OR. COLL.
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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
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. ■ ..
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