Ecotrust presents Indigenous Leadership Award to Pigsley, honors 4 others
Group recognizes fourth
Siletz Tribal member
By Diane Rodriquez
Tribal Chairman Delores Pigsley
received the Ecotrust Indigenous Leader
ship Award in ceremonies held Nov. 2 at
the Portland Art Museum in Portland, Ore.
She was honored along with four
other Native leaders dedicated to improv
ing the social, economic and environ
mental conditions of their people. She
received $25,000 to continue her efforts
in the Siletz Tribal community. Each of
the other four leaders received $5,000.
Pigsley used her acceptance speech to
credit Tribal Council members, staff and
others she’s worked with in her 32 years
on the Tribal Council, 26 as chairman.
“I am most grateful to our Tribal mem
bers, to my family, to all the people who
have contributed to the success of Siletz.
It’s not a one-person job, it’s not even
close to being a one-person job. You have
to have people who believe in you and you
have to have people who elect you,” said
Pigsley. “I truly thank Ecotrust, Rick
George (emcee for the evening who intro
duced her) and all the people who made
this possible. I don’t look at it as recogni
tion for me. It’s really recognition for our
Tribe and I very much appreciate that.”
In his introduction, George high
lighted Pigsley’s involvement with several
areas of importance to the Siletz Tribe.
“Chairman Pigsley has worked pas
sionately with children to preserve and
grow her culture and the natural resources
so important to the survival of the Siletz,”
he said. “I know that because I worked for
an Indian Tribe in Oregon for 20 years
and I would hear about the great work this
Photo by Diane Rodriquez
Clan Chief Adam Dick (Kwaxsistalla - Kwakwaka’wakw Nation, British Columbia), Delores Pigsley (Siletz, Oregon), Nora
Marks Dauenhauer (Tlingit, Alaska), Charles F. (Chuck) Sams III (Cocopah Nation, Oregon) and Wayne Warren Don (Cup’ig/
Yupik, Alaska), at the 2011 Ecotrust Indigenous Leaders Award celebration
Tribe over on the coast - the Siletz Tribe -
did that everybody talked about. Research
on the lamprey, watershed restoration,
cultural preservation and a dream of most
Tribes, the Siletz cultural museum, is now
in its development stages.”
Tribal General Manager Brenda Brem
ner shared comments on behalf of Pigsley’s
family, the staff and council members.
“One of the unique things about Dee
is that we can have coffee or tea with her
for 15 minutes or so before a negotiation,
throw all of the information that we’ve
been talking about for a month ahead of
time, put it all on her table, go into nego
tiations and she would say everything,
handle the entire negotiation and we could
just sit there. And things would come out
well on our end,” she said. “It takes a very
unique individual to do that when you
have 20 different programs and you’re
dealing with a lot of different agencies.
So we admire her greatly for her ability
to represent the Tribe so eloquently and
to be able to so succinctly communicate
the needs of our Tribe to our legislators.”
Bremner also read a letter from
Charles Wilkinson, author of the Siletz
Tribal history book The People Are Danc
ing Again and an attorney who helped the
Tribe achieve Restoration in 1977.
“You are a model for many, cer
tainly young Indian people, and may
they always appreciate that your public
decisions and demeanor are anchored in
your truest personal qualities, for you are
at once big-hearted and tough-minded,
efficient and compassionate, cautious and
courageous,” he wrote.
Siletz Tribal members Bud Lane,
Agnes Pilgrim and Dave Hatch have been
award finalists in the last 10 years.
December 2011
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Siletz News
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