NOTICES
Editors note: Part V of our Restoration series, which was published in the September issue of Siletz News, contained inaccurate information, so we have
decided to run the entire corrected piece in this issue. Siletz News is sorry for the inconvenience.
Siletz Tribal Restoration - A 30th Anniversary Celebration
Part V - “Yesterday and Today: Stories of a Warrior Spirit”
hy Brent Merrill
Tyee John, the War Chief of the
Rogue River and Klamath (at Siletz,
Klamath means “Shasta” in reference
to the Klamath River) Tribes, stood with
his hands bound and his heart sick with
dread. It was the summer of 1856 and
Tyee John, or Tecumtum as he was
known to his people, wanted to keep
fighting the white settlers, but he knew
the women and children in his band could
not survive if they did not surrender.
Despite the loyalty of 35 men at his
side, John knew he had to bring his people
down out of their Native lands and
agree to be relocated or they would die.
The discovery of gold and land rich
with valuable natural resources like game,
water and timber led to the attempted
extermination of all Indians in south
ern Oregon and northern California.
Tyee John’s people, their villages
burned, began their move to the newly
established Coast Reservation in the
winter of 1856 and the movement con
tinued for the next two years. The 592
Natives in his band at the time of the
forced relocation were barefoot and
used torn blankets to cover themselves
while they walked away from their
ancestral lands forever. Many people
died from starvation and many more
died upon reaching the mountain riv
ers of Siletz.
The grief of the people as they were
forced to leave their lands made for quite
the display of emotion. Even U.S. Army
officers in charge of the relocation were
affected by the plight of the Tribal people.
“It almost makes me shed tears to
listen to them wailing as they totter
along,” said Captain Edward Ord.
One year later, in 1857, Tyee John
reported to the federal government rep
resentative that he wanted to take his
people home.
“For my own part, my heart is
sick,” said Tyee John. “Many of my
people have died since they came here;
many are still dying. There will be none
left of us. We have no game; we are
sick at heart; we are sad when we look
upon the graves of our families. I will
consent to live here one year more;
after that I must go home. My people
are dying off. I am unable to go to war,
but I want to go home to my country.”
But the revered leader was arrested
at Siletz in 1858 for inciting unrest and
a son (Cultus Jim) was shot dead. His
son, Adam, was sent with him to three
years at the Presidio - a military prison
on San Francisco Bay. He was returned
to Oregon and died on the Grand
Ronde Reservation in 1864.
Today, the fighting spirit lives on in
the modern day Tribal members. Siletz
Pitch Woman and Other Stories
The Oral Traditions of Coquelle Thompson, Upper
Coquille Athabaskan Indian
Edited and with an introduction by William R. Seaburg
Collected by Elizabeth D. Jacobs
The rich oral traditions of the
Athabaskan Indians from southwestern
Oregon are showcased in these pages
for the first time. This volume features
vivid and humorous tales of familiar
tricksters: Coyote, known for his un
usual sexual prowess and escapades
that often go awry; the vain and gull
ible Grizzly Bear; and Raccoon, often
greedy and ever elusive.
The collection also includes the less
familiar but all-too-human stories of
Pitch Woman, Little Man, the unicorn-
like Hollering-Like-a-Person and other
local figures, all of which add to the
wealth of Native oral literature in the
Pacific Northwest.
In 1935, Elizabeth D. Jacobs con
ducted ethnographic fieldwork with
survivors of several Athabaskan cultures
living on the Siletz Reservation. Her
work preserves the 47 stories recorded
here as recounted by Upper Coquille
consultant Coquelle Thompson Sr., an
accomplished storyteller who lived
through the Rogue River Wars of 1855-
14
•
Siletz News
•
56. His tribal community was evicted
from its homeland and resettled with
other Athabaskan groups on the Siletz
Reservation, where he lived for 90 years.
This volume offers a behind-the-
scenes look at the collection of oral ac
counts, a sketch of Upper Coquille
Athabaskan culture, an examination of
Thompson’s storytelling and extended
analyses of four stories, including Pitch
Woman. The reader is encouraged to
“listen” to the stories with an ear at
tuned both to the storyteller himself and
to the stories’ own cultural context.
William R. Seaburg is a professor
of interdisciplinary arts and sciences at
the University of Washington, Bothell.
He is the editor and annotator of The
Nehalem Tillamook: An Ethnography by
Elizabeth D. Jacobs, and the coauthor
of Coquelle Thompson, Athabaskan
Witness: A Cultural Biography.
