Baking connects me to my grandmother. She was a large part of my life growing up. She lived in our household, and out of all the girls I would be the one who would hang out with my grandma and do the holiday baking. Cooking and baking were always a large part of our conversations and I feel like I connect with her in that way.

As one of only two Japanese people here, and maybe because I am Japanese, I tried not to stand out. I tried to be the same as the other people in Wallowa County. But then I was invited to share Japanese culture, to do a tea ceremony, share origami, and to teach the Japanese language. Those are the moments I felt big connections with my ancestry and when I also felt that I was really accepted here.

I wish there was more diversity. No matter what your opinion is, your beliefs, your thoughts, just being kind to one another as a neighbor, as neighbors should be, is something that I would really like to see. The good people we have met have been a great inspiration. Our neighbors are so full of positive energy and that is an inspiration on its own. You just can’t help but want more of that.

Getting through two years of work here has given me hope, that we could stay here, that we could make a life here, that we could contribute. Part of that hope is our business that we are building from the ground up. It’s our next venture, that next step in our lives and what we’ve been talking about for a long time.

My husband had a stroke and was receiving care in Washington. We were finally coming home and I had no food in the house. Friends who were mostly older had been asking what they could do and I called one and said we are going to need dinner tonight. After we got home, one of our friends showed up and opened the trunk of her car and brought out a feast. With leftovers and everything, that food was good for four days and that saved me.

My father was Nez Perce. My mother was Scotch-Irish. This is Nez Perce land and there is not a day that I forget that. I’m a Vietnam veteran. I served in the Marine Corps and I think my life has come around to a landing after that terrible time and the legacy of it and the way it met my life. I feel at home here and I continue to try to thrive and build relationships that mean something to this community, as well as to tribal people, not only from the Nez Perce Reservation, but from Umatilla and the Joseph Band Nez Perce at Colville, and establish a place for all the Nez Perce people to come and have a reunion amongst everyone.

We moved here from California in 1969 and I felt like an outsider for a long time, because of the culture of the community. A lot of people wouldn’t use our firm because we hadn’t been here for 50 years. Being here, running a good business, being a service to the people, I’ve always made myself available and finally after many years people accepted us. It was more of a struggle than you might have thought. Giving back to the community is important to me. What touches me the most, is when people are willing to chip in when somebody else is in need.

I love helping out, like at Tamkaliks, the Nez Perce Homeland celebration, being with community that feels accepting of all people, and everyone coming together. The sacred thing for me is the events that happen here in the community, the programs that bring culture, music and people together.

I guess the last time I backpacked was when I was 75. I used to do a lot of backpacking. Just being in the mountains gave me hope. Seeing the mountains gives me hope. ­

When Dionne and I first moved here in 2005, I had not been back into the County for over ten years. How welcoming the community was and meeting my new wife, a woman of color and how they received her, that was my version of hope in this County.