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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2013)
SILETZ NewS Presorted First-Class Mail U.S. Postage Paid - Permit No. 178 Salem, OR Delores Pigsley, Tribal Chairman Brenda Bremner, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Vol. 41, No. 4 Siletz News Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380-0549 May 2013 First Annual SAAM 5K Run/walk a success By Kelley Ellis, Coordinator/Advocate Siletz CARE Program The Siletz CARE Program held the 1 st Annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month SAAM 5K Run/Walk on April 20 which started at the Siletz Valley School football field in Siletz. There were 64 registered participants for the run/walk as well as 15 dogs, both small and large, who adorned SAAM 5k teal ribbon bandanas. Although the weather was not perfect, the attendees had a great time and many of the participants said they would be back next year. Matthew Orr was awarded the male Top Overall medal coming in at 22:27 and Bri Hansen received the female Top Overall award coming in at 24:28. Donald Oldenburg and Erin Carrington received the awards for top master’s male and female finishers. Awards were also given in each of the age categories. Results can be found at http://tinyurl. com/2013SAAMresults. An Earth Day Fair for the community was also provided which included some local programs and organizations. The Siletz Tribal Energy Program provided environmental information along with a raffle and also coordinated having the Lincoln County Solid Waste Watt Wagon present. Both My Sisters’ Place and the CTSI CARE Program provided awareness materials and information on sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. The Lincoln County District Attorney’s Victim Assistance Department also attended to promote National Crime Victims Week, April 22-27, 2013. The most active booth was the local 4-H Sustainable Living Club who provided a display and instruction on how to develop an Earth Barrel and they also provided free live tree saplings to the community. Fresh hot coffee and cocoa was provided by Dutch Brothers in Newport as well as the delicious hot chowder served courtesy of the Chowder Bowl in Newport. A silent auction was also provided which attracted many participants. All proceeds from the event will benefit domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and teen dating violence programs in Lincoln County, including the CARE Program and My Sisters’ Place. The purpose of this event was to bring awareness to sexual assault and encourage the community to break the silence and start talking about it. Left: Tribal member Christopher Bayya came in 11 th place overall during the SAAM 5k, his first competitive race. He also celebrated his 9 th birthday that day. Right: Siletz Tribal Energy Program raffle auction. See additional photos on page 5. warm Springs Tribe honors wilkinson for his efforts on behalf of Indians By Diane Rodriquez Charles Wilkinson, law professor and author of the Siletz Tribal history book The People Are Dancing Again, received the Twanat Award from The Museum at Warms Springs Board of Directors at an honor dinner on April 6. “Indian Tribes just have a way of hon- oring people in an especially memorable fashion. It’s something I’ve been lucky to receive over the years at Siletz and cer- tainly was the case with this award from the Warm Springs Tribe,” said Wilkinson in an interview. “I will say that I think one reason for the award was the Siletz his- tory that I so enjoyed doing. The evening was extremely gracious and it made me feel really good that two of my sons, Seth and David, were able to come down from Seattle. Also, many friends from Siletz were there that evening and it was great seeing them.” The museum board established the Twanat Award (to carry on traditions) in 2003 to honor individuals whose tireless work on behalf of American Indians is an example to all Americans. Wilkinson has been involved with Native issues since 1971, when he first joined the Native American Rights Fund as a staff attorney. He helped the Menomi- nee Tribe achieve restoration in 1973 and the Siletz Tribe accomplish the same in 1977, the first two terminated Tribes in the nation to be restored to federally rec- ognized Tribal status by Act of Congress. He served on the law faculty at the University of Oregon, where he received the Ersted Award for Distinguished Teaching. He now is the Moses Lasky Professor of Law at the University of Colorado-Boulder. In 2002, he received the Hazel Barnes Prize, the university’s highest award for teaching and research. Wilkinson has written several books on law, history and society in the Ameri- can West and has placed a major empha- sis on American Indians. His 14 books include the standard law texts on federal public land law and Indian law. He also has published many articles in law reviews, popular journals and newspapers. In addition to his duties as a professor, Wilkinson still has writing on his agenda. “I’m writing a memoir and a big part of it will be the experiences I’ve been so lucky to have with Tribes over the years. You can bet that Siletz restoration will be a big chunk of it,” he said. “I’d just like to say hello to everybody. I live in Boulder and Siletz is the See wilkinson, con’t on page 4. Oral Arguments at the Supreme Court of the United States From the National Congress of American Indians On April 16, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Adop- tive Couple v. Baby Girl. “NCAI is optimistic as a result of today’s oral arguments and we believe the U.S. Supreme Court will rule to keep the Brown family together and uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), just as the South Carolina Supreme Court did,” said Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). “We will remain vigilant and ensure that the general public, the media and Indian Country is provided with the accurate facts in this case,” continued Keel. “Dusten Brown is a loving father who has at all times done whatever he could to fight for the right to raise his daughter. The attempted adoption was based on misleading information provided by adoption attorneys and was for that reason rejected by multiple South Carolina courts. And the Indian Child Welfare Act – which was supported in briefs filed by the United States government and 19 states, among many others – must be upheld and enforced.” In the days leading up to the oral arguments, the Tribal Supreme Court Project – NCAI and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) – in partnership with the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and the Cherokee Nation, hosted a number of events. This included a national teleconference briefing and an Indian Country prayer gathering on the steps of the Supreme Court. Prior to the oral arguments, Tribal Supreme Court Project partners and NICWA organized a legal response to the appeal that has resulted in overwhelm- ing response in support of the family, ICWA and federal Indian law. In total, 24 amicus briefs were submitted in support of the Brown family – Veronica, the daughter, and Dusten, the father – and ICWA. See Supreme Court, con’t on page 15.
