CHILOQUIN, Ore. – Oregon Governor Tina Kotek and First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson visited the Klamath Tribes on Wednesday, July 31, and attended a full day of tribal events.
The early morning agenda began at 9 a.m. with a buffet breakfast at the Goos Olgi Gowa Community room in Chiloquin. Before breakfast, children from the Klamath Tribes Early Childhood Development Center sang a series of songs for the Governor and First Lady. Following breakfast, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the newly remodeled Melita’s Hotel, which now serves Klamath Tribal elders offering transitional housing. A history of the project was presented by The Klamath Tribes General Manager George Lopez. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Governor and First Lady were presented with gifts and then entertained by the Klamath Tribes Drum Youth Council. The governor also toured the housing facility, which offers furnished one-bedroom and studio rooms.
A catered lunch was provided after the ceremony at goos Olgi gowa, and two PowerPoint presentations were delivered by Danita Herrera, Judicial Director for the Klamath Tribes, offering an emotional overview of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People, and then Susan Lawlor, Behavioral Health Director for the Klamath Tribal Youth and Family Guidance Center, gave an in-depth OPIOID presentation on the impact the drug has had on Native Americans and their communities.
The Governor and First Lady then traveled to the Wood River Wetland in Chiloquin, where they heard from the Bureau of Land Management Resource Manager, who covered various topics about the Wood River Wetland and restoration project, the history of the area, and offered a review of the unique species that inhabit the wetland, including the endangered c’waam and koptu suckers, bull and redband trout, and the spotted frog.
Representatives from the Klamath Tribes Natural Resources Department and Ambodat Department completed the Wood River Wetland presentation with discussion on the work the Klamath Tribes have been involved in with wetlands restoration and offered an overview of tribal knowledge of the Wood River and its importance historically to the Klamath Tribes as an ecosystem that once sustained them as
a source of food from wocus and fish like the suckers, which were once plentiful in the wetland before the arrival of settlers and the onset of agricultural businesses and ranches.
Klamath Tribal Chairman William Ray Jr stated that “The Klamath Tribes welcomed Governor Kotek and First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson to meet as two sovereigns on a government-to-government basis to raise the level of understanding concerning how the Tribes’ aboriginal rights have been and are being adversely impacted, which erodes the viability and sustainability to exercising and practicing our culture and heritage. We are hopeful that Governor Kotek’s government-to-government consultation processes will be implemented throughout state government, agencies and employees. The Tribes were honored to host Governor Kotek and the First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson in our homelands and look forward to future consultations; we deeply appreciate and Sepk’eec’a. Thank you for listening to all the issues the Tribes are facing.”
The Governor and First Lady ended the evening at the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino, where the Klamath Tribal Council held a private dinner for the couple from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.