SILETZ NEWS
Siletz News
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Brenda Bremner,
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Vol. 39, No. 1
January 2011
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Tribal leaders
meet with
president and
administration
Talks reflect Tribal
sovereignty
WASHINGTON - President Obama
met directly with 12 Tribal leaders from 12
regions of the United States at the White
House on Dec. 15. The meeting came the
day before the president hosted leaders
from the 565 federally recognized Tribes
during the White House Tribal Nations
Summit, the second in as many years.
The focus of the meeting was on im
proving the trust relationship and federal
agreements between Indian Tribes and the
U.S. government. The National Congress
of American Indians hailed it as a substan
tial step in establishing a nation-to-nation
relationship for the 21st century.
“These meetings are summit-level
meetings between leaders of Tribal
nations and the president of the United
States. They are both symbolic and sub
stantive,” said Jefferson Keel, president
of NCAI, the oldest, largest and most rep
resentative American Indian and Alaska
Native organization in the country. “Last
year’s summit was historic in size and
ambition. We anticipate the results of the
meetings with the president today and
tomorrow will change the future of Indian
Country for generations to come.”
The meeting came on the eve of the
second White House Tribal Nations Sum
mit, in which the leaders of all 565 feder
ally recognized Tribes were invited to
meet with President Obama and members
of his administration throughout the day.
This second summit included three
opportunities for Tribes to meet - on a
govemment-to-govemment basis - with
the Obama administration.
Leaders from the 565 federally recog
nized Tribes held a meeting with Obama
and numerous Cabinet secretaries on
Dec. 16. Vice chairman Bud Lane attend
ed the summit as the representative of the
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
They discussed unmet treaty obliga
tions and Tribal sovereignty, as well as
the economy, jobs, health care, natural
resources, water rights, public safety,
climate change, housing and education.
The third part of the summit included
Tribal leaders’ sessions with top admin
istration officials about how to carry
this work forward. These government-
to-government meetings reflect the
improvements made in the trust relation
ship between the federal government and
First Americans.
“We need to start talking to one
another in a manner that reflects our sov-
See Tribal Summit on page 6.
Photo by Natasha Kavanaugh
Ivan Brown holds his grandson, Orion, during the Siletz Community Christmas Gathering on Dec. 8 at the Siletz Tribal
Community Center, where people gathered for light snacks, entertainment, singing and pictures with Santa, plus they received
goodie bags from the elves.
The Siletz Tribe wishes you a prosperous and healthy 2011.
Happy New Year!
Federal grant helps Tribe add bus routes in local area
By Diane Rodriquez
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Indians has received a $164,000 grant
from the Federal Transit Administration to
increase bus service in Lincoln County.
“These new services will benefit the
Tribal membership by complementing
existing transit services. Gaps that cur
rently exist are filled and the time required
for passengers to get where they need to
go in Lincoln County - especially com
ing and going to Siletz - is significantly
reduced,” said Pam Barlow-Lind, Tribal
planner and head of the department that
applied for the grant.
The Tribe will contract with Lincoln
County Transit to add two new daytime
express routes and two additional evening
trips on existing routes in March:
Route 1, Siletz to Lincoln City
Express: This will be a northbound
route that fills a nearly five-hour gap
in service during the middle part of
the day while significantly shortening
the total time required to ride from
Siletz, through Toledo and Newport,
to Lincoln City. It eliminates the
lengthy transfer/layover time existing
passengers from Siletz and Toledo
must endure in Newport while wait
ing for the next bus to Lincoln City.
Route 2, Lincoln City to Siletz
Express: This will be a southbound
route providing similar benefits to
southbound travelers.
Two additional evening trips: A
new eastbound and westbound trip
will be added for the early evening
hours that will connect Newport with
Toledo and Siletz. Currently, no
public transit is available to or from
Toledo and Siletz after 4:30 p.m.
t
This project was selected on a com
petitive basis through the Tribal Transit
Program. This program provides funding
directly to federally recognized Tribes for
the purpose of supporting Tribal public
transportation in rural areas.