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
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Siletz News
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