Siletz news /, June 01, 2010, Page 4, Image 4

Tribes Celebrate Sovereignty, Share Information and Culture at Capitol
■ Jay Minthorn Honored for Years of Service to Commission on Indian Services, Tribes
By Diane Rodriquez
The voice rang out clear and strong
- unmistakable to some, new to others.
Chief Delvis Health from Warm Springs
isang part of the invocation without
using the microphone - and hearing him
was no problem in the rotunda as Tribes
from across Oregon celebrated Tribal
Government Day at the State Capitol on
« May 14.
This followed a day of meetings
between Tribal representatives and state
agency heads and kicked off American
l Indian Week in Oregon on May 15-21.
On Tribal Government Day, all nine
federally recognized Tribes in Oregon set
up information tables in front of the Senate
chambers and shared Tribal history and
Tribal products with those in attendance.
All were subject to the haunting
sounds of a flute played by Don Gentry,
vice chair of the Klamath Tribe, who
played just prior to the ceremony.
A drum group led by Eugene Austin
Greene from Warm Springs opened the
ceremony by playing during the flag
procession, which included members
from each Tribe. Ed Ben carried the Siletz
Tribal flag.
Following Heath’s stirring invocation,
the crowd was treated to a song from
Jan Michael Looking Wolf, the 2009
NAM MY Artist of the Year.
Siletz Tribal Chairman Delores Pig­
sley and Grand Ronde Tribal Chairwoman
Cheryle Kennedy welcomed the crowd.
“Thank you for coming to learn about
the state and its relationship with Tribes
in Oregon,” said Kennedy.
“I’d like to remind people that this is the
home of Chemawa Indian School, where
many of our parents and grandparents got
their education and then settled in the area
and raised their families,” said Pigsley.
She went on to thank her “very good
friend, Vic Atiyeh,” who helped get “a lot
of support in the day when we weren’t
Tribes.”
“1 was honestly and emotionally
pleased when I heard the first drumbeat in
the State Capitol,” said Atiyeh, who was
governor when the first Commission on
Indian Services was established in 1975
and was operated out of the executive
branch of government. It’s now known
as the Legislative Commission on Indian
Services (LC1S).
Siletz Tribal member Art Bensell was
one of several people on this first com­
mission; 87 representatives from Oregon
Tribes have served on it since. Tribal
Council member Jessie Davis currently is
on the commission, which is celebrating
its 35lh anniversary this year.
“This is such a warm time here in
the state of Oregon, in the Capitol that
represents all in the state of Oregon,” said
Sue Shaffer, chair of the Cow Creek Band
of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. Atiyeh, she
said, “was the first person who started the
ball rolling on developing the Commis­
sion on Indian Services.”
Under the leadership of Karen Quigley,
executive director, the commission “has
moved in the direction to really put that
Jay Minthom (Umatilla) and Delvis Heath (Warm Springs) take in the ceremony in
the rotunda during Tribal Government Day at the State Capitol.
Photos by Diane Rodriquez
Siletz Tribal Chairman Delores Pigsley, Grand Ronde Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle
Kennedy and Secretary of State Kate Brown share a few words prior to the ceremony.
department where it needs to be in the
minds of Oregon people,” Shaffer said.
Secretary of State Kate Brown read
a proclamation from Gov. Ted Kulon­
goski proclaiming Oregon Indian Week
and then introduced Umatilla Tribal
Elder Jay Minthorn, a member of LCIS
since 1996.
Brown described Minthom’s 26 years
of service on the Umatilla Tribe’s board of
trustees, 30 years on the Columbia River
Inter-tribal Fish Commission, 30 years as
a gill-net fisherman, a rodeo competitor
and wild horse racer, plus his marriage to
his wife, Geri, who passed in 2009.
“We appreciate your calm steady
hand on the Commission on Indian Ser­
vices. To me, you have served since time
immemorial,” said Brown. “We’re really
going to miss your presence.”
Minthom then expressed his thanks
to those present.
“I ve had a hard year and you've
eased my heart today. It takes a family to
hold each other together,” he said. “I’m
proud to have worked for the Tribes. All
of you folks are important. All of you are
what make this a success.”
The ceremony concluded with a
round dance in Minthorn's honor.
The family of Jay Minthom gathers near as he thanks the crowd for the many
accolades and honors he's received in his years of service to Indian Country.
Leonda M. Villegas - 1951-2010
Leonda M. Villegas, 58, of Gervais,
Ore., died of a long-term illness May 3,
2010, at the Hopewell Hospice House in
Portland, Ore.
She was bom Dec. 23,1951, to Calvin
and Ella Simmons in Toledo, Ore. She
graduated from Siletz High School.
She worked at Chemawa Indian School
for more than two decades. She loved bead­
ing, cooking and surfing the Internet. She
was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother,
sister, aunt and friend to many.
4
/
•
Siletz News
•
June 2010
She was preceded in death by her
parents, Calvin and Ella Simmons.
She is survived by her husband,
Roberto Villegas, of Gervais; her chil­
dren, Ulysses Simmons of Salem, Ore.,
Luella Gonzales of Salem, Yolanda
Vera-Simmons of Aloha, Ore., Timothy
Villegas of Gervais, Martha Villegas of
Salem and Jonathan Villegas of Gervais;
siblings, Elouise Case, Nancy Simmons,
Darwin Simmons, Donald Simmons Sr.,
Reginald Butler and Ronald Butler, all
of Siletz, Ore., Calvin Simmons Jr. of
Clatskanie, Ore., and Delmer Butler of
Reedsport, Ore.; 14 grandchildren; and
numerous nieces and nephews.
A funeral service was held May 5 at
the Siletz Tribal Community Center in
Siletz, with the final ceremony follow­
ing at Paul Washington Cemetery. A re­
ception followed at the Tribal center.
Affordable Burial and Cremation in
Newport handled the arrangements.