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OR.COLL. ► 78 .06 5523 „v. 30 «no. 5 May ¿0&2 'LETZ NEWS Vol. 30, No. 5, May 2002 nthly publication by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Message from the Middens by David R. Hatch What’s Inside Letters to the Editor Chairman’s Report Tribal Program News Tribal Member News Scholarships Notices Tribal Council Timesheets Siletz Clinic Chinook Winds Passages 2 3 4 9 11 12 13 15 16 20 Siletz News Confederated Tribes of Siletz P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380 Delores Pigsley, Tribal Chairman Brenda Bremner, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief identified before another attempt is made to restore Elakha to the Oregon Coast. In January 2000, the Siletz Tribe helped establish the Elakha Alliance with a $5,(XX) donation from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund. The Elakha Alliance is an informal association of coastal tribes, agencies, organizations, and individuals committed to restoring the sea otter to Oregon’s coastal waters. It developed a plan for the restoration, but no action could be taken until the appropriate source population was known. There are two potential source populations. Genetic exist the between “southern” sea 111 1 1 otters now found in California and the “northern” sea otters found in Alaska and recently successfully reintroduced to Washington and British Columbia. It turns out that as our relatives were dumping the trash, they were sending us a message that the original Oregon Elakha was related to the southern sea otters. They have shown us the way to the first step in bringing Elakha back to our coastal waters. In our ancestors’ day, large beds of kelp provided a diverse abundance and protected the near shore waters. Elakha was the only predator of the near shore herbivores. When we lost Elakha, we lost the source of our royal robes and the uncontrolled urchin populations decimated our kelp. As we work together to restore Elakha to our coast, we really will be able to restore the balance of our near shore communities. Kloshe kahkwa (Chinook Jargon - “It is good”). elakha “,ions nil in nc A Siletz Tribe, Kiwanis Co-Host Candidates Fair The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Kiwanis Club of Lincoln City, and Chinook Winds Casino co hosted a Candidates Fair in the casino’s convention center on April 7. Nearly 70 people attended the event. Candidates who attended included Kevin Mannix and Bev Stein, who are running for governor; Susan Castillo and Rob Kremer, running for Did our grandparents many times over know that they were sending us a message when they placed the bones of Elakha (the sea otter) in their middens? The second most common marine mammal remains found in all of Oregon’s coastal middens are the bones of Elakha. Eighteen bones have just given us an important message. It could be that at least one person hauling out the trash did have thoughts of the future in 300 to 3,000 years, but it seems unlikely. On April 10, 2002, Dr. Deborah Duffield, biology professor at Portland lx State University, and her student, Kim Valentine, released the clues unlocked from the DNA extracted from those bones. In gratitude for funding the research, the Siletz Tribe and Oregon State University’s Sea Grant program are the first to receive the initial results. In 1970 and 1971, 95 Native Alaskan sea otters were removed from their homes to make way for nuclear testing on Amchitka, Alaska. These animals were transported to the Oregon Coast with hopes they could re establish the Oregon Elakha population, which was hunted to extinction in the late 1800s. The animals did not survive. In 1996, Dr. Lee Lyman wrote, “Were the sea otters captured in Alaska and translocated to the Oregon Coast of the proper phenotype (or genotype)? Zooarcheological evidence suggests they were not. If this is a correct interpretation, then perhaps those translocated sea otters were doomed from the moment they were captured.’’ Dr. Lyman recommended that the closest relatives of Elakha should be superintendent of public instruction; Joe Meyer and Marcia Thompson, running for state representative; Karen Gerttula, Mike Holden, Edward Johnston, and Don Lindley, running for county commissioner; Lori Hollingsworth and John Skipper, running for Lincoln City mayor; and Gary Lowe, Chester Noreikis, Robyn Roloff, Wes Ryan, and Robert Whiffen, running for city council in Lincoln City. Roger Robertson from local radio station KBCH moderated the Candidates Fair and the station carried a live broadcast to north Lincoln County and south Tillamook County. Sister station KNPT also carried a live broadcast. All candidates who will appear on the ballot for Lincoln City voters were invited to participate. Each candidate made a five-minute presentation, then spent five minutes answering questions from the audience. Siletz news PRESORTED FIRST CLASS U.S. POSTAGE PAID SILETZ, OR 97380 PERMIT NO. 2
