Siletz news /, July 01, 2003, Page 3, Image 3

CHAIRMAN S REPORT
Franklin Ducheneaux retires
Effective June 30, Franklin
Ducheneaux, our Washington, D.C.,
lobby ist/consultant, retired after serving
many years as our lobbyist/consultant.
Franklin and his wife, Ernestine, will
move to Montana and become ranchers.
Frank served on the House Interior
Committee on Indian Affairs back in the
early ‘70s and was one of the first
contacts we made in our Restoration
efforts. He touched and advised on
every Indian issue that passed through
the House for the past 30 years.
In 1988, as a key staff member of
the House Committee on Indian Affairs,
Frank was largely responsible for writ­
ing the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
(IGRA), which is even today the basic
law governing the way the federal, state,
and tribal governments regulate, and
tribes conduct, Indian gaming.
Frank helped us in many ways. One
of the most significant was his bird­
dogging through Congress a bill in
1991 that made the property on which
Chinook Winds now stands reservation
land eligible for gaming.
Frank took over when Forrest
Gerard retired as the tribe’s lobbyist/
and Franklin, we’ve had need to fill
the vacuum with consultants of
comparable expertise.
consultant several years ago. Before
starting his consulting business, Forrest
served as assistant secretary of the
Interior and before that was a staffer for
the Senate Committee on Indian
Affairs. Forrest played a major role for
the committee in the restoration of
the Siletz Tribe in 1977. He worked
very closely with Sen. Mark Hatfield
on Indian issues.
As you can see, we have had high-
caliber consultants in Washington,
D.C., to assist us with our tribal issues.
With the retirement of both Forrest
To the editor:
Our thanks to the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
During this last quarter, the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund donated
$2,112 to the Siletz Valley Friends of the Library. Your gift allowed us to purchase
large-print books for the Siletz Library. Thank you for making this possible.
Those of you who use the current library probably realize the building needs
to be replaced. SVFOL (Siletz Valley Friends of the Library) has committed the
energies of its members to designing a building that will be used and enjoyed by
all of us living in and around Siletz.
Your new Siletz Library comes closer to reality each month. The city of Siletz
granted the lot just north of the post office for the new library. Rich Turi, architect
of many Oregon libraries, recently completed drafting a building plan. If you
would like to know more, please come to the SVFOL monthly meetings at Siletz
City Hall (contact our Siletz librarian at 541-444-2855 for dates and time).
SVFOL is a 501 (c)3 non-profit corporation whose purpose is to promote the
growth and quality of our local Siletz Library, to participate in selected projects
benefiting Siletz and the surrounding area, and to raise money to build a new
library. We must rely on grants and other fund-raising activities to supply the
money for the new library (contributions to SVFOL are tax deductible). If you
want to help raise money for the library, please join us as a member.
Thank you again for granting the funds for the large-print books. Tell your
family and friends to come check one out!
Sincerely,
Lorraine Rich, Alice McCain, Karen Carlson, Jan Christensen, Sunshine Keck
(Grant Committee members)
Sally Jennings, Board President
productive years.
On June 21, we celebrated another
anniversary with a small ceremony, hors
New Lobbyist/Consultant
Appointed
Chairman Delores Pigsley
eight years - eight increasingly
d'oeuvres, and cake, among other
The Tribal Council selected five firms
for interviews from among several ap­
plicants. By unanimous vote, council
appointed Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse,
Enderson and Perry, LLP of Washing­
ton, D.C., as our new consultants.
The Sonosky firm will be of special
value because of its close and
longstanding relationships with
members and staff of key congressional
committees. It’s often called on to
present expert testimony to these com­
mittees. It’s legislative activity also will
focus on federal appropriations,
assisting the Siletz Tribe in developing
strategies in seeking allocation of
federal funds for our tribal priorities,
and other assigned activities.
The Sonosky firm is no stranger to
the Siletz Tribe. The firm assisted us
in resolving our dispute with the
National Indian Gaming Commission
and more recently, has been providing
consultative services on our history
research project.
The lawyers of the Sonosky firm
have outstanding legal backgrounds
and experiences and are dedicated to
protecting the rights and advancing the
legal objectives of the Siletz Tribe.
casino activities.
Siletz Soltice Dances
We often have reported in Siletz
News and Nesika Illahee about our
traditional cultural programs. That’s
because while our tribe operates a
modern casino and encourages our
members to be computer literate and to
keep abreast of the technological age,
we place high value and take pride
in the way we have been preserving
our heritage.
For three nights we hold our Soltice
ceremonial dances in our Dance House.
Bud and Cheryl Lane are to be
commended for the role they play in
hosting the dances and ensuring that the
correct protocol is followed. They have
encouraged and upheld our traditions.
To further our cultural preservation
efforts, the Tribal Council voted
unanimously to hire Bud Lane on a full-
time basis to continue teaching the
native language, basket weaving and
gathering, regalia making, and other
cultural skills.
Up to now, Bud had been teaching
these skills on a voluntary basis while
fully employed by Georgia Pacific. It
Chinook Winds’ Eighth
Anniversary Celebration
was Bud who, with the involvement of
It’s hard to believe, but Chinook
Winds has been in business now for
other tribal members, coordinated the
construction of the Dance House.
To the editor:
Could you please run this article about blood quantum by a well-known
Indian rights activist so our tribal members can see why I’m opposed to our blood­
degree requirements.
We terminated ourselves for money in the 1950s and I don’t want us to
terminate ourselves again because we are afraid that the Indian descendants will
get money we want because they don't meet the blood degree, and if we change
to descendency they will rob us if they become tribal members.
To me, the issue becomes greed for money while we are alive and to heck
with the tribe after we are gone and even worse, living tribal descendants can
only be Indians until they turn 18 years of age. Seriously think about this and the
future of our tribe.
Bensell Breon
Editor's note: See the article Bensell refers to on page 13.
July 2003 O
Srietz News
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