TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Hundreds Attend Siletz Elder Honor Day
Elder Council
Meeting
by Shirley B. Walker
The Siletz Elders held their annual
event on April 6,2004, at Chinook Winds.
The theme was Spring at the Beach.
I welcomed everyone to the event.
Our Siletz Honor Guard included Rick
Bartow, Walt Klamath, Don Hudson, Ed
Ben, and Charles Stan Sicade, an elder
from Puyallup.
An Alaskan Inuit veteran. Bill
Annalack, gave us the song at the opening
ceremony. He served in Vietnam and
protected his fellow warriors by
throwing himself on a hand grenade.
Invocation was by Sister Francella
Griggs. Sister offers prayers for us contin
uously and we honor her faithful service.
Walt Klamath was our master of
ceremonies. We look forward to his
charm and good jokes each year. We
appreciate your assistance, Walt.
We had asked Bud Lane to help us
with the program and he volunteered
to display his basket collection and did
a great job representing our culture to
the visiting tribes. Good job, Bud.
Mary Cagey and her brother, George,
from the Lummi Tribe shared their
prayers and songs with us. Rose from
the Lummi Tribe is a veteran and she
has 11 veterans in her family. She sang
an honor song for our veterans.
The Siletz Tribal Head Start program
loaned us a video of the children and
we enjoyed it. The elders participated
in the Hokey Pokey.
Andrew Joseph, our NICOA
representative, attended with 30 elders.
He spoke on the importance of changes
in funding for health care for elders.
Darcy Trego, diabetes coordinator at the
Siletz Clinic, spoke on healthy living.
Tribal member Amber Owen
presented a dance experience. Kathryn
Dick presented an exercise in which the
elders took part. Pam Lane, tribal elder,
sang a song for us. God gave the
Downey girls a great singing talent and
we appreciate Pam sharing it with us.
Attending tribes included Swino-
mish, Suquamish, PiNeeWau Group,
Chinook, Squamish, Lummi, Coos-
Siuslaw-Lower Umpqua, Coquille,
Colville, Umatilla, Grand Ronde,
Nisqually, Puyallup, Nooksack,
Chippewa, Portland American Indian
Elders, and our Siletz Elders.
According to the casino, the total
guest list was 475.
May 8,2004
Chinook Winds Casino &
Convention Center
2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Another Year
of Wisdom
Happy Birthday!
Elder’s Go to Honor Day in North Bend
by Kathryn Dick
The Elder Council group took 53
elders to the Mill Casino in North Bend
for the annual Elder Honor Day hosted
by the Coquille Tribe and the Coos,
Siuslaw, and Lower Umpqua Tribes.
This was the eighth year they’ve held
this event. It was a very fun time spent
with many friends we’ve made over the
years. We stayed at the beautiful Mill
Casino Hotel.
The gathering started with a welcome
reception at the Coos, Siuslaw, and Lower
Umpqua Tribal office. They served
coffee, breads, and fresh fruit.
From there we traveled down the
road to the North Bend Community
Center for registration and lunch. While
we were there, they honored all of their
elder veterans with a certificate and a
Pendleton blanket. They also did the
drawing for the king and queen. Two
elders from Grand Ronde won the
honors and were heaped with gifts from
both tribes.
We then had a break to rest up for the
evening activities. The dinner hosted by
the Coquille Tribe was held at the Mill
Casino Salmon Room. It was quite
festive with another big delicious meal.
The Oregon Coast Lab Band enter
tained us. The band was made up of
very talented high school students who
played music from the big band era. It
was just amazing and we enjoyed them
very much. I even watched some of the
elders sing along. Needless to say, I was
too young to recognize the songs. Ha!
The Coquille Tribe also hosted a
breakfast the next morning before we
started home.
Walter Bacak, 5/28
Alice Balza, 5/22
Ray Ben, 5/19
Barbara Bennett, 5/5
Elsie Bennett, 5/26
Virgene Blair, 5/24
Bensell Breon, 5/22
Bennie Brown, 5/13
Leland Collins, 5/19
Darryl Debarris, 5/8
Roy Downey Jr., 5/4
Thomas Downey, 5/22
Sally Engstrom, 5/19
Leonard Flanary Sr., 5/27
Roger Freeman, 5/26
Dorothy Hall, 5/10
Ila Hoiness, 5/18
Jane John, 5/11
Rosalie Johnston, 5/25
Elmer Jordan, 5/3
Walt Klamath, 5/18
David McClay, 5/21
Meri McClay, 5/4
James McCormick, 5/8
Lila Peterson, 5/16
Pauline Peterson, 5/27
Joan Randol, 5/6
Deanna Redlinger, 5/1
Velma Redmer, 5/29
Stephany Shields, 5/14
Edwin Sondenaa, 5/22
Rachael Summer, 5/24
Darcy Tucker, 5/17
Betty Whitehead, 5/19
Charles Wilcox, 5/16
Elizabeth Worthington, 5/27
Ernestine Yarbour, 5/19
Gloria Zimmerman, 5/16
May 2004 □
Siletz News
□
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