SILETZ NEWS
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Brenda Bremner,
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Vol. 45, No. 6
Siletz News
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
June 2017
Presorted
First-Class
Mail
U.S. Postage
Paid - Permit
No. 178
Salem, OR
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians announces plans to build
Oregon’s first and only inter-tribal gaming and entertainment facility
Proposed casino in North Salem
would give Oregon Tribes the
opportunity to come together to
generate millions in profit and
share an unprecedented 25% of
net revenue with government
SALEM, Ore – The Confederated
Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon has
announced a unique partnership that will
allow other Tribes from throughout the
state to join them in opening the state’s
first inter-tribal gaming facility. To be
located in North Salem, the Siletz and
other Tribes will share an unprecedented
25 percent of their net gaming revenue
with state and local government, while
splitting the remaining funds between the
participating Tribes.
Slated to open in 2021, the approxi-
mately 140,000-square-foot entertainment,
gaming and hotel facility is estimated to
bring $185.4 million in gross revenue and
1,500 full-time jobs the first year of opera-
tion. You can visit the website dedicated
to the Inter Tribal Partnership Project (The
Project) at OregonTribes.com.
“We know that when Tribes come
together with a shared mission, we achieve
more for our community,” said Dee Pigsley,
Tribal Council chairman, the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Siletz Indians. “As Tribal
leaders, we have a unique opportunity
to make an unprecedented impact on
Oregon’s economy and the lives of our
Tribal members.”
A recent economic study estimates the
overall gaming market for Oregon and eight
southern Washington counties will reach
$1.6 billion by 2021. This year, the ilani
Resort, a $500 million facility owned by the
Cowlitz Tribe in Southwest Washington,
is anticipated to generate $427 million in
revenue, largely from Oregon residents.
“As a Tribal community, we have a
responsibility to preserve and grow jobs
and revenue in Oregon,” said Pigsley.
“These funds directly support family
wage jobs and health care, education,
environmental, housing and transporta-
tion programs throughout the state.”
The facility will be built on the Con-
federated Tribe of Siletz Indian’s reserva-
tion property located off of Interstate 5,
exit 268.
The Siletz Tribe is currently working
to expand Tribal participation in the proj-
ect and communicate with community and
public policy leaders about the economic
benefits of the facility.
2017 Culture Camp: July 11-13
Registration forms are available
on the Tribal website or at your area
office. They can be mailed to P.O. Box
549, Siletz, OR 97380-0549 or faxed
to 541-444-8392.
If you have any questions, contact
Buddy Lane at 800-922-1399, ext.
1230, 541-444-8230 or buddyl@ctsi.
nsn.us.
Apply now for Siletz
Tribal Head Start’s
2017-2018 school year
It’s time to apply for your child to
attend the Siletz Tribal Head Start pro-
gram for our upcoming 2017-2018 school
year. We have classrooms in Siletz, Lin-
coln City, Portland and Salem.
If your child will be 3 or 4 years old as
of Sept. 1, 2017 (or as of Sept. 10, 2017,
for Salem-Keizer only), her/she is eligible
to apply for the Siletz Tribal Head Start
program. Your child does not have to be
American Indian to attend our program,
but we do give a preference for enrollment
to Native children.
Call us at 800-922-1399 or 541-444-
2532 and ask for Head Start to request an
application.
There are new enrollment require-
ments that all Head Start programs must
meet. All of us are now required to con-
duct either a face-to-face or telephone
interview with all applicants to verify the
information on their child’s application.
When you return your application, we will
call to verify the information with you.
This new requirement must be met
before we can select your child for enroll-
ment. If we cannot reach you, we will leave
a detailed message asking you to call us
back. Please call us back as soon as pos-
sible so we can finish processing your
child’s enrollment application.
This is a mandatory requirement we
must meet and we are unable to enroll any
child until we complete this new verifica-
tion process.
Photo by Diane Rodriquez
Several Siletz Tribal members and part of the event’s Color Guard visit with Gov. Kate Brown at the Legislative Commission
on Indian Services/Nine Tribes Spring Celebration at the Oregon State Capitol on May 18. Those pictured above include
(front row) Ed Ben, Alton Butler, Gov. Brown, Sonya Moody-Jurado and SuSun Fisher; and (back row) Richard Van Atta,
Edelio Chavez-Gonzalez, Izaiah Fisher, Tony Molina and Jeidah DeZurney. See more photos on page 10.
Chinook Winds, Tribe celebrate 22 years of gaming fun
By Jessie Davis
The Siletz Tribe’s effort to do gam-
ing actually began 25 years ago. The
chairman and I were back in Washington,
D.C., meeting with Sen. Mark Hatfield.
He told us we needed to focus on other
means of revenue because we were going
to be limited in cutting timber due to the
Endangered Species Act that was going
to be enforced, i.e., the spotted owl, grey
ground squirrel, marbled murrelets, etc.
The Tribal Council, which included
Dee Pigsley, Frank Simmons, Dolly Fisher,
Siletz hosted a meeting with the other
eight Oregon Tribes to let them know our
intent to do gaming. Although Siletz was
the first to plan one, Seven Feathers (Cow
Creek) was the first to open a door to a
gaming center in Oregon.
determined to open a gaming center. We
finally were able to purchase property
from Mark Hemstreet in Lincoln City.
The land had previously been owned by a
family of Siletz Tribal members.
An Ad Hoc Gaming Committee was
formed. Members included Mike Fisher,
Amos Arden, Lisa Arden, Geneva John-
son, Jane John, Lisa Norton and myself. I
was appointed the chairman. Other mem-
bers who participated were Zak Zakoji,
We went through trials, tribulations
and disappointments but the council was
See Chinook Winds on page 10
Reggie Butler Sr., Lillie Butler, Gladys
Tom, JoAnn Miller, Bensell Breon and
myself, decided to plan and develop a
“gaming center.” Back in those days, we
were not allowed to use the word “casino.”