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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2012)
Celebrate Indian Grants will help provide services for families; farmers market, bus routes for community; study of salmon for all heritage at the The Tribe continues to operate transit Tribe receives one of just to address those needs. In some areas, Lincoln City we’re stronger and more capable of deliver- grants supplied by the Oregon Department six awards nationwide ing than in others and, of course, those are of Transportation (ODOT) and the Federal Cultural Center the ones we will focus on,” said Davis. “But Transit Authority (FTA). Elderly or dis- What are some of the traditional foods of Oregon’s coastal Tribes and how are they used today? How does the art from American Indians in this region differ from those in the Northwest at large and from Tribes in other parts of North America? How are members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians preserving their traditions and contribut- ing to the historical record? You can explore those questions while enjoying free food samples, a historical exhibit, book sale and make-and-take art projects at the second annual Native American Heritage Festival on Nov. 10 at the Lincoln City Cultural Center. The afternoon festival, which is free and open to the public, will be held from noon to 4 p.m. It will be followed by an evening concert, a ticketed event with flut- ist Jan Michael Looking Wolf, starting at 7 p.m. All events will be held at the center, 540 NE Highway 101 in Lincoln City. These experiences are made possible through the financial support of the city of Lincoln City and in-kind contributions from Chinook Winds Casino Resort, the Siletz Tribe and the Historic Anchor Inn. The festival was planned with the help of three partner nonprofits – the Siletz Tribal Arts & Heritage Society, the North Lincoln County Historical Museum and The Oregon Encyclopedia. The free afternoon festival will include a visit from cultural historian and Tribal Council member Robert Kentta. His presentation, Baskets, Beads and Regalia: Cultural Treasures from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, will begin at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m., professor Rebecca Dobkins of the Oregon Encyclopedia project, will discuss “Hidden in Plain Sight: Native American Art in Western Oregon.” At 3 p.m., the public is invited into the LCCC auditorium for ideas and free samples from Chef Jack Strong, a Siletz Tribal member and the executive chef at Chinook Winds Casino Resort. The cultural center will close at 4 p.m. and will re-open at 6:30 p.m. for the evening concert presentation by Jan Michael Looking Wolf, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, who has become a renowned interpreter of Native American flute music. Looking Wolf’s concert will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door and free for children age 12 and under. To learn more, call the LCCC box office at 541-994-9994. The People Are Dancing Again, an exhibit about the history of the Confeder- ated Tribes of Siletz Indians, will be on display in the Chessman Gallery through- out the month of November. The display is on gracious loan from the North Lincoln County Historical Museum and is based on Charles Wilkin- son’s ground-breaking book by the same name. It draws from oral tradition and personal interviews and includes artifacts from the museum’s collection. to help Tribal families By Diane Rodriquez The Siletz Tribe received two grants in the last six weeks that will help it focus on at-risk Tribal families with young children and establish a farmers market in Siletz. David Davis, Tribal grant writer/ planner, discussed these and other grants during a radio interview on Spotlight on Siletz on KCUP on Oct. 10. The Tribe has received a five-year Tribal Maternal, Infant and Early Child- hood Home Visiting grant from the Department of Health and Human Ser- vices, one of just six granted nationwide. “During the program’s first year, we’ll be conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of at-risk Tribal families who reside in our entire 11-county service area,” said Davis, indicating a focus on the following concerns: • • • • • • • • • Healthy pregnancies and birth outcomes Infant and child health outcomes Parent-child relationships Safety and security of infants, chil- dren and families Child maltreatment, abuse and neglect School readiness and child academic achievement Crime and domestic violence Family economic self-sufficiency Coordination and referrals for other community resources and supports “We will be visiting families so we can determine in a systematic way what these at-risk families really need and what kind of program would best work for our Tribe we can’t define exactly what we’ll be doing in the remaining four years of the program until this initial year of study is done.” This initial year of the grant comes with $200,000 in funding and Davis says that in