LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
As the year 2007 began, the current
tribal government told us about their
investment priorities: “The first prior
ity will be the Siletz Aeroteam, second
priority is River Reclamation Inc., third
priority is the Chemawa LLC, fourth
priority is the Toledo Property and the
fifth priority is the Dundas Property.”
The Dundas Property was consid
ered for everything from Siletz Aero
team to a sewing operation, but the Tribal
Council decided to use it for a new
USDA building. It’s behind schedule.
The Toledo Property was bought by
the tribe in the 1990s. It was contami
nated. There were expensive clean-up
issues.
Chemawa Station appeared back
on track for construction when President
Bush signed a bill clearing the deed so
we could use the property for loan col
lateral. Now Chairman Pigsley says we
may not develop the property. We may
just lease it to someone else.
River Reclamation Group (RRG) was
a timber salvage company. The tribe
made Ross Bennett our partner in
RRG. Bennett had a bad business repu
tation. For months tribal members
warned the Council that Bennett lacked
the permits to legally salvage timber.
Siletz Aeroteam is a company we’ve
invested heavily into over the past two
years, beginning in 2(X)5 when we bailed
out US Aeroteam, a bankrupt Ohio com
pany. US Aeroteam was our partner -
our mentor - as we planned our own
aerospace company in Siletz.
Siletz Aeroteam was scheduled to
begin operation in Oregon by early 2(X)7,
but it never materialized. .
In August 1 voiced my doubts that
the company would ever come to Or
egon, but Chairman Pigsley and Phil
Rilatos, who is also President of Siletz
Aeroteam, assured us that Siletz
Aeroteam would definitely come to
Oregon. In November, the Chairman
tells us Siletz Aeroteam has never been
profitable. She expressed doubts that
it will ever come into existence.
Here’s hoping 2(X)8 rings in better in
vestment practices and open government.
Lynette Warren
To the editor:
Some Natives have more memories
of the past than dreams of the future,
spending much effort searching the past
at the expense of the future. Because
historical records are few, the past they
may hold dear is mostly imagined and
adorned, far removed from the reality.
They speak of “real Indians,” “full
bloods,” “white-man’s religion,” “the
old ways,” and hold everyone in con
tempt who doesn't at least pretend
agreement. Most revealing of the false
ness of their dream is the common
sense realization that no matter where,
how far back in the past they were to
be somehow transported, that even in
that past they hold so dear, they would
speak of “real Indians,” and whatever
they imagine how it should really be.
It is perhaps their inability to find
self-worth, validation and affirmation
in any present they may be in, or any
future that they can imagine, that they
cling to their imagined past like a ro
sary or strand of worry beads.
There are many traditions and
much ancient wisdom that survives the
passage of even aeons of time. There
is also much carried over that is sim
ply counter-productive under present
circumstances and conditions.
It is for the elders to seek what is
the greatest good, for the farthest into
the future for our people.
Through ice ages and every imag
inable threat to survival, our ancestors
adapted and survived. Somehow, through
hundreds of generations, our elders made
the correct assumptions, the main one
being that sometimes a decision must
be made to let go of a revered tradition
simply to survive long enough to de
velop a new and more relevant one.
Bobby Oden
To the editor:
A recent letter to the editor noted
that the writer “worked with Rob [Bovett|
in the area of criminal law due to his lead
ership role with the Lincoln County Inter
agency Narcotics Team [LINT].” Mr.
Bovett is a candidate for District Attorney.
I want to clarify something. Mr.
Bovett does not work in criminal law
as the prosecutor for the LINT team.
For the last three years, I have been
the prosecutor for the LINT team.
In the 1990s, Bernice Barnett, then
a Deputy District Attorney, worked for
about three years as the prosecutor for
the LINT team. At that time, Mr. Bovett
worked with Bernice performing non
criminal civil forfeitures. Bernice pros
ecuted the LINT criminal cases.
Mr. Bovett does a good job in com
munity education about methamphet
amine, in obtaining funding from grants
that go to support the LINT team, and he
occasionally attends our weekly meetings.
But he has never prosecuted any crimi
nal case for the LINT team or anyone else.
He is a lawyer who works in civil law.
