LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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made in the Letters to the Editor. The opinions
expressed are those of the individual writing it.
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Siletz News
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380
Phone: (541)444-8291 -or-1-800-922-
1399, ext. 291.
Fax: 1-541-444-2307.
e-mail: newspaper@ctsi.nsn.us
Please note: The General Manager of the Siletz
Tribe is the Editor-in-Chief of the Siletz News.
Open up your eyes and ears. I am writing this
letter for a raise for Maxine Rilatos. I feel she
deserves a raise for the good job she does. When
someone needs a ride to the doctor appointment,
no matter what kind of weather, snow, rain, ice, or
whatever, you people out there know what I’m
saying. When she goes on vacation, she at least
lets her clients know when she leaves and when
she will be back. It seems like she is always on
the road taking people here and there. Yes, we all
know its her job, but is she the only one that does
this job? I think not. It seems she’s the only one I
hear about, Maxine Rilatos, taking people here and
there. But I don’t hear much about the other
workers that are supposed to do the same job.
So I don’t think its all that hard to give her a good
raise, and say to her—“good job Maxine Rilatos.”
Maxine Rilatos is my aunt and I am proud of her
and the great job she does for her people. God
bless you Aunty Maxine.
Chester Ben
The vice-chairperson said that the two (2)
Council Executive Secretaries were too busy, over
loaded with work, that they did not have time to
do the minutes but if you walk around the
Administration Building, you will see these two
Secretaries doing nothing but walking around or
outside smoking, (guess with who) with their Tribal
Council.
If these two people are not qualified, then fire
them and hire Secretaries that can work, this just
shows you how this self-appointed chairperson
takes care of her own kind.
This also shows the stupidness of an appointed
council, they cannot do anything by themselves.
The only reason they are there is because of their
loyalty and commitment to their chairperson.
As a lifetime Siletz Tribal Member, my
concerns are:
1. Our right to vote and the majority to be
recognized.
2. That minutes be recorded for all meetings
and available to our people.
3. That one person cannot control our
employees, casino and newsletter.
4. Absolute and complete respect for our
Elders.
5. That Pat Duncan is reinstated on Tribal
Council, as reflected by General Council
Membership.
6. We should not recognize a “self-appointed”
chairperson.
7. Tribal members need to be able to speak
and be taken seriously.
At this meeting, a former Council Member got
up and started yelling and screaming at our Indian
People, this shows you what type of people these
are.
A Tribal Member that drove all the way from
California to attend the Council Meeting and asked
them not to close the meeting but the vice
chairperson got up and walked out on our Indian
People.
First, they were going to kick us out of the
building, then they were going to lock us up inside
the building and you know what? These people
are not Siletz Indians but we are and this is how
they treat us Siletz Indians.
I hope that our people try and listen to our
Indian People, even though we make up about
20% of the membership, we have issues and rights
that are very important to us Siletz Indians.
Respectfully,
We would like to thank Kent Rilatos, the Siletz
Indian Housing Authority (SIHA) Commissioners,
Lei Loni Cordova, and Connie Hoffman for all their
help and support with making it all possible for so
many people to attend the “Winter Solstice
Ceremony” in Smith River, California.
Siletz had an awesome turnout which made us
ail feel good about ourselves, each other and our
people in general. This would not have been
possible without the help of the aforementioned
people.
Thanks again, and may good blessings come
to you all!!!
Randy and Ronda Austin
Tribal Members, Issues to Consider:
45 plus years ago, the government chose to take
the land and all the rights of the Siletz by a
termination act; essentially destroying a way of life
and disseminating our people.
As a child at the time, I happen to overhear my
grandparents, Wilber & Christine Martin, telling their
children, my mother and her brothers and sisters,
“you will maintain the pride and honor you were
bom with, the white man can never take that away.”
These words are burned into my heart, mind and
blood, a way of life since termination.
In the past few years it would seem that former
council members have chosen to totally disregard
the pride and honor. They chose to INSULT our
people by refusing to accept recall. The former
chairperson chose to resign solely for the purpose
of disrupting tribal government, when that failed
went to Tribal Court and lost again. All these actions
indicate just how self-serving these people really
are, what little concern they have for the tribe.
At the November ‘98 general council meeting,
the recalled council members and their supporters
chose to insult the tribal members again by totalling
disrupting the meeting, ten compounding that insult
by claiming to be the real council by a falsetto
election at the time which has no basis for reality.
Their childish actions only indicate how totally unfit
they really ARE for the positions they once held.
Now the INSULT continues with some of the
recalled council members adding their name to
council candidacy for the upcoming elections. This
action only indicates how self-serving they truly are,
ignoring the fact that 2-3 times more vote to recall
than originally elected them. It reminds me of a
child who didn’t get their way and throwing a tantrum
- rolling on the floor, kickin’ and screamin’. Pride
and honor must be maintained — I have Spokane —
Tribal Members:
I attended the October General Council Meeting
and was disappointed by the behavior of the “self
appointed” council.
Allow me to relate one of the incidents that
bothered me; one of our elders began asking
questions and the so-called “Sergeant of Arms” got
up and took the microphone from him.
Dennis Lane
William
Stanley
Strong
What a tough guy, this guy needs to go back
Grandson of MARTIN
where he came from, he’s just like them, they hate
our Indian People.
Dear Tribal Council:
The Vice-Chairman refused to listen to our Siletz
My residence is outside the Siletz Tribal Service Area, so I am writing to express my concern
Tribal Members; refused to answer questions about about the Riley survey. I hope this “Survey” does not cost much, because since we were not polled for
what they were doing and answer about the August
our concerns, it does not really qualify as a legitimate survey. It is not an overview of our membership
Meeting minutes that the Chairperson appointed concerns.
herself.
Joan Fisher
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