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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2002)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the editor: I am a descendant of the Tututni Indians. The Tututni Indians had numerous villages located on the Lower Rogue River and the Pacific Ocean, north and south of the river’s mouth, in the Oregon Territory. The meaning of Tututni is unknown to white historians. However, we were also known at Hlilush by the Nestucca Indians, Tâlëmaya by the Umpqua Indians. The Chetcos called us Ta-Qû-Qûc-cë. Others, we assume the white people, called us Lower Rogue River Indians or Rogue River Indians named after our habitat. I have read two different spellings of Tututni in Siletz News data in the last 30 days: Toototoney and Tootootney. The proper spelling is Tututni. The good news is that the pronunciation and spelling is easier than the names given to us by our Umpqua and Chetco brothers and sisters (referenced above). My intention for noting this correction is only to educate. This information comes from the Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin #145, The Indian Tribes of North America, written by John R. Swanton, published in 1952 by the Smithsonian Press. Cid Caba To the editor: My name is Tina Ehret and I am a Siletz descendant. You may remember letters I have written in the past to the editor about my great niece who was in a white foster home in Bozeman, Mont. We started trying to get her when she was 4 months old and only after a long drawn-out battle with the courts, and us getting her newborn full sister, we finally got Ceilly shortly after her third birthday. She is my blood and we fought hard. We traveled back and forth to Montana many times to see her and let her get to know us and her baby sister. After the fight was over, we adopted both girls and love them very much. Why this letter? Because I feel that I am not done! I know of three little Siletz Indian boys who ended up in a white foster home, away from the Native way. Where are their relatives? Siletz News Letters Policy Siletz News, a publication of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, is published once a month. Our editorial policy encourages input from readers about stories printed in Siletz News and other tribal issues. All letters must include the author’s signature, address, and phone number in order to be considered for publication. Siletz News reserves the right to edit any letter for clarity and length, and to refuse publication of any letter or any part of a letter that may contain profane language, libelous statements, personal attacks, or unsubstantiated statements. 2 □ Siletz News □ I know of a little Siletz Indian boy and girl who are in need of a good home. Where are their relatives? Why do they end up in white homes? I have a solution. If you are a Moose Lodge member, you know about Moose Haven, a place where if the parents of children die or can’t take care of them and no family member can take them and raise them, they can go and live there and everything is paid for, even college. Why can’t we build a haven of our own for our Native descendants? If we build it in Siletz, it would offer more jobs to the Native people and some of the elders could be called upon to teach our Native ways, before all is lost. We could have horses and animals for the children. It could be great. Not all letters are guaranteed publication upon submission. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Siletz News, tribal employees, or Tribal Council. Please type or write legibly. Letters longer than 450 words may be edited for length as approved by Tribal Council Resolution #96-142. Please note: The general manager of the Siletz Tribe is the editor-in-chief of Siletz News. Editor-in-Chief: Brenda Bremner Editor: Diane Rodriquez Assistant: Natasha Kavanaugh September 2002 Editor's note: The letter at left caught the editor's eye and interest, so Robert Kentta, cultural resources director, was asked for comment. Robert’s response: Cid Caba’s letter highlights seldom-mentioned information about names that other groups called the Tututni people. Generally, I agree that the spelling “Tututni” is the most accepted and commonly used. His letter also reminded me of other details about tribal names that I would like share. Tututni is the people’s name for themselves, though originally (pre reservation days) only the people of the village of Tututun (a few miles up the Rogue River from its mouth) would have referred to themselves as Tututni (by the water, place, people of). In fact, individuals referred to themselves as “Tutu” because Tututni actually refers to the whole group. I feel very strongly about our children, for they are our future. Remember, it takes a whole village ... We are a small tribe; we should take care of our own. Think about fostering a Native child or even adopting. We did and there are many joys that come along with it. If I could, I would take them all. Sincerely, Tena and Scott Ehret Send letters to: Siletz News P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380-0549 In the reservation era, though, and possibly beginning with the reports of Southwest Oregon sub-agents, (mostly politically autonomous) villages that spoke similar dialects of the same language were grouped together as “tribes” in ways that the people may never have perceived themselves before. As far as I can tell, the closest old-time term referring to all people who spoke similar dialects on the lower Rogue River was Tu-gwe-ta-tun-i (all the people of the river). Often today, descendants of people from near Whales Head (north of the Chetco River) to the Floras Creek-area villages and as far up the Rogue as Shasta Costa country all get grouped together as “the Tututni Tribe.” Some people extend that designation to the Tolowa and Chetco peoples. Tolowa is an example of a group’s name for their neighbors that’s been accepted as the common name for that group. Tolowa (or something close to it) is the Yurok people’s name for their northern neighbors. Our tribe has never voted (to my knowledge) to accept one spelling or another as “the official spelling” of any ancestral tribal group. The problem is that these names were never written by our own people in the early days, and multiple ways of (correctly?/ phonetically?) spelling these village/ band names using the English alphabet often exist. An example is the You-kee people, whose main village was at the mouth See Robert on page 4. • Siletz News is free to enrolled Siletz Tribal members. For all others, a $12 annual subscription fee applies. Fill out this form and mail it with $12 (make check payable to Confederated Tribes of Siletz) to Siletz News. 541-444-8291 1-800-922-1399, ext. 291 Fax: 541-444-2307 Name: __________________________ Address:__________________________ e-mail: pias@ctsi.nsn.us Phone: ()______________________ Deadline for the October issue is Sept. 10. Photos are encouraged. Everyone loves to see photos of events, tribal members, and especially babies. Don’t forget those birthday or anniversary wishes for loved ones. Change of address: Tribal members should call the Enrollment Department at 541-444-8258; all others should call the newsletter office at 541-444-8291 and leave your new address with the editor.