Gerad Egan
Deputy District Attorney
To the editor:
What a great turnout our restoration
doings had! The largest crowd 1 have
ever seen. And everyone was in one
accord - congratulating our people on
our many accomplishments.
Mr. Wilkinson presented such a
heartfelt summation of our people’s
history. I personally thanked him and
hugged him, and told him I liked his
new jacket “in the oldest way” - but
he wouldn't budge.
Before the doings started Saturday
morning, I and my Mrs. had breakfast
at the casino. I was really admiring the
old pictures around the walls when 1 saw
a picture of my mother dressed in her
Niidash regalia. It made me cry. All the
old memories of my mother came to me
in a rush and I’m not ashamed to say I
cried like a baby. I wish to thank who
ever was responsible for choosing my
mother's picture to be one displayed
with all the other beautiful photos.
To all you young people out there!
Love, honor and obey your mothers!
You can have a lot of different fathers
- but you have only one mother. When
she is gone, your world is gone with her.
And finally, I again want to pay
special tribute to my uncle, Eddie
Collins. 1 had spoken to him before our
celebration and he had the idea of hav
ing all our tribal veterans record their
experiences as youngsters growing up
in and around Siletz. Of the hardships
they might have encountered while in
the military and the years afterward.
Not to glorify ourselves, in any way.
But to be a history lesson to our young
people - far into the future. I don't know
how many got recorded, but it is im
portant and should be an ongoing
project. My uncle was my boyhood hero
- and he is still my hero.
People originally involved in our
restoration? Let’s give credit where
credit is due. Lindsey John, Aurelia
Tom (Selsic), Alta Courville (Tom). Bob
Tom, and Artie Bensell are the ones
who called for a meeting in Salem at
Alta's home. 1 was present but had very
little to offer. Just that I had gone to
jail many times for hunting and fish
ing. The State would take my kill and
jail me overnight - just as a means of
harassment. In those hard days, we still
had hunting and fishing rights, accord
ing to our treaties.
Gilbert Jr. Towner
Dear editor and Oregonians:
We here in Oregon have recently
been riveted by a story about a teacher
in Medford who was carrying a concealed
weapon in her classroom. To date the
debate has raged on about the rights
of gun owners to carry a licensed and
permitted weapon on school grounds.
I would like us to take this opportunity
to refocus the question.
This teacher has begun carrying a
concealed weapon because, as a victim of
domestic violence, she fears for her life.
We know that domestic violence
doesn't stay home when a victim goes
to work.
Why is that? For starters, the work
place is likely to be the one place a
batterer knows to find the victim.
Beyond that, victims report an in
ability to concentrate on their work, they
report being preoccupied with the
abuse and report that many times the
place they are most likely to disclose
their abuse is at work.
Did you know that 70% of victims
of domestic violence here in Oregon
are employed at the time of the abuse.
And that 89% of batterers are employed
at the time they perpetrate their crime.
So if you think domestic violence
is not an issue for the state's Labor
Commissioner, think again.
I am launching a program here at
the Bureau of Labor and industries that
addresses the rights and responsibili
ties of employers. My goal is to train
employers to recognize the signs of
abuse, to know who to contact in a cri
sis and to understand what their respon
sibilities are under the law.
Workplace safety should be a high
priority for all employers - and we at
BOLI will do everything we can to
bring the needed information to em
ployers about this important topic.
Let this situation be your call to action.
When we have victims of violence
and sexual assault right here in Oregon
who are afraid to go to work, who resort
to carrying a concealed weapon, then
we need to stop and take a serious look
at what we doing for those victims.
What are you. as an employer, doing?
Do you have a policy on domestic
violence in the workplace?
Do you have a safety mitigation plan?
Have you reached out and gotten
trainings for you and your employees?
Trainings and materials are avail
able through our agency. Contact us at
971-673-0782 for our Technical Assis
tance for Employers hotline; register
for our Employment Law Conference
on Dec. 5 and 6, where we will host a
three-hour panel with the state’s top
Domestic Violence experts; or get
online at www.oregon.gov/boli to find
out more about what you can do to help
victims of Domestic Violence in your
workplace.
Sincerely,
Dan Gardner
Labor Commissioner
December 2007
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