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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2012)
Help Elders stock up on firewood The Tribal Natural Resources Com mittee and Natural Resources Department will sponsor the final “Cut Wood for the Elders Day” of the year on Sept. 15. The woodcut will be held at the log yard at the Tribe’s Toledo Mill property at the end of Sturdevant Road in Toledo, Ore. Enter at the log yard entrance (go straight all the way to the end of Stur devant Road, through the chain-link fence gate and down the hill to the railroad tracks and the wood-cutting area). We need lots of volunteers to help cut, split and deliver firewood for Tribal Elders. Bring your chainsaws, hydraulic wood splitters, splitting mauls and axes. Lunch, drinks and snacks will be provided. We will meet at the Tribal adminis tration building in Siletz at 8 a.m. and caravan to the cutting site. For anyone wishing to come later, directions to the cutting site will be posted on the front door of the building. The goal of this event will be to deliver firewood to as many Elders as possible. The Elders Program maintains a list of Elders who bum wood for their winter heat. People willing to haul firewood to Elders outside of the Siletz area should contact the Elders Program clerk at SOO- 922-1399, ext. 1261, or 541-444-8261 to be paired up with an Elder in need. We especially need folks who can haul wood to the Eugene, Salem and Portland areas. Elders in need of firewood also should contact the Elders Program clerk to get their name on the delivery list. If you have parents or grandparents who burn wood in the winter to stay warm, you need to help replenish those wood piles before winter sets in. This is the last woodcut of the year. September USDA distribution dates Siletz Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Turkey and Grape Salad Sept. 3 Sept. 4 Sept. 5 Sept. 6 Sept. 7 Salem Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Sept. Sept. Sept. Sept. Holiday Dressing 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. /z cup mayonnaise or salad dressing 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. * 2 tablespoons lemon juice 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. */2 teaspoon salt 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. (4 teaspoon pepper 17 1:30- 6:30 p.m. 18 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. 19 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 20 9- 11 a.m. You can reach us at our Siletz ware house at 800-922-1399, ext. 1393 or ext. 1279, or you can call direct at 541-444- 8393 or 541-444-8279. Joyce Retherford USDA Food Program Director Lisa Paul USDA Clerk/Warehouseman Salad 3 1 1 3 cups diced cooked turkey cup thinly sliced celery cup seedless red grapes, halved tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted In large bowl, stir dressing ingre dients until well mixed. Fold in turkey, celery and grapes. Sprinkle with almonds You also can use diced chicken in this recipe. Lisa made this in August and it was delicious. Testimony given by Delores Pigsley during a hearing conducted by the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs on July 24,2012 Chairman Young, Ranking Mem ber Lujan, Members of the committee, thank you for holding today’s hearing on HR 6141 and inviting me to testify. My name is Dee Pigsley and I serve as the chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon. “Siletz,” “Siletz Coast” or “Coast” was the name Congress and administra tions have used throughout our history to this reservation - not any particular Tribe. The federal government confederated all of the Tribes and bands of Indians settled on the Siletz Coast Reservation and rec ognized the Confederated Tribes of Siletz as the governing body representing all those Tribes and bands. Since 1855, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians is the legal and political successor in interest to all of the Tribes and bands that settled on the Siletz Coast Reservation. restoration of their federal recognition. identifies their original reservation just as the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Nevertheless, 1 appreciate this public HR 6141 identifies our original reservation. has consistently been recognized as the opportunity to dispose of their claims - all Tribe representing the original Siletz Coast Grand Ronde's absurd and offensive of which fail basic tests of historic fact Reservation since its creation. Through claims do not end with this legislation. 1 and findings of federal courts. am deeply saddened by the way their Tribe termination and restoration, no other Tribe The historical Coos, Lower Umpqua treats other Tribes and perverts history to can make or substantiate this claim. and Siuslaw Tribes moved to the Siletz further their own short-term interests. In Coast Reservation in the late 1850s and particular, we are concerned that the Grand Conclusion became part of the Confederated Siletz Ronde repeatedly cites the controversial This legislation is critical for the Siletz Tribes. We are the legal successors in Carcieri decision in their lawsuit to stop Tribe to rebuild a small portion of our his interest to these three Tribes. Over 1,000 another Tribe from pursuing land into trust. toric reservation so that we can house, feed Siletz Tribal members are descended Mr. Chairman, the simple fact is that and care for our membership. Thank you. from these three Tribes. To this day, we regularly enroll members of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw descent who meet our eligibility requirements. The modern-day Coos Tribe is com prised of individual Indians who either never moved to the Siletz Coast Reser vation or who abandoned the reservation later on and severed their Tribal affiliation with Siletz. The Coos Restoration Act Need for Legislation expressly excludes from membership in the Coos Tribe any Indian who had any History and the federal government connection to the Siletz Coast Reservation robbed us of our land and even our res or to the Siletz Tribe. ervation boundary. Unlike most Tribes The Coos’ fictitious claim to the reser in the country, every parcel of land we vation they once shunned is flatly rejected seek to place in trust is considered “off- by federal Indian law. Coos Chairman reservation” by the Bureau of Indian Garcia’s testimony to the Senate Com Affairs - even if it lies within our historic mittee on Indian Affairs is full of blatant reservation. This adds significant time, fabrications. He cited an “Empire Treaty” cost and resources to place land into trust. that never existed as a separate treaty. It has taken up to eight years for the Siletz The so-called “Empire Treaty” is to place a parcel into trust. the unratified Coast Treaty that resulted We have an ongoing critical need to in the confederation of all Oregon Coast acquire additional lands in trust to meet Tribes upon the Siletz Coast Reservation. the needs of the Tribe, including housing He misinterprets court decisions that for our members. We are not a wealthy actually substantiate the Siletz’s claims Tribe and purchase small parcels one at a to the Siletz Coast Reservation and suc time. Every effort to reduce the cost of that cessorship to the historic Coos Tribes. process will directly help our membership. He also decries an expanded Siletz Coast The legislation introduced by Con Reservation when no such reservation is gressman Schrader would accomplish created by this legislation. this by processing fee-to-trust applica Now let's address the arguments tions within the boundary of our former posed by the Grand Ronde Tribe. Grand reservation as “on-reservation.” Ronde’s membership consists of Indians from many of the same Tribes and bands Response to Criticism that confederated at Siletz. Federal courts Our Tribe is a family with relatives have consistently rejected all claims of in every other western Oregon Tribe. It is interest and any standing by the Grand with a sad heart that I hear baseless argu Courtesy photo by Matt Hill, Lone Rock Strategies Ronde Tribe involving title to or inter ments against this legislation from two of est in the Siletz Coast Reservation. The Robert Kentta, Delores Pigsley and Alfred “Bud" Lane III meet with Oregon’s our sister Tribes whom we supported for Grand Ronde bill on this docket, HR 726, congressional delegation in Washington, D C., in July. September 2012 • Siletz News • 3
