Chairman’s Report
Living Earth Festival at NMAI
Our Tribe was invited to participate in
the Living Earth Festival in Washington,
D.C., in July at the National Museum of
the American Indian. The festival included
other Tribes and Native Hawaiians.
The festival’s focus was on climate
change and how the environment affects
Native foods, but several other events
also occurred. Siletz feather dancers
performed inside the rotunda, Bud Lane
cooked salmon outside the museum and
Tina Retasket spoke on climate change
and its effects on gathering.
While the feather dancers were
performing inside, Tribal member Jack
Strong, our Chinook Winds executive
chef, participated in a cook-off. The two
competitors had to complete the cook-off
using heirloom tomatoes in several dishes.
The judges were famous Washington-area
chefs. We were very proud of Jack as he
won the competition, a job well done (see
story on page 4).
taking land into trust. Ours is the 1855
Treaty boundary and Grand Ronde’s is the
1857 Treaty boundary. Also included in
the hearing was legislation for the Pascua
Yaqui Tribe to settle an enrollment issue.
All three pieces of legislation were
supported by testimony from Mike Black,
acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. In addition, Lincoln County
Commissioner Terry Thompson testified
in support of the Siletz legislation.
Testifying in opposition to our leg
islation was Chairman Bob Garcia of
the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua and Siuslaw and Vice Chairman
Reyn Leno of the Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde. Both indicated they have
some claim to our original reservation.
Neither could provide any support for
their allegations.
Our oral testimony time limit was five
minutes; my testimony is on page 3. Our
written testimony is much more extensive.
At a dinner that evening, John Echo
hawk was presented with a check made
out to the Native American Rights Fund to
support the work that was done on the Nez
Perce settlement on behalf of our Tribe.
Sen. Joanne Verger also was recognized
with a Treaty blanket for her work and
support in the State legislature. She retires
at the end of this session. Rep. Jean Cowan
could not be present but was recognized for
her support in the State legislature.
We were happy to have Rep. Amie
Roblan in attendance. He is seeking Sen.
Verger’s seat in the State senate.
Charles gave a wonderful presenta
tion on Siletz Tribal history that was
a preview of The People Are Dancing
Again. We thank Charles for his continued
support of our Tribe.
Delores Pigsley
Nesika lllahee Pow-Wow
Siletz legislation
While we were in Washington, we
made our usual rounds of visits with our
congressional delegation as well as other
visits with Housing and Urban Develop
ment and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
We were notified the day before we
left that our legislation regarding our
reservation boundary would be introduced
in the House of Representatives by Con
gressman Kurt Schrader on Wednesday.
A House hearing was then scheduled the
following Tuesday by the House Sub
committee on Indian and Alaska Native
Affairs, so our stay in Washington was
extended so I could testify at the hearing.
The hearing on HB 6414 and HB
726, the Grand Ronde legislation, was
chaired by Congressman Don Young of
Alaska. Both the Siletz and Grand Ronde
legislation seek to have the original treaty
boundaries recognized for purposes of
This year’s pow-wow was a great suc
cess! The weather was perfect as Tribal
members, visitors and guests participated
in the parade and pow-wow.
We were very proud to acknowledge
our surviving World War II veterans as
grand marshals - Ed Ben, Alfred Lane Jr.
and John Roe Sr.
Thank you to all the staff, Pow-Wow
Committee and former and new Royalty
for making this event successful.
Recognition
The Tribal Council hosted a work
shop on our shellfish issue with Professor
Charles Wilkinson and John Echohawk,
executive director of the Native American
Rights Fund. We discussed the issues
brought before the last two general coun
cil meetings. A plan will be put forward
to the membership and will be covered in
the Nesika lllahee newsletter.
Courtesy photo by Matt Hill, Lone Rock Strategies
Alfred Bud Lane III, Tribal vice chairman; Chris Fluhr, subcommittee director;
Delores Pigsley, Tribal chairman; Don Young, House Subcommittee on Indian and
Alaska Native Affairs chairman; Terry Thompson, Lincoln County commissioner;
and Robert Kentta, Tribal Council member, gather for a subcommittee hearing.
Elders Council Meeting
No meeting in September
Siletz News is free to enrolled Siletz Tribal members. For all others, a $12
annual subscription fee applies. Please make checks payable to CTS1 and mail
to Siletz News.
Nuu-wee-ya’ (oUr words»
Name:
Introduction to the Athabaskan language
Address:
Open to Tribal members of all ages
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 October issue is
Sept. 11. Submission of articles and
photos is encouraged. Please see the
Passages Policy on page 32 when
submitting items for Passages.
541-444-8291 or
800-922-1399, ext. 1291
Fax: 541-444-2307
E-mail: pias@ctsi.nsn.us
2
For more information, contact Dee Navarro at 800-922-1399,
ext. 1261 ; 541-444-8261 ; or deen@ctsi.nsn.us.
Siletz News
•
Member of the Native American
Journalists Association
September 2012
Eugene
Eugene Area Office
Sept. TBD - 6-8 p.m.
Oct. 1 - 6-8 p.m.
Portland
Portland Area Office
Sept. 17 - 6-8 p.m.
Oct. 8 - 6-8 p.m.
Siletz
Siletz Tribal Community Center
Sept. 4 - 6-8 p.m.
Oct. 2 - 6-8 p.m.
Salem
Salem Area Office
Sept. 18 - 6-8 p.m.
Oct. 9 - 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.
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.