SILETZ NEWS
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Brenda Bremner,
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Vol. 45, No. 3
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
March 2017
Tribe re-elects incumbent Tribal Council members, officers also selected
Robert Kentta, Loraine Butler and
Gloria Ingle were re-elected to the Tribal
Council of the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians in elections held Feb. 4.
Kentta, from Logsden, Ore., was re-
elected with 397 votes; Butler, from Siletz,
Ore., was re-elected with 360 votes; and
Ingle, from Lincoln City, Ore., was re-elected
with 349 votes. Seven candidates ran for
the three open positions and the three who
received the most votes were elected.
These individuals will serve with
Reggie Butler Sr. and Sharon Edenfield of
Siletz and Joseph Lane Jr. of Salem, Ore.,
whose terms expire in 2018; and Lillie
Butler and Alfred (Bud) Lane III, both of
Siletz, and Delores Pigsley from Keizer,
Ore., whose terms expire in 2019. Term of
office is three years for each position on
the nine-member council.
Six hundred forty-seven ballots were
returned and accepted. Enrolled members
of the Siletz Tribe who are age 18
and older are eligible to vote in Tribal
elections. The Tribe has more than 5,100
enrolled members.
The swearing-in ceremony for the
newly elected council members took place
Feb. 5. Officers are elected on an annual
basis and those selected for 2017 include:
Delores Pigsley, chairman
Alfred (Bud) Lane III, vice chairman
Sharon Edenfield, secretary
Robert Kentta, treasurer
Pigsley currently has served 31.5 years
as Tribal chairman out of 38 years on the
council, while Lillie Butler has served 25;
Photo by Andrea Taylor
The 2017 Siletz Tribal Council, from left, Reggie Butler Sr., Delores Pigsley, Loraine Butler, Robert Kentta, Alfred (Bud) Lane
III, Gloria Ingle, Sharon Edenfield and Joseph Lane Jr. Not pictured: Lillie Butler.
Reggie Butler, 20; Alfred Lane, 19; Kentta
and Loraine Butler, 12 each; Edenfield,
nearly 7 years; Ingle, three years; and
Joseph Lane, less than one year.
The Siletz Tribe has spent the last
39 years rebuilding its government and
economic structure. The signing of Pub-
lic Law 95-195 in 1977, which restored
government-to-government relations
between the Siletz Tribe and the federal
government, started this process.
The Siletz Tribe was the second in
the nation – and the first in Oregon – to
achieve restoration.
The Siletz Tribe was among the first
to become a self-governance Tribe, giving
Tribal government more control over ser-
vices provided to Tribal members. Under
self-governance, the U.S. government pro-
vides general funding to the Tribe (rather
than to specific programs), then Tribal
employees and the Tribal Council decide
how funds will be spent.
Significant Tribal accomplishments
since Restoration include opening the
original health clinic in 1991 and a new
much larger clinic in 2010; building more
than 150 homes and multiple dwellings
for Tribal members, including 28 units at
Neachesna Village in Lincoln City that
have opened since 2009, 19 apartments in
Siletz that opened in 2010 and 12 homes
in the Tillamook subdivision in Siletz that
have opened since 2013; 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
Recreation Center in 2009.
See Tribal Council on page 8
15 th Annual State of Indian Nations Address
Remarks of President Brian Cladoosby • National Congress of American Indians
Feb. 13, 2017 • Washington, D.C.
[Traditional language opening]
My dear people, we are thanking you
for the work that you do, the road we walk
to help our people. I thank you.
I thank the Creator for bringing us
together: Tribal leaders, our trustees
from the United States government,
my fellow Tribal citizens, my fellow
Americans.
The federal election in November
marked the end of the Obama presi-
dency and the most successful govern-
ment-to-government relationship Indian
people have enjoyed since the formation
of the United States.
We welcome President Trump and
look forward to working with the Trump
administration to build on the tremen-
dous successes of the last eight years.
As we begin a new Congress and
a new administration, I am reminded
that throughout American history – in
challenging times and changing times –
Native peoples have remained a constant.
We are, in the words of Chief Seattle,
“like the stars that never change.”
Today, we stand ready to work with you
as partners to build a stronger America.
To build on the shared history between our
nations. And to seize new opportunities to
strengthen the relationship between Tribal
governments and the federal government.
Together, we will lead America into a
new era of progress and partnership.
The partnership between Tribal gov-
ernments and the federal government can
be described by one word: Trust.
With regard to the relationship
between the United States and Tribal
governments, “trust” is a sacred obliga-
tion accepted by the federal government in
exchange for the millions of acres of land
we ceded that created the greatest nation
in the world.
The evidence of our common history
is all around us. Alabama, Missouri and
Miami are all names derived from Tribal
nations.
Utah and Arizona, Seattle and Man-
hattan are names inspired by Native
people and languages.
This very capital city of Washington,
D.C., rests on the lands of the Piscataway
people and the Patawomeck people – the
namesake of the Potomac River.
The unabridged version of this his-
tory is not often taught in our schools. It
needs to be.
It is not the story of colonists and
intrepid pioneers, of cultural exchange
and westward expansion into so-called
“unoccupied” territory.
It is a story of lands and resources
stolen. Families removed from their home-
lands. Forced assimilation into ways of life
that were not our own.
Yet, it is also a story of the resilience
of Native peoples and the endurance of
Tribal governments. For thousands of
years, we have had strong, sophisticated,
sovereign governments. America’s Found-
ing Fathers recognized this fact.
In 1789, the United States adopted
its Constitution, modeled after the great
Iroquois Confederacy. It specifically
gave Congress the power to regulate
commerce not only with foreign nations
and states, but also with Indian Tribes. It
recognized our treaties as the supreme
law of the land.
That same year, the new Congress
passed one of its most important acts:
The Northwest Ordinance. Among
other things, it set forth the principles
of our trust relationship.
I want to quote the text of this law.
It states: “The utmost good faith shall
always be observed towards the Indians;
their land and property shall never be
taken from them without their consent;
and in their property, rights and liberty,
they shall never be invaded or disturbed.”
Obviously, the young country did
not do a very good job of honoring these
See Indian Nations on page 10