TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
To the editor:
My name is Joseph Paul McKnight, the son of the great Clarice Bell
(McKnight). As you may know, I became ill (so to speak), and I would like to
thank a few people.
First, I want to thank Ed Ben for the eagle feather and taking the time to drive
from Salem to Eugene, where I live. To the love of my life for the past 16 years,
my son, Justin Paul McKnight - You were and always will be daddy’s angel. I
love you so much.
Thanks to my sister for the rides and things. You’re pretty alright. I love you.
Thanks to my brother, Mel, for watching Laker games with me (even though you
hate the Lakers). Love you, bro’.
Thanks to all of my Siletz people. Your love, support, and prayers meant a lot
to me. I love you all.
To my mom -1 love you so much. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be writing
this letter. It’s because of you that I healed so fast. Your motherly love was good
medicine; ain’t nothing better in the world than your love. And to the rest of my
family -1 love you all so much. You really are the best. I can’t love you any more.
And a special shout to Ralph and Calvin - thanks for coming out, that really
meant a lot. I love you guys, too.
Thank you to everybody again. Loves from the bottom of my heart.
Jo Joe McKnight
Broken Helmet
Saves Life
by Coby Retherford
My name is Coby Retherford and I
have a story to tell you.
It was a Tuesday and it was really
hot outside, the hottest day we had all
summer. I had been at the skatepark
with my cousin, Corey, all day. My
mom came home from work and said
that she was going to her softball game.
I said that I didn’t want to go
because I wanted to go back to the
Coby Retherford and his broken helmet
skatepark. I said that it was too hot to
wear my helmet. She said that if I didn’t wear my helmet, I had to stay home. I
tried to argue with her, but she made me wear it.
So she went to her game and Corey and I went back to the skatepark. I had a
real bad crash and fell and cracked my helmet completely in half. It really scared
me to tell my mom.
When she got home, she asked me what was wrong. I told her that I fell at the
skatepark and broke my helmet. She told me to go get my helmet so she could
Robert, con’t from page 2
of a good-sized stream on the south side
of Humbug Mountain. That village’s
name has been alternately spelled Yuki,
Yukie, or Yukee, and today is most
commonly spelled “Euchre” just like
the creek near Humbug Mountain
where those people used to live.
In my opinion, the placename
Kush-lhon-tun (yew wood, lots of,
place) cannot correctly be spelled with
the English alphabet (not without
converting the meaning of some letters
to fit the sound system of the
Athapaskan or Tututni language)
because the sound represented by “Ih”
as we now write Athapaskan language
is not used in the English language.
So for many years, the name Kush-
lhon-tun (or Kush-lhon-tun-i - yew,
lots of, place, people of) has been
spelled and pronounced by most people
as Quosatana, which would be un
translatable if someone were trying
to decipher it from the common
pronunciation of today.
Before I close, I wanted to
comment that the Nestucca people
may not have had enough knowledge
of the Tututni people before the
reservation days to have a specific
name for them (or if they did, the
name given to Gatschet in the late 1870s
may have been a newer term). What
isn’t given is the direct translation of
the term “H’ililush.”
I’d like to know if it was a
descriptive term that referred to
reservation contact with the Tututni,
such as the battle that occurred between
lower Rogue-related people and the
Siletz and Salmon River Tillamooks
(close relatives of the Nestuccas) near
what is now the D River Wayside in
Lincoln City soon after our reservation
was established. A deadly competition
took place there for fishing rights
and many died on each side. It’s said
that many surviving original Siletz
River and Salmon River people moved
closer to their Nestucca relatives after
this battle.
I hope I haven’t added too much
trivia to this topic. Mr. Caba’s point is
well taken. I just can’t help but believe,
though, that even with official
standardized spellings of these tribal
names, some renegades will spell them
the way they always have, the way a
historical document (such as the 1855
Coast Treaty) does, or the way their
grandparents did.
A , September. 2002
look at it. I got it and told her the whole story. I told her that I could have died.
I asked her if we could go buy another helmet and she said that we could go on
the weekend.
I didn’t even ask to go the skatepark again until we got the new helmet because
I knew that she wouldn’t let me and I didn’t want to anyway.
I hope that when other kids see me and my cousin wearing our helmets, that
they will wear theirs too if they have them because a helmet saved my life.
To the editor:
To all who make Siletz News possible, thank you! The newsletter
is a great link for our tribe, especially those of us who live outside of the
immediate community.
I enjoy reading all sections, but I want to take the time to acknowledge
Eva Clayton for the material she submits. It’s very meaningful to me that
someone would take the time out of her life and share with everyone what
she has. That is a very admirable quality that I feel could benefit everyone.
I have enjoyed representing the Siletz Tribe over the past year as Miss
Siletz. Although my reign has ended, the honor of being a Siletz Tribal
member has not. I will continue to represent the tribe in all that I do.
Thank you to all my relatives and friends (you know who you are) who
have continuously supported and encouraged me in every way possible. For
anyone who would have liked to contribute more, please know that you still
can by encouraging others, especially young people, to actively participate
in good things in life.
As a person from a younger generation, please forgive us for sometimes
having high expectations of those before us. There is much understanding
for us to gain about why things are the way they are. Many times we need
guidance and direction, so please help us that way in your prayers.
Respectfully,
Waleeska Riding In *