TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Nuu-wee-ya
(our words)
Introduction to the Athabaskan Language
Open to Tribal members of all ages
Siletz
Salem
Siletz Tribal Community Center
May 5-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
June 2-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Salem Area Office
May 12-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
June 9-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Portland
Eugene
Portland Area Office
May 11-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
June 8-6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Eugene Area Office
May 4-6 p.m. to 8 p.m
June 1 - 6 p.m. to 8 p.m
Come and join other members of your community and Tribe in learning to
speak one of our ancient languages.
For more information, contact Bud Lane at the Siletz Cultural Department at
541-444-8320 or 800-922-1399, ext. 1320; or e-mail budl@ctsi.nsn.us.
Siletz Tribal Language Project
The Siletz Tribe is pleased to announce the award of a two-year Administration for
Native Americans Native Language Preservation and Maintenance Category II grant
to develop an Athabaskan language curriculum for Head Start through fifth grade.
As a Tribe, we have lost more than 90 percent of the ability to speak the Native
language, Athabaskan. This is the first step of many on a long path to address this trag
edy. It is the goal that the curriculum developed at the pilot project site, Siletz Valley
School, will be largely available upon the completion of a successful project.
We currently are seeking community input at the following Language Community
Meetings held at each area office at 5:30 p.m.:
Eugene - May 4
Siletz - May 5
Portland - May 11
Salem - May 12
This will be an opportunity for interested individuals to provided feedback on the
curriculum development process. It is the interest of the Siletz Tribal Language Project
to address the needs of the community the Language Project is intended to serve.
Please bring your comments to any of the meetings above or contact Bud Lane at
541 -444-8230 or 800-922-1399, ext. 1230; or Cova St.Onge at 541 -444-1036.
Hvm’-chi’
Apply Now for Tribal Scholarships
Pow-Wow
Committee
Vacancies
Applications are now available for the Arthur S. Bensell Memorial Scholarship,
the Pepsi-Craig Whitehead Scholarship and the Siletz Scholarship.
Deadline for applications for all three scholarships is June 12, 2009.
Scholarship applications are available at the Tribe’s website — www.ctsi.nsn.us —
and from the education specialists in each Siletz Tribal office:
If interested in applying for the
Pow-Wow Committee, please contact
the Tribal Council executive secretary
at 541-444-8203 or 800-922-1399,
ext. 1203.
Portland - Katy Kaady, 503-238-1512 or katyk@ctsi.nsn.us
Salem — Sonya Moody-Jurado, 503-390-9494 or sonyam@ctsi.nsn.us
Eugene — Nick Sixkiller, 541-484-4234 or nicks@ctsi.nsn.us
Siletz (and out of state) - Alissa Lane, 541-444-8373 or 800-922-1399, ext. 1373;
or alissal@ctsi.nsn.us
All scholarships will be awarded at the Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow in August.
Chairman, con’t from previous page
Evidence from various Tribal mem
bers included several e-mail complaints,
letters and Tribal Council minutes where
several members testified about Lisa’s
racist remarks and actions.
There was much discussion and ap
propriate time given to review the evi
dence at the initial hearing on March 19,
2009. With the agreement of the council
and Lisa, a follow-up hearing date was
set for March 28, 2009, to give Lisa ad
ditional time and opportunity to prepare
her defense and refute the charges.
Since this process has only occurred
once since Restoration during the Tribe’s
30-year history, the council was very care
ful and meticulous in following proper
procedures to give Lisa every opportunity to
present her evidence to refute the charges.
In defense of her actions, Lisa said she
was unaware of her responsibilities and the
laws and ordinances of the Tribe and fur
ther, she had a right to freedom of speech
and the expulsion violated her rights.
She alleged that five council members
were driven by the chairman’s political
ambitions and family. She said she was
“picked on from the moment she was
elected." She also thought the punishment
for her actions should be “punitive” and
not expulsion.
In defense of her actions, Lisa accused
and blamed others, making accusations
that were totally unjustified. Significantly,
Lisa never once denied the underlying
facts - namely, her written statements, her
racist comments or the fact that she tried
to hold meetings with casino supervisors
and employees. Unfortunately, she also
never apologized for her actions.
When Lisa completed her presenta
tion, council deliberations began. Each
council member had the opportunity to
discuss his or her individual views and
interpretations of Lisa’s actions.
In response to Lisa’s statement that
the chairman abused her authority to
hire/fire and take other actions that were
truly outrageous, council members re
sponded that the chairman does not have
authority to hire/fire and in fact exercises
only one vote out of nine.
The duties of the chairman are identi
fied in the Council Rules and Procedures,
specifically to set agendas, chair meet
ings, maintain order and speak on behalf
of the Tribe when necessary.
Regarding the issue of interfering in
casino management, although Lisa was
advised by the Tribal attorney and by me
as Tribal chairman that such interference
was inappropriate, she chose to ignore
that advice.
It was clearly stated that once elected,
council members must follow the laws and
processes as they exist. Lisa tried, however,
to blame the chairman, the general man
ager and others for her offensive remarks
and actions and she never denied nor ac
cepted responsibility for her actions.
With regard to the supervision of the
general managers, whether Tribal admin
istration or casino operations, they are
evaluated by the Tribal Council that meets
with them on a monthly basis, where
council members have every opportunity
to address personnel issues according to
established processes. They should not
be addressed on an individual and per-
sonal basis and certainly not in a private
siletz.net website.
The fact that this case involved a mem
ber of the Tribal Council presented a most
sensitive case to discuss and decide.
As stated above, Lisa decided to
appeal the council’s as well as STGC’s
decisions according to Article VII of the
Tribal Constitution.
Appropriation
Hearing in D.C.
in Washington, D.C., where they normally
languish for years.
Charles Wilkinson
Historical Book
The Tribal Council has scheduled
time to spend with Charles Wilkinson to
discuss the last two chapters of the histori
cal period on which he is writing. He has
worked on the project for the past three
years, during which time he and his staff
completed many personal interviews with
Tribal members. Charles has reviewed
numerous historical documents and maps
in order to give a true picture of the history
of our Tribe.
We are all looking forward to the
completion of the book, which we antici
pate will go to press on June 1, 2009.
In order to once again visit with
Oregon’s congressional delegation and
Senate Indian Affairs Committee staff and
attend congressional hearings specifically
on essential appropriation and other issues
of vital importance to the Siletz Tribe,
Vice Chairman Bud Lane and I made a
return trip to Washington, D.C., on March
24,2009.1 testified on behalf of the Tribe
on the funding of Bureau of Indian Affairs
and Indian Health Service programs.
Although it was a fast trip, much was
accomplished on the legislation that we
started working on more than a year ago
The Tribal Council held meetings
in the last Congress. The Tribe is seeking
with the Willamette and Siskiyou National
authority to engage in 99-year leases for
Forests to discuss/review our Memoran
business purposes. Currently, Tribes can
dums of Agreement.
only convey leases for 25 years, which is
Historically, we have worked well
self-limiting for a number of reasons.
with the national forests. They updated
The other important issue is the pro
us on how we can participate in their
cess by which we have land taken into
student summer jobs program under
trust. We believe action is needed to have
which exist many opportunities for sum
land taken into trust in a shorter time pe
mer employment.
riod. We also are asking that the BIA be
Those interested are encouraged to
given authority to approve our fee-to-trust
contact our Education Department for
transactions in the Northwest Regional
further information about the application
office vs. being sent to the central office
process.
Willamette and
Siskiyou National
Forests
May 2009
•
Siletz News
•
3