Chairman’s Report
Legislation
1 reported on the status of Senate Bill
S908 in last month’s issue of Siletz News.
On Feb. 2, the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee held a hearing on this impor
tant Siletz legislation. Bud Lane, Robert
Kentta, Craig Dorsay and 1 attended the
hearing. 1 testified on our behalf.
Senate Bill S356 is the Grand Ronde
bill that mirrors our legislation to define
reservation boundaries for the purpose of
taking land into trust. The Senate hearing
covered testimony on both bills.
The Grand Ronde chair, Cheryle
Kennedy, testified in support of S356 and
in opposition of S908. The chairman of the
Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw, Bob
Garcia, also testified in opposition to S908.
Both Tribes are opposed, citing some
sort of claim to the Siletz Reservation.
The Grand Ronde in particular has Sen
ate bill S356 that defines their reservation
boundaries and the Restoration Act that
defines their membership. Grand Ronde's
claims to our reservation in the past were
all rejected; they have no legal basis or
standing to make these assertions.
The Coos Tribe made many assertions
on their claim to our Tribe that simply are
not true. The Coos, Lower Umpqua and
Siuslaw Tribes are part of the Confeder
ated Tribes of Siletz. They were recog
nized as Siletz Indians when we were
terminated - termination roles prove this
- and they were restored as Siletz when
the Siletz Restoration Act was passed.
The Coos Restoration Act clearly
states who their Tribal members are -
those Indians who never resided on the
Siletz Reservation or those who received
settlement funds and those who cur
rently are enrolled at Siletz. The current
membership of the Coos Tribe today
excludes these folks. Our Tribe continues
to enroll today those members who meet
our blood quantum and are eligible to be
enrolled who are Coos, Lower Umpqua
and Siuslaw.
Under the ratified treaties and Execu
tive Order of President Buchanan, all
Western Oregon Tribes were to be
relocated to the Siletz Reservation. It is
unfortunate that today we have to defend
historic actions.
Our Tribes suffered through the worst
Indian policies of any Tribe and have
endured. We will continue to support and
defend our treaties and our legislation to
define our 1855 reservation boundary.
Chemawa Indian School
Our Tribe, along with seven other
Oregon Tribes, has been successful in
having legislation introduced by Con
gressman Kurt Schrader on Chemawa
Indian School.
As I have reported in past articles,
the Oregon Tribes want to preserve the
Chemawa school and property from
encroachment and loss of additional
school land. Congressman Schrader. Bud
and I toured the school a couple of months
ago. He was impressed with the progress
of the school and the school property. We
thank our congressman for taking the time
to tour and for introducing this important
legislation. It is important that we have a
similar Senate bill.
Tribes of Grand Ronde, which opposes
the Oregon Tribes’ efforts. Many issues
have been raised, all have been responded
to at various Oregon Tribes meetings.
Interest in introducing a bill in the Sen
ate has been hindered by the Confederated
We hope Sen. Jeff Merkley will soon
support our efforts.
Delores Pigsley
OIDJ offers summer journalism
SNRC internships for college students
The Sequoyah National Research Center (SNRC) seeks three Tribally affiliated
workshop for high school students student
interns for summer 2012. Interns will work at least 25 hours per week from
The Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism (OIDJ) offers an annual work
shop for promising high school students, scheduled this year for June 3-10.
The program s goal is to expose youth to careers in the world of daily journalism.
OlDJ's mission is to provide opportunities for students who would otherwise lack access
to journalism training or who face other barriers to pursuing careers in journalism.
Fifteen to 20 high school students will be selected for the 2012 workshop. They
will complete work in June on the ninth annual edition of the Red Dirt Journal, the
OIDJ newspaper, and its companion news website. Students will acquire basic skills
in new media during this in-residence program.
High school students can apply for the workshop by downloading the application
form from the Gaylord website: ou.edu/content/gaylord/home/main/outreach/oidj.
html. The deadline for submitting an application is April 27.
Selected students will be given free room and board in a residence hall on the
University of Oklahoma campus. Supervision of their stay will be provided at all times
by peer counselors and OU staff members.
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.
Address:
Phone:
Change of address: Tribal members - contact the Enrollment Depart
ment at 541-444-8258; 800-922-1399, ext. 1258; or angelam@ctsi.nsn.us. All
others - call the newspaper office.
Send information to:
Siletz News
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
Deadline for the April issue is
March 9. Submission of articles and
photos is encouraged. Please see the
Passages Policy on page 19 when
submitting items for Passages.
541-444-8291 or
800-922-1399, ext. 1291
Introduction to the Athabaskan language
Member of the Native American
Journalists Association
E-mail: pias@ctsi.nsn.us
Siletz News
*
Eugene
Portland
Eugene Area Office
March 5 - 6-8 p.m.
April 2 - 6-8 p.m.
Portland Area Office
March 12-6-8 p.m.
April 9 - 6-8 p.m.
Siletz
Salem
Siletz Tribal Community Center
March 6 — 6-8 p.m.
April 3 - 6-8 p.m.
Salem Area Office
March 13 - 6-8 p.m.
April 10 - 6-8 p.m.
Classes begin with basic instruction and progress over the year. They also
are a refresher course for more-advanced students. Come and join other members
of your community and Tribe in learning to speak one of our ancient languages.
We also have equipment in the Cultural Department available for use in
grinding and drilling shell or pine nuts or other applications. If you need to use
the equipment, call the number below to set up an appointment.
Fax: 541-444-2307
*
N u u - wee-ya ’ (our words)
Open to Tribal members of all ages
Name:
2
June 1 through July 31 in the center doing basic archival and research work.
The goal of the American Indian Student Internship Program is to provide students
with a learning environment that helps them understand the value of archives and the
research potential of the collections, and to engage in academic research and practical
database-building activities related to Tribal culture, society and issues. Interns then
will prepare a summary report of work, finding aids for collections, reports of research
or other written work.
The center will provide on-campus housing and $2,000 to defray living expenses.
Students interested in applying should send applications or inquiries by e-mail to
Daniel F. Littlefield at dflittlefiel@ualr.edu or Robert E. Sanderson at resanderson@
ualr.edu; or by U.S. mail to SNRC, University Plaza, Suite 500, University of Arkansas
at Little Rock, 2801 S University Ave., Little Rock, AR 72204.
SNRC must receive applications by March 15. It will select three applicants and
three alternates. Center staff will notify students of their decision by April 1.
For information on SNRC and its work, visit ualr.edu/sequoyah.
March 2012
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.