CANDIDATES’ STATEMENTS
Loraine Butler
Lillie Butler
My name is Lillie (Logan)
Butler. I am running for a Tribal
Council position and I am willing
to put the energy and time in
working for the Siletz Tribe.
The tribe in the early 1980s
came up with priorities of health,
education, and housing, and later
added economic development. The
priorities have not gone away and
there is still need in these areas.
I currently work for the Siletz
Tribe in Contract Health Services.
The tribe has been able to provide
services for health in their
11-county service areas based on a
priority list and provide $400 for
prescriptions for those outside the
service area. Additional funding is
needed to assist in health care.
There is a need for housing
for the members. The Housing
Authority has provided many
homes and rentals in the Siletz area
and assisted with down payments
for homes and funding for repairs.
The Housing Improvement
Program at one time was the main
funding source for housing needs,
but federal cuts have virtually
eliminated this program. The tribe
basically is relying on the Housing
Authority for housing assistance
and there is an income level
that
eliminates
some
of
the membership.
Education should be a top
priority with the Siletz Tribe. This
is a program that starts with our
very young, goes on through
adulthood, and should include the
elders. It is an area that teaches our
very young that education will
8
always be part of their lives. It is
where they will learn what they
want their future to be. The funding
needs to be available for programs
for the young and to assist those
that are going on for vocational and
higher education. It should not be
a hardship for students when they
graduate from high school and want
to continue their education.
Economic development is
instrumental in achieving the
funding to assist the needs of
extended health care, housing, and
education. At one time, timber
revenue was the tribe’s only source
of income. Timber revenues
assisted in the start-up of Chinook
Winds. But, the Siletz Tribe needs
additional economic development.
The Siletz Tribe needs to start
growing in economic development.
Chinook Winds is making a
lot of money, but the distribution
to the tribe is minimal. A 4 percent
profit coming to the tribe is not very
much when the expenditures are
approximately 94 percent of the
gross profit.
I am willing to work for
improved health, education,
housing needs, and economic
development. I am willing to work
at bringing back more to the
membership from Chinook Winds.
I want to remind the membership
what they received in 1999 and the
year 2000 and remind the elders
what they received.
For change to happen, new
leadership needs to be voted in.
I am asking for your vote at the
upcoming election.
Hello,
My name is Loraine Y.
Butler. I am a candidate for the
upcoming tribal elections. I am
from the Butler family on my
father’s side. His name was Bruce
Butler Jr., “Brucie” to most of his
friends and family. His father was
Bruce Butler Sr.; his mother was
Jane Hollis Butler.
My mother’s name is Martha
Case Moody; her mother was Ethel
(Logan) Gurdipee, her father
Edward Case Sr.
I am a single parent. I have
five
children
and
eight
grandchildren. Three of my
children work at Chinook Winds,
Renee (Bingo), Martha (VLT tech.)
and Nathan (surveillance). My son
Rusty works in Siletz with the
Prevention team. My daughter
Misty is a student at Phagan’s
Beauty College in Newport.
I have 10 years of sobriety on
New Year’s Eve 2001. I have
worked for the tribe on and off for
10 years. I am very proud of my
Indian blood and . my Indian
heritage. I practice my Indian
culture through the sweat lodge
ceremony, feather dance, sun dance,
and the sacred pipe ceremony. I love
to make regalia for myself and
family. We attend pow-wows to
celebrate and dance.
I have tried to teach my
children and grandchildren to love
and respect the Indian culture and
pray in our Indian way.
I am very concerned for our
tribe and our tribal people.
I feel that our Tribal Council
has become so involved in the
casino and tribal politics that they
have forgotten about the basic needs
of the people.
Our elders have many needs.
We lost an elder this week in death.
Another elder moved to a nursing
home. How sad that we don’t have
an assisted living home here in
Siletz, where she could live out the
rest of her days in the town she was
bom and raised in.
I have concerns about some
of our tribal programs. These
programs are federally funded for
our members. Why do we try so
hard to prevent our members from
getting on the programs to utilize
them?
For example,
our
Employment Services Program.
The clients are expected to do “x”
amounts of job searches a week.
Some of these people have families.
They have no cars, no insurance,
and most of all they have no job
skills and experience. Why aren't
we providing these people with
staff and equipment to get the basic
skills they need to get employed?
I have great concern for our
tribal children and their education.
The Siletz Tribe donates thousands
of dollars to Lincoln County every
year. Lincoln City has a new high
school; Newport is building new
schools also. Our children are being
bused to Toledo High School,
where they play second to the
children from Toledo. Our high
school dropout rate is high.
The Council must know this, do
they care?
My sister Lavern lost her
home and everything she owned in
a house fire this year. I went to
upper management and requested
help for her. I was told there are no
funds for her. She needed to go to
Contact and Red Cross for help.
How can this be? She got $1,000
from housing. This was not tribal
money, it was HUD grant money.
This money was to help her rebuild
her life. Could you rent a home and
furnish it, plus take care of your two
children with $1,000? This could
happen to you or someone in
your family.
I have heard that charity
begins at home. Let’s try and make
positive changes in our tribe to help
our tribal people, the members,
eiders, and the children.
We as tribal members have a
lot to be proud of. On the outside
to the public we look good. Now
let’s make some changes on the
inside to help the less fortunate
tribal members.
I ask for your support to make
these dreams a reality.
Thank you,
Loraine Y. Butler