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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2009)
Election Board We are hoping Tribal members will apply to serve on the Election Board. In this issue, you will find an application that needs to be submitted (see below). Election Board members are reim bursed for travel. Members cannot be a mother, father, brother, sister or child of anyone serving on the Tribal Council or running for council. 1 encourage anyone interested to apply. Congress Urged to Pass Bill to Enact 99-Year Leasing Authority The Siletz Tribal Council has been working diligently to have the U.S. Con gress pass a bill authorizing the Siletz Tribe to enter into 99-year leasing authority. Although Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon already had introduced a bill in the Senate to accomplish this, no action has yet been taken in the House of Representatives. The primary' purpose of Siletz Council member Bud Lane, Tribal attorney Craig Dorsay and my recent trip to Washington, D.C., was to urge enactment of legislation authorizing 99-year leasing. We explained to the legislators and staff how vitally important the proposed bill was to help our Tribe achieve eco nomic viability. We also stated how im portant it was to authorize the processing of our trust applications by the Northwest Regional Office instead of by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. Under the present system, trust ap plications are routinely and unnecessarily delayed in the central office, where they languish for several years without action. The regional office has the knowledge, ex pertise and willingness to make decisions and process trust applications more expe ditiously for Tribal economic development and other important Tribal purposes. We are hopeful the trust application process will be moved from the central office to the Northwest Regional Office and the U.S. Congress will adopt legisla tion for 99-year leasing authority. Delores Pigsley Nesika lllahee Pow-Wow With the weather cooperating, the Siletz Tribe hosted another tremendously successful annual pow-wow. A capacity crowd visited on Saturday for the parade and pow-wow. Our grand marshal was Hiroto “Zak” Zakoji, a tremendous supporter of our Tribe since prior to Restoration. A little background on Zak: He was born and raised in Portland, Ore. As a teen-ager during World War II, he was incarcerated with family, first in the North Portland Livestock Pavilion, then in a concentration camp in Idaho. He served briefly in the Army fol lowing the war then graduated from the University of Oregon. During Klamath Termination, he worked with the Klamath Tribe as director of Klamath Education and Information on the staff of the Oregon Department of Education. Following service with the Depart ment of Education, he began his career with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He has had extraordinary service in many jobs in the BIA working with Tribes. In 1977 he was loaned by the BIA to the then-restored Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians to serve as interim general manager until a permanent general man ager was hired. Following retirement from the BIA, Zak assisted various Tribes in their devel Election Board Applications Due opmental projects and issues. He helped the Siletz Council become designated as a self-governance Tribe. He also helped the Siletz Tribal Coun cil establish the Tribe’s gaming enterprise, including complex issues determining the gaming facility’s location, the casino’s design and construction, personnel issues, process of formulating regulations of the Tribal gaming commission, issues involv ing controversial Tribal/state compact negotiations, etc. We are proud of Zak and his lifelong accomplishments. We are especially proud to have worked with him. We owe him much appreciation for all the assistance he has provided to our Tribe. He was honored by the Tribal Council with a Tribal Treaty blanket. State Fair and Oregon 150 Celebration The Siletz Tribe will participate with the other four Western Oregon Tribes dur ing the State Fair in Salem in a facility next to Columbia Hall on Sept. 4 begin ning at 10 a.m. The Tribe will showcase our Feather Dancers and the Grand Ronde Tribe its Canoe Dancers. In between dances, each Tribal chairman and Tribal royalty will have an opportunity to relate to the as sembled audience each Tribe’s history. The Tribes also will have information available at each Tribe’s booth. Oregon Tribal Gaming Alliance (OTGA) All nine Oregon Tribes participated during this year’s OTGA meeting held in Coos Bay to discuss Oregon Tribal gaming issues. On the agenda was discussion of the Dewberry case brought by a citizen group called the People Against a Casino Town (PACT). Although the Confeder ated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians already have a casino operating near Florence, Ore., PACT has been persistent in challenging the consti tutional authority of the Oregon governor to execute Class III gaming compacts. The Oregon governor signed the gam ing compact with the Coos Tribe in 2003 under which the Tribe was authorized to operate a casino and conduct Class III gaming. On June 18, 2009, however, after a series of legal moves, the Oregon Su preme Court decided to allow PACT to challenge the Oregon governor’s authority to enter into a gaming compact with the confederated Tribes. Because of the legal complexities involved in this case - which not only have an impact on the Coos Tribe but have significant implications for all Oregon Tribes - I have requested Craig Dorsay, our Tribal attorney, to provide our readers with a clear and concise description of this case in the next issue of Siletz News. Nuu-wee-ya’ «swords) Introduction to the Athabaskan Language Open to Tribal members of all ages Siletz Salem Siletz Tribal Community Center Sept. 8-6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 6-6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Salem Area Office Sept. 15-6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 13-6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Portland Eugene Portland Area Office Sept. 21-6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 12-6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eugene Area Office Sept. 14-6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 5-6 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; ore-mail budl@ctsi.nsn.us. Deadline for consideration for the 2009/10 Election Board is Sept. 30, 2009 Send letters to: Any Tribal member interested in serving on the Election Board must fill out the following form and return it to the address below prior to 4:30 p m on Sept. 30, 2009. Please mail or fax your application to Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Attn: Executive Secretary to Tribal Council, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR, 97380- 0549; Fax: 541-444-8325. E-mail and/or phone requests will not be accepted. Name: roh City:State:_______________ ZIP: )Evening ( Siletz News • September 2009 Deadline for the October issue is Sept. 9. Submission of articles and photos is encouraged. Please see the Passages Policy on page 24 when sub mitting items for Passages. ) Once applications are reviewed by the Tribal Council, appointments will be made and appointment letters will be sent to selected applicants. 2 Name:__________________________ Address: _____ no : Address:__________________________ _____________________________ Telephone: Day ( Siletz News P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380-0549 541-444-8291 or 800-922-1399, ext, 1291 Fax: 541-444-2307 E-mail: pias@ctsi.nsn.us Siletz News is free to enrolled Siletz Tribal members. For all others, a $12 annual subscription fee applies. Please make checks payable to CTSI and mail to Siletz News. Member of the Native American Journalists Association Phone: Change of address: Tribal mem bers-call the Enrollment Department at 541-444-8258 or 800-922-1399, ext. 1258; all others - call the newspa per office.