Elizabeth D. Jacobs (1903-83) was
mentored in anthropology by her hus
band, the noted anthropologist Melville
Jacobs.
October 2007
Tribal Elder and former Tribal Council
member Ed Ben is a proud Native
American who served his people as a
leader at the most crucial point in their
history - just prior to Tribal Restora
tion and just after the Tribe put the
pieces back together again.
“I served on Tribal Council from
before our Restoration until 1980,” said
Ben. “Prior to Restoration, serving on
Tribal Council was strictly on a volun
teer basis. There were no travel expenses,
if you went to Washington, D.C., or
anywhere else to represent the Tribe
you paid your own way. I, like others
on the council, had a full-time job. I
used my vacation time for years to at
tend Tribal meetings.”
Ben said he used to get off of work
and stop in Philomath to eat before
going to meetings that lasted past mid
night most times.
“Before we had any resources, it
took a big toll on the families,” said Ben.
“The families - the wives and the hus
bands - had to give up the same thing
as the council people.”
When President Jimmy Carter
signed the Restoration Act in 1977 and
the people began putting the remain
ing infrastructure of a government in
place, Ed Ben said he knew they were
making history, again.
“It was like catching lightning in a
jug,” said Ben of the two-year period
of time the Tribe had to establish a Tribal
Constitution and short- and long-term
Reservation Plans. He said the mem
bers of the Tribe met in the Siletz
Grange Hall and went through the Con
stitution line by line with Tribal Attor
ney Charles Wilkinson.
The political climate in the late 1960s
and 1970s for Native Americans in this
country was much different than it is in
the modern day with proud Tribal lead
ers having the opportunity to represent
Tribes that have begun to turn their
poverty into prosperity in the modern
economy of the United States. This is
much different than the days of Tribal
leaders washing cars and organizing
bake sales just to raise gas money for
parades and traditional gatherings like
pow-wows and annual rites.
When Tribal leaders asked for the
return of Government Hill - which had
been turned over to the City of Siletz
at termination, rather than sell it - they
were criticized by some locals, sup
ported by others.
Government Hill was the headquar
ters of the Siletz Reservation from 1856
to 1956 and also holds the nine-acre
Tribal cemetery. Today, it is the center
of Tribal activity, housing the Tribe’s
cultural programs offices and Elder ac
tivity area complete with a meeting area
and kitchen. The area holds the Tribe’s
pow-wow grounds and is the future
home of the planned Siletz Tribal Cul
tural Center.
Along with Government Hill, the
Tribe also asked for 3,600 acres of
nearby Bureau of Land Management
parcels east of the current city of Siletz
as part of the Reservation Plan submit
ted to Congress. The Reservation Plan
Committee included state of Oregon
Attorney General at the time Jim Red
den, representatives of the state Depart
ment of Fish and Wildlife, federal
agencies like the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs (BIA), the Oregon Legislature and
Tribal leader Arthur Bensell.
Bensell, the former mayor of Siletz
who spent 20 years building a career
as an administrator at Indian BIA
schools before taking over the local
country store his parents had, said land
was the most important thing that could
help the newly restored Tribe build a
future for the generations to come.
Arthur Bensell, Ed Ben, Joe Lane
and other Tribal leaders felt that a Res
ervation land base was the only chance
the Tribe had to look seven generations
into the future. They felt it was their
only chance to have a permanent and
sovereign existence.
“A Reservation is central to our
purpose,” said Bensell during the Res
toration movement. “We will need a
land base from which to provide services.”
Ed Ben is also a proud veteran who
not only served in war, but built a career
as a prison guard for 30 years in Salem
upon his return from active duty. To
day, he serves his people and his fellow
veterans by carrying a flag as a mem
ber of the Tribe’s traveling Color Guard.
“There is pride in how I feel about
the Tribe and what the flag represents,”
said Ben. “I’m proud to be a Siletz In
dian and because of that flag we are
able to be recognized as Siletz Indians.”
He explained that his pride is in
herent. He is the son of Siletz Chief and
Tribal leader Archie Ben.
“During termination, my family still
danced and attended pow-wows,” said
Ben. “(Today) I take great pride in be
ing able to walk with those other Tribes
and carry the Siletz Tribal flag.”
Ben said ensuring a better life for
the future generations of the Tribe was
the driving force behind the Restora
tion effort.
“I think our young people ought
to know that the people who took on
the task of getting the Tribe Restored
had a goal of creating opportunities to
develop our young people and give
them an opportunity to be responsible
for their own lives.”