Meet our Board
Executive Commitee
Douglas R. chu’ma Marconi Jr.
Chair, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
ehe’ oykalo,
inim wes wenikt chu’ma (Douglas R. Marconi Jr). I was born and raised in Nespelem, and Coulee Dam, WA., with cultural ties to land, place, family and community. I am enrolled nimiipuu (Nez Perce) ka (and) palus (Palouse) on the Colville Indian Reservation. I also have lineal descendancy from the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho.
The Wallowa Homeland Mission is important to me because my maternal lineage is from the Young Joseph Band, in present day Nespelem WA. We also have lineage from the Palus Band(s) along the Snake River. Additionally, my father’s lineage is from the Nez Perce Tribe in Lapwai Idaho.
I hope to bring a perspective that is grounded in our traditional teachings with forward thinking and action that is informed by deep consideration and guidance from my many elders and teachers here in Nespelem. My #heartwork has revealed this opportunity to serve the homelands.
I’m most proud of being a father and mentor to my two children.
Respectfully,
chu’ma
Katie Harris-Murphy
Vice Chair, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Katie is a lifelong Oregonian. Her family is Wallowa Band Nimiipuu, Cayuse, Umatilla & Karuk. She is a direct descendant of Chief Miitaat Weptas, Chief Kalipoon, Amos Wilkinson (Chief Joseph's Nephew & Interpreter), Jim White, Cyrus Wilkinson, Old Josephs family, & Kap Kap Tsonmi for whom she is named. Both grandparents on both sides of her family are buried here in Wallowa.
In the past, Katie has been a Happy Canyon Princess (2010), Pendleton Round Up Princess (2012), Pendleton Woolen Mills American Indian Beauty Pageant winner (2013). She helps run Harris Sisters Collaborative with her sisters and has both a cattle business and tree business with her husband Jackson. She has a Masters degree from OHSU, a BS in Chemistry from EOU, and two Associates degrees from BMCC. Katie tries to live her life by her culture and in the way her parents Stuart Harris & Deborah Harris raised her. She is a lifelong hunter, horsewoman, gatherer, bead worker, short fringe traditional dancer, swan dancer and gardener. As a member, she would like to keep Wallowa as a home - for all the Wallowa Band people who return to it every year.
Angela Bombaci
Treasurer, Walla Walla, WA
Angela Harvey grew up hiking and camping in the Wallowa country. She has a deep sense of responsibility for the community here - past, present and future - including the plants and animals with whom we share this special place. In her six years as staff at the Nez Perce Walawa Homeland, Angela learned from those who share her commitment to the environment and to each others' well-being within it.
Today, Angela serves as board treasurer here at NPWH, and as a board member for the Wallowa Land Trust. Although she is now residing with her family of five in Walla Walla, Washington and working in finance for Whitman College, Angela stays connected to her Wallowa home through her commitment to board service.
Michelle Jamison-Adams
Co-Secretary, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Michelle (totsmul) Jamison-Adams serves as the Assistant Secretary to the Nez Perce Wallowa Homelands and is a dedicated legal assistant to the Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Walla Walla County. Hailing from Walla Walla, Washington, Michelle is proud of her rich heritage, being a descendant of the Umatilla, Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Nez Perce tribes. As a mother of five, she finds joy in sharing her passion for cultural tradition and community engagement with her family, who actively participate in pow wows throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Her devotion to raising awareness about tribal culture is evident in her tireless efforts within the Walla Walla Valley. By volunteering, organizing community events, and promoting pow wow singing and dancing, Michelle has forged meaningful connections with local schools, advocating for improved tribal education from an early age. A member of the Pasxapa Pow Wow committee at Whitman College, she plays a pivotal role in fostering cultural appreciation and understanding within her community.
For over three decades, Michelle and her family have cherished attending the Tamkaliks Pow Wow, which they consider their favorite annual gathering. Her organizational skills, deep love for the land, and commitment to the Tamkaliks Celebration align seamlessly with the mission of the Nez Perce Wallowa Homelands. With a focus on preserving and promoting tribal heritage, Michelle is a passionate advocate for her community and its history, making her a vital presence on the Board of Directors.
Mary Hawkins
Co-Secretary, Wallowa OR
I am new to direct Board service as of 2024 but am not new to the project. I grew up in Wallowa and my father kept Tamkaliks and the Homeland grounds in our attention. The project was an opportunity for him to rekindle friendship with a man from Lapwai who’d worked in the woods in Wallowa in the 1950s. When the current Homeland site was acquired, my dad helped Waters family members round up materials for the first sweathouse screen and he put up hay before powwow.
I worked in the office from 2013 to 2019 and again for an interim the winter of 2022-2023.These were wonderful years, the longhouse was built, horse corrals were installed and the footbridge linking the grounds to the sidewalks in the City of Wallowa was opened. In that decade my husband and I added 3 children to our family and grew a poultry processing business and stepped away from the office job but retained a connecting to Board service.
In addition to time with my family I enjoy packing horses and mules into the Wallowa Mountains, meat processing, long walks and reading.
Nancy Crenshaw
Wallowa Valley
Nancy lives in Wallowa and is of Osage Nation heritage. Her family had a farm allotment in Oklahoma. When her grandfather died during the Great Depression her grandmother moved the family to Oregon. Nancy grew up in Grants Pass and afterward attended the University of Oregon. After graduation she married and she and her husband Terry moved to Wrangell, Alaska, an island in the southeast corner of the state. They taught school and their children Jason and Marnie were born there. After six years in Alaska Nancy and Terry returned to Oregon, making Wallowa their home.
