any land
that comes back to the tribe is a
blessing for us, considering this
is originally our homeland that
we were pushed out of.”
Mary Jane Miles, a NPTEC
member who was tapped at
the last moment to hostess the
event, spoke of the gratitude
the Nimiipuu — Nez Perce in
their own language, meaning
“the people” — for receiving
the land.
“The bishop of the Ore-
gon-Idaho annual conference
of the United Methodist Church
has indicated this is an opportu-
nity to join in a partnership with
the tribe,” she said. “This came
to me this morning; I opened up
my book and there it was: Luke
1:78-79 (she paraphrased) ‘Our
God will bring the rising sun to
visit us, to guide our feet into
the way of friendship, love,
strength and peace.’”
At this, Miles looked to
the sunny sky and seemed to
acknowledge the fulfi llment of
prophecy.
“The Nimiipuu — the peo-
ple — are tied to this land,” she
said. “I heard one of the ladies
say this morning, ‘We are here
forever.’ It just seemed to warm
my heart with what is happen-
ing today, how favored we are
to be getting this land back to
our homeland. And the Nimii-
puu are here to stay and I thank
you for your drums that just
bring in the spirit of the Nimii-
puu … as to how this all played
out. The Creator is certainly
going before us and doing
things for our favor. … Most
indigenous groups are ‘the peo-
ple’ and we are the people.”
Speaking to the tribal drum-
mers, who added an air of
Nimiipuu authenticity to the
occasion, Miles said in a moth-
See Homeland, Page A7
COVID outbreak closes Wallowa High School
Sixteen cases of
COVID-19 reported
in the county in
the past week
See COVID, Page A7
What’s your favorite thing about
Wallowa County?
We live right across from Enterprise
Elementary School and I can sit there
drinking my coff ee and watch them
walk to school. In San Diego, I’d have to
drive one a half-hour one way and the
other a half-hour the other way in heavy
traffi c.
What are your thoughts
on Larry Braden resigning
as city administrator over
alleged harassment by council
members?
I don’t know enough about it … so
I’m just going to say no comment.
Did you know the city has
declined to reveal whether it
will investigate the alleged
harassment?
I would like to know. I think there are
always reasons for investigating such
things. I would say yes, but I really don’t
know a lot about it.
How has the COVID-19
pandemic aff ected you?
I’ve been recently vaccinated. … I
think we’ve been a little more privileged
in Wallowa County. When COVID-19 hit,
it came to the county a little bit later and
there’s been a lack of general panic. I’ve
certainly appreciated that.
Were you at all hesitant about
getting the vaccine?
I’ve lived all over the world and I’ve
seen polio and other diseases and I think
there’s more fear of not being vacci-
nated than being vaccinated. But I did
get really sick on my second shot.
What have you learned from
living in Wallowa County?
I have learned a lot about living in a
rural community because this is my fi rst
time doing so. With my experience at
the Josephy Center and how people pull
together and that must be a product of
people having a history of needing to
rely on each other.
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — Wallowa High
School closed for two weeks, eff ec-
tive Thursday, April 29, after sev-
eral COVID-19 cases were con-
fi rmed at the school, Superintendent
Tammy Jones said in a post to the
district’s Facebook page April 29.
According to the post, six indi-
viduals tested positive for COVID-
19 — two April 28, and four other
JOSEPH — Kellee Sheehy has lived
in Wallowa County about four years and
works as the development director at
the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture
in Joseph, but it’s the “small-town victo-
ries” that make it home.
Married to Ryan Sheehy, who has
a solar development company in the
county, the couple has two children,
ages 13 and 10.
Ryan grew up in Wallowa and
brought his family here after 20 years
in the Marine Corps. They’d lived in San
Diego for nine years.
“Really, it was my decision,” Kellee
said. “I said, ‘Why don’t we just move to
Wallowa?’”
The family had already started put-
ting down roots in the county.
“We’d bought some property in Los-
tine, thinking we’d potentially come
back here at some point,” she said. “We
had a lot of what we call ‘small-town vic-
tories,’ where we’d go to the post offi ce
and be out in fi ve minutes or go to the
courthouse and need to meet with
someone and actually get to meet with
them. Every time that’d happen, we’d
come out and high-fi ve and say, ‘Small-
town victory.’ You can’t do that in San
Diego.”
She recently shared her thoughts
about living in Wallowa County.
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa High School was closed Thursday, April 29, 2021, because of an
outbreak of COVID-19. It was expected to remain closed for two weeks,
offi cials said.
What’s your advice for people
who are thinking about moving
here?
Go for it. There are opportunities for
job. There are opportunities for families
and children. Housing and rent can be
tough, but that can change. Everything
changes.
— Bill Bradshaw,
Wallowa County Chieftain