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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2000)
OR. COLL. 78 .OG 5523 V. 28 no. 6 June 2000 SILETZ NEWS A monthly publication by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Vol. 28, No. 6, June 2000 Montana Supreme Court Upholds ICWA Requirements by Craig Dorsay, Siletz Tribal Attorney ; . ■ .. Gov. John Kitzhaber (center) visits with volunteers and tribal staff at the Fifth National Tribal Environmental Conference at Chinook Winds Casino in May. L to r: Tami Miner, Karen Bell, Terry Lane, Sonya Moody-Jurado, Harold Shepherd, Gov. Kitzhaber, Mari Kramer, Lisa Norton, Suzanne Lulay, Natasha Kavanaugh, and Guy DiTorrice. See additional conference photos on page 14 and 15 Fill Out Head Start Community Assessment The Siletz Tribal Head Start Program is required by our performance standards to do a community assessment. A community assessment is also a requirement for funding. Please take a few minutes to fill out the community assessment on page 12 and return it to your area office or mail it to DeAnn Brown, PC Box 549, Siletz, OR 97380. What is a Community Assessment? A community assessment is a collection of recent information and reliable data, compiled and analyzed to obtain a clear image of a community, its needs, and its resources. A community assessment process allows programs to make informed and valid program decisions. It also is an internal education tool for our program. Based upon the community assessment, we will be able to brief Head Start staff, the Policy Council, and parents on the current status of our communities and the direction the program is taking for the future. y What’s Inside Letters to the Editor Chairman’s Report Tribal Programs Notices Tribal Environmental Conference 2 3 5 13 14 Timesheets Siletz Clinic Chinook Winds Tribal History Passages 16 19 21 24 25 The Siletz Tribe won a significant victory under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) before the Montana Supreme Court in March. The decision was a broad-ranging ruling that will have a positive effect on many Indian children in the future. The case involved a Siletz infant living with her family in Montana. The infant suffered multiple physical injuries that the parents denied causing, and the state took jurisdiction over the child. The parents petitioned to transfer the proceeding to the Siletz Tribal Court. The tribe initially supported transfer. When it became clear, however, that the parents wanted the case transferred in the belief that they could avoid liability for the infant’s injuries and get the child back, the tribe decided to oppose transfer. The tribe decided to leave the adjudicatory phase of the case (the trial that decides fault and fitness of the parents) in Montana because all the evidence and witnesses about the infant’s injuries were located there. At the same time, the Siletz Tribe expressed its concern in writing about long term placement of the infant in a non-lndian foster home and the possibility that the foster parents might seek adoption of the infant on the grounds that she had bonded with them. The tribe informed the state court that it wanted the dispositional phase of the proceeding (placement of the child) transferred to Siletz Tribal Court once parental rights were terminated. A critical part of this case was the Siletz Tribe’s early identification of a relative family placement with experience caring for children with special needs. One of the (See Montana on page 18) Siletz News Confederated Tribes of Siletz P.O. Box549 Siletz, OR 97380 Siletz news Delores Pigsiey, Tribal Chairman Brenda Bremner, General Manager and Editor-In-Chief PRESORTED FIRST CLASS U.S. POSTAGE PAID SILETZ, OR 97380 PERMIT NO. 2