In 1991 Nancy and Terry helped start the Tamkaliks Celebration, the beginning of the NPWH. She has served as a board member ever since. Terry died in 1995 of ALS. Nancy taught special education in Wallowa for 20 years and is now retired. She is a Court Appointed Special Advocate and active at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Her son Jason and daughter-in-law also live in Wallowa along with their two children and her daughter Marnie lives in Portland with her two children. Nancy is very social around the Wallowa Valley and travels extensively, domestically and abroad.
Carla Kauffman Timentwa
Nez Perce Tribe
‘Ee ‘he ta’c ley’heen ‘inim him’yuume. I am an enrolled member of the Nez Perce Tribe,my family ties descend from the old Joseph band and Whitebird people. My husband is William Timentwa, a U.S. Navy veteran andenrolled Colville Tribe member descending from the Nez Perce, Palouse and Wenatchee bands. I had the honor in serving our people on the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee and as Chairman and Election judge for our Tribe. My first visits to Wallowa were in the late 1980s with my family to participate in the early years of the Tamkaliks celebration. My family ties go even further back into history as a descendant of the qem’uunu or later known as the Wallowa band descendants.
Now as a grandmother to 19 grandchildren all of whom are enrolled with the Nez Perce Tribe we are actively involved in cultural learning as native food gatherers, hunters and fishermen and women. I practice traditional arts of weaving, beadwork and horsemanship and have passed these on to my children and grandchildren. I participate in the Tamkaliiks celebration serving as whip woman and my family retains close cultural ties to the land we love.
Thank you for this opportunity to serve.
Qeci’yew’yew
Lukas Angus
Portland Or, enrolled Nez Perce Tribe
‘Ipna Hoktnin (Transforms Himself)- Lukas Angus
Born and has spent whole life living in Portland, Oregon.
Lingit and Haida from Mother, Nez Perce and Cayuse from Father. Enrolled Nez Perce with lineage coming from Wallowa Band by way of Ollokot.
Director/Head Skipper of 7 Waters Canoe Family- A traditional canoeing revitalization group. Owner of 7 Waters Sovereign Foods LLC- A fishing, catering, farming, and restaurant business
Married to Erin Angus and with whom have 5 children together
Lukas grew up in the city, practicing martial arts, wrestling, skateboarding and making art. Various forms of art and craft he is good at include oil painting, carving, regalia making, tanning hides, leatherwork, beadwork, drum making, and traditional dancing to name a few. Lukas is a hunter, fisherman, and farmer, advocating for indigenous land/water stewardship and food sovereignty. He enjoys lots of work with youth and families as a Community Health Worker, primarily with the canoe and strengthening our connection to land and water as a form of healing, sometimes just paddling and singing songs, sometimes working on environmental restoration projects. Lukas worked for almost 17 years in a machine shop and in 2020 the pandemic gave him the push to quit that job to fully invest his life into the things that matter most- Food, Culture and Community.
Vincent McDonald
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
Bobbie Conner
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Bobbie is the director of Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, a museum on the Umatilla Reservation. Before moving home to Pendleton in 1997 Conner was the Sacramento district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration and previously worked with an Indian education organization in Seattle. Part Cayuse, Umatilla and Nez Perce Conner is enrolled with the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla. She is a graduate of Pendleton High School, the University of Oregon and Willamette University’s Atkinson Graduate School of Management. Over the past decade Conner has contributed and edited several tribal history publications.
Conner is the Vice Chair of Eastern Oregon University’s Board of Trustees and serves on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Land Acquisition Committee. She served on the Board of Trustees for the National Museum of the American Indian from 2008 to 2014 and as chairman in 2012 and 2013 and the Board of Directors for the American Alliance of Museums from 2008 to 2014.
Tiyana Casey Blackeagle
Lenore, ID
(Wasq'u/ Nimiipuu) uses science to perpetuate the values of her indigenous culture; advancing the understanding and management of her ancestral territories for both tribal and non-tribal people.
As a life-long advocate for tribal youth, she has been responsible for the cultural transmission and education of indigenous youth across the PNW with the intention of offering healing pathways to professional spaces. The synthesis of her education, research, and leadership roles with the invaluable education she has received from tribal elders, hunters, gatherers, and community members informs Tiyana's current roles both professionally and in her community.
Josiah Blackeagle
Nez Perce Tribe
Josiah Blackeagle Pinkham is Nez Perce or Nimiipuu. He resides on the Nez Perce Reservation in Lapwai, Idaho. His Nez Perce name is Tipyelehne Cimuuxcimux and it is commonly translated as Blackeagle. Josiah’s father, Allen Pinkham Sr., is a Nez Perce and Josiah’s mother, Shirley Mosqueda, is a Yakama. There are many figures in his family that would be known by historians. Some of them are Red Grizzly Bear, elder Chief Joseph, and John Pinkham who fought in the Nez Perce War of 1877 as a young man.
Josiah is an Ethnographer, which involves cultural research and documentation. He graduated with honors from Lewis and Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho with a degree in Native American Studies and Psychology.
NPWH Board Members together at the Annual Meeting in November of 2024 at the NPWH Longhouse.
Left to Right : Angela Harvey, Vincent McDonald, Michelle Jamison-Adams, Lukas Angus, Doug Marconi Jr. (behind), Nancy Crenshaw (in front), Carla Timentwa, Katie Harris-Murphy, Mary Hawkins, Bobbie Conner.
photography credit: Roger Averbeck