MAY 2025 | CONFEDERATED UMATILLA JOURNAL
NOV E M B E R 2 0 2 5
CONFEDERATED UMATILLA JOURNAL
NEWS DAILY @ CUJ ONLINE
VOLUME 33 • ISSUE 11
THE MONTHLY NEWSPAPER OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE UMATILLA INDIAN RESERVATION
Sonar search for missing Jones comes up empty TRAVIS SNELL CTUIR Communications
Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Manager Jerimiah Bonifer leads Umatilla Tribal Police Department Det. William Morris and FBI Special Agent Megan Sharp along the Umatilla River on Oct. 29. TRAVIS SNELL/CTUIR
MISSION – A sonar search on the first weekend of November along the Umatilla River on the Umatilla Indian Reservation yielded no results in the case of missing Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) member Wesley Dixon Jones. Just days prior, the Umatilla Tribal Police Department (UTPD) and FBI marked deeper areas of the Umatilla River to prepare for the sonar search by the MMIW Search & Hope Alliance UTPD Det. William Morris said he, an FBI agent and a CTUIR
Department of Natural Resources employee walked the river on Oct. 29 from Nicktyoway Road to the Highway 331 bridge on the Umatilla Indian Reservation (UIR) using a GIS application to mark deep pools of water so a sonar machine can be used to search for Jones. Morris said MMIW Search & Hope Alliance brought several volunteers along with a sonar called the AquaEye. “It is a sonar device that can scan underwater, and so they’re going to be going along the river in the area where Mr. Jones went missing and trying to scan, especially deep SEARCH CONTINUED PAGE 3
Brigham wins BOT chair, 5 incumbents retain seats BY THE CUJ MISSION – On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) voters retained five incumbents and elected six new members to the Board of Trustees (BOT) and General Council to lead the CTUIR for the next two years. For the BOT, the CTUIR’s governing body, voters elected N. Kathryn Brigham to replace Gary I. Burke as chair. For vice chair, incumbent Aaron Ashley
retained his seat. Also retaining his seat was Treasurer Raymond Huesties. However, incumbent Roberta J. Wilson was defeated by Monica Paradise for the secretary position. Three incumbent BOT members at large retained their seats: Toby Patrick, Corinne Sams and Lisa Ganuelas. However, incumbent Steven Hart lost his seat to Sierra Quaempts. Lindsey X. Watchman was elected the new General Council chairman, defeating incumbent
Voters sign in to get their ballots for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Tribes of Indian Reservation's Nov. 4 general election at the Nixyáawii Governance Center. PHOTOS BY LEE GAVIN/CTUIR
Alan Crawford. Boots Pond defeated incumbent Michael Ray Johnson for the General Council vice chair, and Shawna Gavin won the General Council secretary race easily defeating write-in candidates. As for General Council interpreter, incumbent Thomas Morning Owl will retain his seat as a holdover until a new interpreter is elected. The CTUIR Election Commission issued a statement on Nov. 4 saying because it did not receive any nominating petitions
from candidates it subsequently did not catch the missing writein line until after the absentee ballots were mailed. Therefore, no write-in line for the seat was on the ballot. According to the CTUIR Constitution, the Election Commission will establish a separate voting process for all General Council members to vote for the interpreter position. Voters also passed a referendum question to allow alcohol sales ELECTION CONTINUED PAGE 2
Voters wait their turns to get their ballots on Nov. 4 at the Nixyáawii Governance Center. Registered voters selected Board of Trustees and General Council officials for the next two years as well as voted on a referendum question.
More sports photos in the Community section! CTUIR 46411 Timine Way Pendleton, OR 97801
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