Biography
Tewahnee Sahme was one of the Children of the River, three prisoners who took over a housing unit at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, Oregon, in February 2001. With Thomas Tripp and David Scalera, he demanded Native American religious freedom, the restoration of educational programs and changes to brutal prison conditions. The three received additional prison time and spent twenty-two months in intensive management units before being returned to Two Rivers. They sought transfers after guards threatened reprisals.
Earth First! Journal reports that Tewahnee “Tee” Sahme and David “Looks Away” Scalera, Native rights advocates organizing behind prison walls, had been transferred back to a prison where they had participated in a protest over prison conditions two years earlier. The publication describes their fear of retaliation from guards. It provides neither a transfer date nor a new term of imprisonment.
