Marjorie Waheneka speaks during the Veteran Memorial Program during the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s 2023 Treaty Day celebration in Mission. (Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation/Contributed Photo)

MISSION — The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation will commemorate Treaty Day with a daylong celebration recognizing the historic 1855 agreement between the U.S. government and the Cayuse, Walla Walla and Umatilla tribes.

The event is Friday, June 13, at 8 a.m. at the Bureau of Indian Affairs office, 46807 B St., in Mission. Activities include a parade, a veterans memorial program, cultural exhibits, a keynote address and a lunch at the Mission Longhouse.

Jeanine Gordon, a CTUIR member and special assistant to the president for Native American Outreach at Whitman College, will deliver the keynote address at noon. CTUIR General Council Vice Chairman Michael R. Johnson and Secretary Martina Gordon will also be available for interviews.

The celebration schedule:

• 8 a.m. – Parade lineup and judging at BIA office
• 9 a.m. – Parade
• 10 a.m. – Veterans memorial program; cultural exhibits open at the Mission Longhouse
• 11 a.m. – Lunch and exhibits
• noon – Keynote address by Jeanine Gordon
• 12:30 p.m. – Dignitary recognition
• 1 p.m. – Closing prayer

Treaty Day commemorates the signing of the Treaty of 1855, in which the tribes ceded 6.4 million acres to the United States while retaining rights to fish, hunt, gather traditional foods and medicines, and pasture livestock. The treaty also established the Umatilla Indian Reservation, along with the Yakama and Nez Perce reservations.

The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on March 8, 1859. The CTUIR formed a constitutional government in 1949 to protect and uphold the rights guaranteed under the treaty.