Siletz news /, August 01, 2001, Page 9, Image 9

TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Tribe to Hold Auction
of Excess Property
The Siletz Tribe will hold a sealed-bid auction of miscellaneous, used tribal
excess property. This includes such things as TVs, wood benches, office furniture,
computers, and computer accessories (keyboards, mouse, monitors, and some
cables).
The deadline for submitting sealed bids is noon on Aug. 31, 2(X)1. The
opening of bids will start one hour later.
Note: Cash will be required for the highest bid at the time of opening.
For more information, contact Wayne Case, property and procurement
officer, at 541-444-8265 or 1-800-922-1399, ext. 265.
L to r: Shirley Walker, Agnes Baker-Pilgrim, Eddie Ehret, and Craig Whitehead
prepare to bless a Port of Portland property.
Blessing Ceremony Takes Place
at Port of Portland Site
by Craig Whitehead
Members of the Cultural Heritage
Committee met in June to perform a
blessing ceremony on a house pit site
on a Port of Portland property.
This site was discovered while the
port was doing archeology surveys for
an employee parking lot for the airport.
Those present for the blessing were
Agnes Baker-Pilgrim, Shirley Walker,
Eddie Ehret (who did the singing),
and myself.
The Cultural Heritage Committee
consulted not only with the Port of
Portland, but also with the Grand Ronde
and Warm Springs tribes about this site.
During the consultation process that
started last fall, it was determined that the
best way to protect the site was to put a
concrete cap over it and then put the
parking lot on top of that.
The Siletz Cultural Heritage
Committee felt that it was essential that
the spirits of the ones who lived there
in the times of old be put at ease because
The house pit site is behind these trees.
of the disturbance that was caused when
the site was partially uncovered.
This is why we conducted the
blessing ceremony.
Prayers were offered, songs were
sung, and we all left there with a good
feeling in our hearts.
CTSI Jobs
Position: Family Advocate
Location: Siletz, Oregon
Salary: $14 per hour
Opening date: 7/13/01
Closing date: 8/10/01
Position: Family Ally
Location: Portland, Oregon
Salary: $9.12 per hour
Opening date: 7/20/01
Closing date: 8/3/01
Call the Job Line at 541-444-8296 or 1-800-922-1399
for a tribal application.
St. Mary’s Catholic Church
Siletz, Oregon
We celebrated the feast of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha on July 14. She was bom in
Ossemeon (Auriesville), N.Y., in 1656 and died in Caughnawaga, Canada, on April
17, 1680. She was declared venerable by Pope Pius XII and beatified in 1980 by Pope
John Paul II. The feast day formerly was on April 17, with a memorial in the U.S.
Kateri was the daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman who was captured
by the Iroquois and married to a pagan Mohawk chieftain. Kateri was orphaned
when her family died during a smallpox epidemic. The disease also left her with
a pocked face and impaired eyesight, yet she had an inner vision that was 20-20.
When Kateri was converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de
Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary, she was shunned by her relatives and became
the subject of such abuse that she was afraid for her life. She ran away frorrrthe
village in 1677 and traveled through 200 miles of wilderness to the Christian
Indian village of Sault Ste. Marie near Montreal, Canada.
Kateri made her first communion on Christmas that year and took a vow of
chastity in 1679. She became known for her spirituality and austere lifestyle, and
miracles were attributed to her. She was called the “Lily of the Mohawks.’’
After her death in Caughnawaga, her grave became a pilgrimage site and
place of many miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. She
was the first Native American proposed for canonization.
Today, a great need exists to reach out to Native Americans who have been hurl
from centuries of Anglo dominance. Many became Catholics but have slipped away
from our church family. We must welcome them and help them be a dynamic part of
church life. Blessed Kateri is a special patron for us to invoke in prayer for such a cause.
We welcome families to join us in Mass each Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in St.
Mary’s Catholic Church in Siletz.
YÀ’À’TÉÉh (Aills Well)
St. Michael Indian School in St. Michael, Ariz., was opened in 1902 as a
co-educational school by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (founded by St.
Katharine Drexel, who in 1896 sent $3,000 to help build a church in Siletz) on the
Navajo Reservation. It began with a program of academics and training in trades
for grammar school children. A high school opened in 1946.
More than 90 percent of the students are Navajo Native Americans. Today, the
school offers education from kindergarten through grade 12. Tuition pays for one-
third of the cost. Tuition is kept low to help children of families with limited incomes
attend the school. The remaining funds come from contributions and fund raising.
St. Michael’s is the only Catholic School on the 25,(XX)-square-mile reservation.
Each year SMIS is proud to see alumni returning to work on the Navajo
Reservation. St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Siletz will support St. Michael School
through our at-the-door collection on the first Sunday of each month.
August 2001
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Siletz News
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