subsequent years, the amount of funding approximately doubles for each year “because then you’re done studying and you’re actually doing.” Farmers market While the grant for the farmers mar- ket is less money (nearly $43,000), its implications for the community of Siletz stand out. The grant calls for a half-time position for two years. “To me, this could be more than just a farmers market. I see it as a way of providing a place for the community to come together once a week and do vari- ous things, not just have produce for sale but bring in some of the local musicians, bring in some of the crafts producers and maybe even doing craft instruction there,” said Davis. “It’s really kind of open-ended at this point. I think we can’t look to rep- licating the kind of farmers market they have in Newport here in Siletz. We’ve got to think about it in a different way of what a farmers market would look like here in Siletz that would be a success.” The goal is to have the farmers market up and running next spring. Other new grants A Rural Housing Preservation Grant from the USDA will enable the Tribe to replace the roofs on about a half dozen homes in the Silatchee Park area of Tribal housing in Siletz. abled Tribal members or those who need transportation to such things as doctor’s appointments benefit from the ODOT funds. Tribal members and the Siletz community benefit from the FTA funds. “We have contracted with Lincoln County Transit to use that (FTA) money to add four new (bus) routes to their regular services, all of them directly servicing Siletz and filling large holes in the schedule that existed before this grant,” Davis said of the added mid-day and early evening bus runs. The Tribal Natural Resources Depart- ment recently received a grant from the Administration for Native Americans to study the genetics of salmon and steelhead breeding across the Siletz River Basin. The three-year grant for $360,721 has the Tribe coordinating activities with several partners, including the OSU Marine Fisheries Genetics Laboratory; the Oregon Department of Fish & Wild- life (ODFW) Fish Management Office in Newport, Ore.; the ODFW Fish Research Lab in Corvallis, Ore.; and the Mid-Coast Watersheds Council in Newport The project has two goals – to describe the presence or absence of unique breed- ing groups of Chinook salmon and steelhead in the Siletz River Basin and if unique breeding groups are shown to exist, describe what mainstem and tribu- tary habitats are utilized by the offspring. The project should help increase the understanding of specific spawning habitats and juvenile rearing habitats that should be protected and enhanced. This could lead to improved fishing for traditional Tribal fish- ers and Tribal and non-Tribal sport fishers, and to more fish returning to the Siletz. Restoration, con’t from page 1 units there and 19 apartments in Siletz that opened in 2010; completing the Siletz Dance House in 1996; opening the Tenas Illahee Childcare Center in 2003; opening the Tillicum Fitness Center and a new USDA food distribution warehouse in Siletz in 2008; and opening the Siletz Rec Center in 2009. Through its economic development division, the Siletz Tribal Business Cor- poration, the Tribe purchased the Lincoln Shores office complex in Lincoln City in 2001; opened the Siletz Gas & Mini-Mart in Siletz in 2004, the Logan Road RV Park in Lincoln City in 2004 and the Hee Hee Illahee RV Resort in Salem in 2006. The Tribe purchased the Imprints printing business in Lincoln City in 2008. It also opened O’Downey’s Irish Pub and Family Dining in Depoe Bay in 2010. Tribal offices in Portland, Salem and Eugene now are housed in Tribally owned buildings. The Eugene office moved to its current location in 2005, the Salem office did the same in 2006 and the Port- land office moved to its current location in 2008. The Tribe also played a lead role in opening Siletz Valley School in 2003 and the Siletz Valley Early College Academy in 2006. Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City opened in May 1995. In June 2004, the Siletz Tribe purchased the former Shilo Inn adjacent to the casino and opened Chinook Winds Casino Resort. Chinook Winds Golf Resort opened in April 2005 when the Tribe purchased the former Lakeside Golf and Fitness Center in Lincoln City. The combination of Tribal employ- ees and those at Chinook Winds Casino Resort has allowed the Siletz Tribe to become the largest employer in Lincoln County. The Siletz Tribe has honored its tra- dition of sharing within the community by distributing more than $9.8 million through the Siletz Tribal Charitable Con- tribution Fund and other Tribal resources. Chinook Winds has donated nearly $2.3 million in cash and fund-raising items since 1995. It also provides in-kind donations of convention space for various fund-raisers as well as technical support, advertising and manpower for events. Photo by Diane Rodriquez A young one enjoys a dance during the 2011 Restoration Pow-Wow. November 2012 • SiletzNews • 5
