Siletz news /, December 01, 2006, Page 13, Image 13

NOTICES
Above: Bud and Cheryl Lane make a presentation to Delores Pigsley while
Daisy Pigsley, Don Pigsley, Sarah Pigsley, Donna Mae Woods, and Gladys
Bolton share the moment.
Right: Siletz Feather Dancers honor the audience with a round of dances.
Restoration Celebration
Kaiser Family
Foundation Offers
Scholars Program
The Barbaril Jordan Health Policy
Scholars Program brings talented
American Indian/Alaska Native. Afri­
can American. Latino, and Asian/Pacific
Islander college seniors and recent
graduates to Washington, D.C., where
they are placed in congressional offices
and learn about health policy.
Through the nine-week program
(May 21-July 28, 2007), scholars gain
knowledge about federal legislative
procedure and health policy issues.
They also participate in seminars
and site visits to augment their knowl­
edge of health care issues, and write and
present a health policy research memo.
The application deadline is Dec. 15,
2006. For more information, go to
Head Start students and staff plus parents and tribal elders sing songs that delight the Restoration Celebration crowd.
www.kff.org/about/jordanscholars.cfm.
Restoration, con’t from previous page
crease the allocation for per capita pay­
ments. Tribal leadership will be sorely
tested at this time, and it will be required
to hold the per capita payment alloca­
tion at a level that will not do harm to
the gaming enterprise.
Protecting the Gaming Asset. The
Chinook Winds Casino is a priceless
economic asset that must be nurtured and
preserved. Everyone appreciates, I am
certain, that buildings age, that heating,
cooling, and plumbing systems require
constant maintenance and repair and
eventually must be replaced at great
expense. Moreover, many of the casino
gaming devices are driven by high-tech
instruments and the maintenance and
repair for such devices can be costly.
Therefore, adequate maintenance
and repair funds must be budgeted to
ensure continued profitable operation
of the casino and hotel, and to main­
tain the credibility and the quality of
these important buildings. Your clien­
tele will accept nothing less.
Meeting Environmental and Sani­
tation Requirements. The tribe must
be ever vigilant to ensure that its gam­
ing and other economic development
ventures are in compliance with all environ­
mental and sanitation requirements that
are applicable. The casino operation is
dependent on a clientele that feels safe
and comfortable in both the casino and
hotel. Therefore, adequate funds must
be budgeted for these purposes.
Coping with Anti-Tribal Sover­
eignty and Anti-Gaming Forces. Make
no mistake, these two forces are alive and
well, and they will continue to aggres­
sively pursue tactics and strategies,
including legislative proposals, de­
signed to erode tribal sovereignty and
in turn diminish Indian gaming nation­
ally. It is in the tribe’s best interests to
maintain a level of legal and lobbying
expertise to respond to whatever tac­
tics are used by these forces.
I submit that the tribe must maintain
formal ties with coalition organizations,
e.g., the National Congress of American
Indians and the National Indian Gaming
Association, which exist to protect and
promote tribal sovereignty and gaming.
Providing Transparency on Gam­
ing and Government Operations. One
of the best techniques to enhance the
tribal membership’s understanding and
acceptance of gaming and tribal gov­
ernment operations is to ensure trans­
parency on these operations. Transpar­
ency may take on several forms, in­
cluding written reports, verbal reports,
involvement of members on decision­
making, the tribal newspaper, etc.
In conclusion. I wish to reiterate that
the Siletz Tribe has achieved remarkable
progress in improving the quality of life
for its members since restoration. This
has been accomplished by exercising
self-determination in management of
federal funds and by establishment of
a successful casino that generates in­
come to fund other helpful programs
and services for the membership.
In closing. I wish to make two points.
First, let us never lose sight of those
tribal members and leaders from the past,
who endured physical harm and even
death under geographical upheaval
from their homeland and later saw this
homeland diminished by failed govern­
mental policies. These members and
leaders never acquiesced to their plight
nor did they ever lose their identity as
Indians and as a tribe. They fought he­
roic battles to maintain these attributes.
The tenacity and will to fight for their
rights by the tribal members and leaders
from the past have been handed down
to contemporary members and leaders.
These same attributes have played a dom­
inant role in the progress achieved by the
Siletz Tribe since restoration in 1977.
Second, one week ago today the
nation celebrated Veterans Day to com­
memorate the American men and
women who served in the Armed
Forces in several wars to protect our
democratic ideals.
Today, we are engaged in a differ­
ent kind of war that defies convention,
but it is just as vital to the preservation
of our democratic ideals. The Armed
Forces of today is comprised primarily
of volunteers who have responded to
a call to duty. We commend those brave
volunteers, including thousands of
Native American men and women who
have answered this call.
December 2006
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Siletz News
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