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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2015)
SILETZ NEWS Delores Pigsley, Tribal Chairman Brenda Bremner, General Manager and Editor-in-Chief Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Vol. 43, No. 10 Presorted First-Class Mail U.S. Postage Paid - Permit No. 178 Salem, OR Siletz News Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380-0549 October 2015 Run to the Rogue Sept. 11-13, 2015 Siletz to Agness, Oregon From the first mile (right) to the last (below), Siletz Tribal members and friends trace the route of the ancestors Photo by Diane Rodriquez Lily Whitehead, Nevaeh Whitehead and Kahryee Holmes-Chavarria join Tony Whitehead (carrying eagle staff) and Kevin Goodell in leading walkers during the first mile as they pass by students from Siletz Valley School. Photo by Ann Goddard John Roe Jr. (yellow vest), Ed Ben (carrying eagle staff), Junior Miss Siletz Felisha Howell and Stan Werth lead the group as it traverses the last mile. A $7,000 Tribal benefit … Do you know what it is? Will your loved one benefit from it? Obviously, none of us wants to think about passing away and our funeral. Inevitably, though, it will happen – to all of us. We should do our best to make sure we have arranged what we can. One simple thing you can do is submit your Designation of Death Benefit Beneficiary form to the Enrollment Department. The Siletz Tribe carries death benefit insurance on all enrolled Tribal members, including children, for funeral and burial costs. As of Sept. 9, 2015, there are 1,314 Tribal members who have no beneficiary listed for this benefit. Are you, a family member or your children one of them? A mail out was done in April 2015 to people with no beneficiary on file and the response was about a 10 percent return. Please check with your family members to see if they have submit- ted their paperwork for this important benefit. If it has already been submitted, when was it last updated for contact information for the beneficiary? Do you know whom you have listed as your ben- eficiary? Things you need to know: Tribal members need to fill out and keep an updated Designation of Death Benefit Beneficiary form. It can then be updated at any time to name a different beneficiary or to update the contact information for your beneficiary. It is extremely important to update your Designation of Death Benefit Beneficiary form anytime you marry, divorce or if your designated person is deceased. The designated beneficiary needs to be age 18 or older as they might be the one responsible for making your funeral arrangements. Are your children over age 18 now? They need to update their beneficiary. You now can update your beneficiary to include them. The Enrollment Department keeps the original form on file with the Tribal member’s enrollment file. In the event of your passing, the most recent form submitted is what will be used to determine the beneficiary for this benefit. The beneficiary can be anyone, a Tribal member or a non-Tribal member. They can be a family member or not. The most common beneficiary is a parent, spouse, adult child or someone trusted who will be in charge of funeral arrangements. The current death benefit amount is $6,000 and is for burial and funeral expenses. Most funeral homes are willing to work with the Tribe so families do not have to pay out-of- pocket costs up to the benefit amount. Some funeral homes are not, so please be aware of this. If funeral expenses are less than $6,000, the unused balance of the death benefit goes directly to the beneficiary. If funeral expenses are more than $6,000, the balance of the expenses is the responsibility of the person making the funeral arrangements. The current insurance amount is $1,000 and will be paid directly to the beneficiary. If no beneficiary is listed, the funeral and burial expenses still are paid and Enrollment will work with the family and the funeral home. However, any unused balance of the death benefit and the $1,000 will go unpaid to anyone. The Tribe has caskets with a Pendleton blanket liner that can be purchased with death benefits or directly. If you have specific wishes for your burial, please let your family members know of them. You also might want to research costs for plots and fees if you wish to be buried someplace other than at the Siletz cemetery. If you have questions about death benefits, Tribal caskets or complet- ing the form, please contact Angela Ramirez or Darin Rilatos, Enrollment clerks, at 800-922-1399 ext. 1258, or 541-444-8258.
