Hello, I am Raymond Tsumpti Jr., an enrolled tribal member of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation of Oregon. I am of Wasco and Warm Springs tribal affiliation. These two tribal peoples have strong ties to the Pacific Northwest along the mighty Columbia River, which originates in Canada, winds through Eastern and Central Washington, and forms the State Boundary between Oregon and Washington. My childhood experiences allowed me to grow up on the reservation in a family dedicated to our traditional ways of life, practicing our religion, the Washuut or Seven Drum religion. My family shares a long history of being cattle ranchers.

I graduated from high school in the neighboring town of Madras, Oregon. At the young age of 16 years, I was fascinated with military service and joined the United States Army. During the Persian Gulf War, I served overseas in West Germany, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq. I left the service and began working for my tribe as a forest technician with ambitions to become a forester. I graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management. I continued to work for my tribe until the wood processing mill was shut down. I re-enlisted in the US Army National Guard and deployed with my unit to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon completing my deployment, I was medically retired for many non-combat-related service-connected disabilities.

For the last few years, I have been interested in volunteering to help protect or maintain the Pacific Northwest Salmon habitat alongside my daughter, Tatum. She was required to volunteer hours to graduate from high school. We volunteered for two non-governmental organizations, the Nisqually Land Trust and the Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Groups. My daughter graduated from high school and was accepted into the University of Washington-Tacoma campus, where she will begin her sophomore year this Fall. During the volunteer opportunities, I noticed the non-governmental organizations would talk about the neighboring tribes with Land acknowledgment and, at times, discuss how the tribes provide funding to support these salmon habitat improvement projects. I felt a drawing to serve in a capacity as a volunteer tribal liaison, using my experience as a forester and the knowledge I learned from this program to bridge the gap between Non-Governmental Organizations and Indian Tribes.