TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Logo Contest for Elders Bus
Win $100!
The elders are looking for a logo, created by a tribal member, to go onto
our bus. Three colors would be preferred. Please submit your entry to Kathryn
Dick at the Siletz office by Nov. 8. The elders will make their decision at the
meeting onNov. 10, and $100 will go to the artist whose design is selected. We
have many artists in our tribe and look forward to your assistance.
New Tribal
Policeman
Joins Force
Shirley Walker (I), Kay Steele, Ed Ben, Donna Kessinger, Lucky Miles, Dennis
Lane, Tess Green, and Connie Hartl gather at Battle Rock.
Our Trip to the Rogue
The Elders Program took two vans
to the Run to the Rogue. Many other
elders also attended. This was a new
experience for some of our elders and
made the trip even more exciting.
What a thrill driving on Highway
101 and seeing our runners carrying the
tribal staff. We had a great time stopping
at different places and visiting with the
runners and all the volunteers who make
the Run to the Rogue so successful. The
dinner at Port Orford was really nice
and they had the head table set for the
tribal elders. They made us feel special.
Saturday morning was a busy one,
getting ready and getting breakfast,
wondering the whole time where the
runners were, how far had they gone,
and thinking maybe they were already
to Oak Flats. Once there, we found that
it was really hot. There was much
socializing and many fun things to
watch. The kids played in the water and
us elders, well, we were looking for
shade and a cool breeze! We had a
wonderful salmon dinner and really
enjoyed the feather dancers.
Michael German has
been hired as a Siletz
Tribal policeman. His
wife, Kristina, originally
is from Siletz, and she and
Michael German (r) is sworn in by Judge Calvin Michael moved back to
Gantenbein as Police Chief Norm Counts looks on. Siletz about a year ago.
Six-year-old Dezarae and a baby boy due in January round out the family.
Michael spent nearly 10 years in the Coast Guard, stationed in Coos Bay
and Seattle. He also served in the Navy Reserve, where he received three
honorable discharges, and worked in security at Chinook Winds Casino. The
job in Siletz is his first law enforcement position.
“It will be a challenge to be in public service to the community, especially
with the wide range of cultures here,” he said.
Michael and Kristina are ready to set down roots in Siletz. Michael’s dad
was in the military, so the family lived in many places, including Germany,
Alaska, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Michael and Kristina also decided
that they didn’t want to raise Dezarae in the Portland-Vancouver area.
Walt’s Words of Wit and Wisdom
by Walt Klamath
Well, it’s hunting season again; by the time this gets out, it will be pretty
much over. This is the time that many of us like to get out in the woods, not
necessarily to kill a deer, but to remember all the good times that we have had in
the past.
I have hunted with my dad naturally, Eddie Bensel, Bill Batise, and Jimmie
Fleming. Also have been in parties with Lester and Edwin Simmons. Edwin
used to say that we can say anything now, there’s no one left to dispute it. Today
I can say the same thing; all those whom I have hunted with have gone on to the
happy hunting grounds.
Today, for me anyway, it’s not so much that I want to kill a deer or elk. I
want to be out there among the spirits of those who have crossed over to reflect
back on the good times, the stories that were told, and the stories that were in the
making. I have said many times that the things that happen the way they should
do not make the memories, it’s the little things that happen out of the ordinary.
Like, for instance, making coffee. Now if one gets up in the morning and
makes a pot of coffee, no big deal. But, if when you get to camp, you pour a
pound of coffee into a pot and boil it, then the next day put a half-pound in and
the next. This does build a memory, as well as very powerful coffee, like Ed
Simmons one day while on a stand up on the Pettycrew place.
I was with my dad. I was not allowed to be by myself yet, pretty young
carrying a .22. Anyway, we could see Edwin and a deer came out. He shot many
times, emptied his rifle. Then as we watched, he did something, but we could
not see what at the time. When Dad and I and Jimmy got together, he said “I
missed, don’t know why,” Then he looked at his rifle and the rear sight was
jacked way up. He said that someone had messed with his sights.
Jimmy had a habit of going to sleep while on stand. I was older now and was
allowed to have a big rifle, a 38.55, long-barreled and heavy, so now I can
identify with those old timers. It’s not so much the hunt as it is the thoughts
of yesteryear.
As the thoughts come back about those hunting trips and the food, when
anyone complained about the eating, that’s who became the cook. We have sat
down to fried potatoes that were black on one side and raw on the other. Do you
think anyone would complain? Can you imagine the trouble at home if dear
little wifey did that?
And the long shots. Wow, some of those 100-foot shots become 1,000-yard
shots without a rest, but it takes awhile to get there depending on how many are
in the camp and the size of those trophies.
Those black tails had outgrown the mule deer 10 to 1.1 don’t know, but by
the way everyone looked, they all believed what they were hearing. Of course, I
believed every bit of it. After all, one does not question an elder, that is the way
I was taught. I hunt by myself now, but the spirits of all those whom I have
hunted with are with me while I’m out there and all these good memories come
drifting back. Then it’s time to go home.
^Novei^ber 2001
D
Siletz News
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