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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2017)
Chairman’s Report Legislation I am pleased to announce along with our Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Congressman Kurt Schrader the pas- sage of the Siletz land bill that we have worked on for more than six years. It will allow our fee-to-trust appli- cations to be considered on-reservation as it recognizes the Tribe’s 1855 treaty boundaries. Prior to this, all applications were considered off-reservation and had to go through many extra steps. The legislation was passed in the Senate early in the year and the House passed it, adopting the Senate version. On Dec. 13, President Obama signed the legislation. Sen. Wyden, in a press release, stated that “These bills mark a significant step forward for Tribal sovereignty and the right of the Siletz and Grand Ronde Tribes to grow their own economies and build up their own communities … I’m gratified to have worked with Sen. Merkley to pass these two pieces of legislation that begin to honor long-ago promises made to the Tribes.” Sen. Merkley said: “Too often in our history, we have not kept our promises to Tribes in Oregon and across the nation … The passage of these bills is another milestone in the journey of righting these wrongs and more fully empowering their sovereignty and self-determination.” The governor’s general council, Ben Souede, chaired the summit as the gover- nor was unable to attend. She attended the funeral services for former Attorney General Hardy Myers, which was held on the same day. The summit theme was “Ties That Bind.” All the speakers had the opportu- nity to talk about their history and the ties to Tribes and vice versa. Government-to-government summit Trump’s DOI secretary nominee The Tribe hosted the annual Govern- ment-to-Government Summit at Chinook Winds in early December. The Tribal chairmen gathered for dinner with Gov. Kate Brown the evening prior to the sum- mit and had an opportunity to relax, visit and discuss issues. A reception with all the attendees followed. The summit was well-attended by state agency directors, managers and Tribal liaisons as well as Tribal representatives. It was announced in mid-December that the Trump administration will nomi- nate Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke to be the secretary of interior. Tribes have been cautiously awaiting the name of the person to fill this important position. The new administration reached out to Tribes in an effort to understand Tribal issues at a recent meeting in Washington, D.C. It’s reported that Rep. Zinke has a good working relationship with Tribes. Wyden, Merkley praise passage of their Siletz and Grand Ronde land bills WASHINGTON – Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today praised the passage of their two bills that would streamline the Bureau of Indian Affairs process for putting land into trust for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. House approval of the two bills in written by Wyden and Merkley in early December follows Senate approval on July 14 and sends the legislation to the desk of President Obama. “These bills mark a significant step forward for Tribal sovereignty and the right of the Siletz and Grand Ronde Tribes to grow their own economies and build up their own communities,” Wyden said. “I’m gratified to have worked with Sen. Merkley to pass these two pieces of legislation that begin to honor long-ago promises made to the Tribes.” “Too often in our history, we have not kept our promises to Tribes in Oregon and across the nation,” Merkley said. “The pas- sage of these bills is another milestone in the journey of righting these wrongs and more fully empowering their sovereignty and self-determination.” “I’d like to thank Sens. Wyden and Merkley, and Congressman Schrader, for their tireless work passing this legislation. The new law helps provide the Siletz Tribe a fair process to recover a small portion of our historic reservation,” said Dolores Pigsley, Siletz Tribal chairman. “This legislation will enable the Tribe to more efficiently move the land it owns into reservation status, which is histori- cally a very complex and time-consuming process,” said Reyn Leno, Grand Ronde chairman.”The Tribe would like to thank Sens. Merkley and Wyden and the Oregon delegation for their support in advancing this important piece of legislation.” Delores Pigsley General Council Meeting Feb. 4, 2017 • 1 p.m. Siletz Tribal Community Center Siletz, Oregon Call to Order Invocation Flag Salute Roll Call Approval of Agenda Approval of Minutes Programs Tribal Home Visiting Program Tribal Council Committee Reports Tribal Members’ Concerns Chairman’s Report Announcements Adjourn Elders Council Meeting Siletz News is free to enrolled Siletz Tribal members. For all others, a $12 annual subscription fee applies. Please make checks payable to CTSI and mail to Siletz News. Name: _______________________________________________________ Jan. 21 • 1-4 p.m. • Chinook Winds Casino Resort Siletz Elder potlucks are held monthly at 6 p.m. on the Monday before the regularly scheduled Elders meeting. Please bring a potluck dish you would like to share. For more information, contact the Elders Program at 800-922-1399, ext. 1261, or 541-444-8261. Address: _____________________________________________________ Phone: _______________________________________________________ Change of address: Tribal members – contact the Enrollment Depart- ment at 541-444-8258; 800-922-1399, ext. 1258; or enrollment@ctsi.nsn.us. All others – call the newspaper office. Deadline for the February issue is Jan. 10. Send information to: Submission of articles and photos is encouraged. Siletz News P.O. Box 549 Siletz, OR 97380-0549 Please see the Passages Policy on page 20 when sub- mitting items for Passages. 541-444-8291 or 800-922-1399, ext. 1291 Fax: 541-444-2307 Email: pias@ctsi.nsn.us 2 • Siletz News • Member of the Native American Journalists Association January 2017 Nuu-wee-ya’ (our words) Introduction to the Athabaskan language Open to Tribal members of all ages Siletz Siletz Tribal Community Center Jan. 9 – 6-8 p.m. Feb. 6 – 6-8 p.m. Portland Portland Area Office Jan. 18 – 6-8 p.m. Feb. 13 – 6-8 p.m. Eugene Eugene Area Office Jan. 10 – 6-8 p.m. Feb. 7 – 6-8 p.m. Salem Salem Area Office Jan. 17 – 6-8 p.m. Feb. 14 – 6-8 p.m. Classes begin with basic instruction and progress over the year. They also are a refresher course for more-advanced students. Come and join other members of your community and Tribe in learning to speak one of our ancient languages. We also have equipment in the Cultural Department available for use in grinding and drilling shell or pine nuts or other applications. If you need to use the equipment, call the number below to set up an appointment. For more information, contact Bud Lane at the Siletz Cultural Department at 541-444-8320 or 800-922-1399, ext. 1320; or e-mail budl@ctsi.nsn.us.
