NOTICES
Siletz Tribal Members Receive Folklife Program Apprenticeships
The Oregon Historical Society Folklife
Program has announced the 10 award
recipients of its annual Traditional Arts
Apprenticeship Program (TAAP) for
2000-2001. Celebrating its 11th successful
year, the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship
Program supports the continuation
of cultural traditions within Oregon’s
diverse communities.
The 2000-2001 award recipients
(master artist with apprentice) include
Alfred “Bud” Lane III with Lori Brown -
Siletz Baby Baskets (Siletz/Salem).
The program awards stipends to
master traditional artists to teach a specific
cultural tradition to one or more apprentices
who share their cultural background and
community. Master artists are awarded a
Criminal Code, con’t from page 16
From Salem:
Review the abandonment provision
to see if it is consistent with ICW and if
it is culturally relevant. We are looking
at the abandonment provision in the
Juvenile Code.
How old would sex offenders be if
they had to register? Project staff need to
study this provision and state and federal
laws in order to answer this question.
Can the tribe send a case
concerning a major crime to the state
for prosecution? Under Public Law 280,
the state of Oregon can but does not have
to prosecute any crimes that occur under
Oregon law on the Siletz Reservation. It
looks like some other action would be
necessary to ensure that the state would
enforce any state law on Siletz Tribal lands.
Should there be a jury? Who should
serve on it? Can felons serve on the
jury? Any duly enrolled member of CTSI
who is 18 years or older has the right to
vote in tribal elections. Should that be the
same criteria for jury service?
As for the order of the code, some
thought that crimes against the family
should be first on the list. This would reflect
the priority that Indian nations have always
put on family. Others did not think the
order mattered as long as the offenses
were included.
The Salem group asked to receive a
copy of the Indian Civil Rights Act
(see below).
Indian Civil Rights Act
It’s important to be aware of a few
federal laws that apply to Indian criminal
law. One of these is the Indian Civil Rights
Act (“ICRA,” pronounced “ikrah”).
The story goes that North Carolina
Sen. Sam Ervin recognized that Indian
tribes were not subject to the U.S.
Constitution’s Bill of Rights and other
constitutional guarantees protecting
individual rights. Congress passed ICRA in
1968 to protect Indians and non-lndians
from potential abuses by tribal
governments, including tribal courts.
As Frank Pommersheim, a well-known
Indian law scholar, notes, ICRA has been
criticized as being alien to the traditions and
customs of many tribes, where the group,
not the individual, is primary. Also, the act
was another example at the end of the
termination era of how the federal
government imposed federal standards that
abridged tribal sovereignty.
ICRA is important to drafting the Siletz
Criminal Code revisions for at least two
reasons. First, the tribal Criminal Code must
comply with federal law. Second, ICRA
emphasizes the individual’s rights rather
than the relationships defined by family,
community, and culture that hold individuals
and the tribe together. But a tribe’s criminal
code reflects the balance it strikes between
rights and relationship and how it chooses
to address that balance. How the Siletz Tribe
strikes that balance is a matter for tribal
members to decide.
Various community members said they
would like a copy of the entire act. So, by
popular demand, we bring you the Indian
Civil Rights Act (ICRA), 25 United States
Code §§ 1301-1303:
§1301
Definitions: for purposes of
this subchapter, the term
(1) “Indian tribe” means any tribe, band, or
other group of Indians subject to the
(See Criminal Code on page 23)
stipend of up to $2,000 and reimbursed for
up to $500 in supplies. During the next eight
months, the master artists will pass on the
traditional skills and knowledge they
attained through years of observation,
practice, and careful study. Apprentices are
not expected to perfect the art form during
this time, but to demonstrate a concerted
effort to improve their skills as well as a
commitment to continuing beyond the
apprenticeship period.
Both master and apprentice will be
featured in an exhibit at the Oregon History
Center at the conclusion of the eight-month
apprenticeship next summer.
This year’s master artists include an
86-year-old “horse whisperer,” a 77-year-old
Warm Springs basketweaver and
community elder, one of the only active
basketweavers in the Siletz community, and
an internationally acclaimed Iranian
musician and composer.
Program participants share a
commitment to teaching or learning the
cultural traditions of their communities and
carrying them forward into the future. “These
artists are proof that, even in our modern
society, there is a place for traditional
knowledge, and that it continues to be a
living, vital part of many communities and
cultures,” says Program Coordinator Leila
Childs. “The knowledge these artists hold
is not found in schools or libraries. It is part
of a lineage of expression that comes from
the past and has its roots in community. This
program’s goal is to support the teaching
and sharing of this traditional knowledge,
and to publicly acknowledge the teachers
and learners of these traditions for their role
in their communities and in the state.”
The 2000-2001 Traditional Arts
Apprenticeship Program is supported by the
Jackson Foundation, Oregon Arts
Commission,
Oregon
Community
Foundation, and the Margaret Thiele
Petti Foundation.
For more information about the
Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program,
contact Leila Childs, Oregon Folklife
Program, 503-306-5292.
For more information on OHS
museum exhibitions and programs, call
503-222-1741, or visit us at www.ohs.org.
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