Siletz 40 th Anniversary Celebration of Restoration • Nov. 18, 2017
A Salute to Siletz Restoration
By Charles Wilkinson
I wish so much that I could be
with you today but cannot. You are very
much in my thoughts and I would like
to pass along these observations about
Siletz Restoration.
This whole coast was originally
Indian country and had been for many
thousands of years. Then came the white
people and they came on strong. The
Tribes resisted.
Perhaps the most notable leader was
Tyee John. He was an enormously able
and inspirational figure. He could make
his points clearly and powerfully to the
new arrivals, rally his own people and,
if necessary, employ his military genius
in combat. The widely respected Oregon
historian of the 19 th century, Francis Fuller
Victor, called him “The Iron Chief.” Tyee
John is rightly included in any list of the
great historic Tribal leaders, such as Chief
Joseph of the Nez Perce.
The United States wanted to put
all the Tribes on one reservation on the
coast and many Indian people, includ-
ing Tyee John, resisted. In the spring of
1855, combat broke out in Jacksonville,
in the upper reaches of the Rogue River
watershed, when American renegades
senselessly slaughtered an estimated 100
Indian people in a peaceful encampment.
Native people, led by Tyee John, retaliated
and the Rogue River War was on.
The Tribal warriors moved down
the river toward the coast. Their military
superiority led them to four straight victo-
rious battles. One American officer called
the Indian fighters “the monarchs of the
woods.” But cavalry reinforcements were
coming up the coast from the south and
down the coast from the north. Numbers
alone, not military capability, were begin-
ning to tip the balance.
Indian and federal military delega-
tions met at Oak flat near the mouth of
the Illinois River, the finishing place of
the Tribe’s Run to the Rogue. Colonel
Buchanan made a long statement on why
it was necessary for the Tribes to surrender
and move all of their villages and belong-
ings to a reservation on the coast.
Tyee John listened intently but still
believed that he and his men could
prevail in battle. He would not be confined
to a reservation. He issued words – laced
with sovereignty, love of the land, culture
and staying power – that are as good as
any that have been put forth in the history
of Oregon:
“You are a great chief. So am I. This
is my country; I was in it when those trees
were very small, not higher than my head.
My heart is sick with fighting, but I want to
live in my country. If the white people are
willing, I will go back to Deer Creek and
live among them as I used to do. They can
visit my camp and I will visit theirs; but
I will not lay down my arms and go with
you on the reserve. I will fight. Goodbye.”
The final, furious, Battle of Big
Bend commenced a week later. At first,
the Tribes held the upper hand. After 30
hours, the Americans were exhausted and
ready to give in. But then troops arrived
from San Francisco and the Army had
the upper hand. The resistance was over.
Indian people were force-marched north
by miserable voyages on jam-backed ves-
sels, by inland under brutal conditions,
and up the coast on the brutal Trail of
Tears riven by beatings, murders and rapes.
If justice had prevailed, the Siletz
Reservation – 103 miles of the Oregon
Coast, one of the greatest of all Tribal
reservations – would’ve made a splendid
homeland for the Tribe. But the white
people wanted it, all of it, and within 40
short years had managed to do exactly
that, leaving the Tribe with almost none
of the land promised to them by treaty.
Enrollment and Health Committee Vacancies
Open Until Filled
Any Tribal member interested in serving on the Enrollment or Health Com-
mittee for a term ending February 2019, please fill out this application and return
by mail or fax to Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Attn: Executive Secretary
to Tribal Council, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR 97380-0549; fax: 541-444-8325.
Name: ______________________________________ Roll No: _______________
Address: _________________________________________________________
City: __________________________ State: ______________ ZIP: ___________
File photo
Charles Wilkinson
That was not enough. The United
States adopted a policy of hard-edged,
forced assimilation. All traditional culture
was prohibited, Nee Dosh included. They
torched all the proud cedar dance houses.
They prohibited the languages. They sent
the children off to schools where the cul-
ture was scrubbed off them. They allowed
no self-determination. The BIA was the
real government. All that was Siletz had
been targeted for extinction. Then they
called termination just to make it clear.
But there was something that the
assimilationists had not counted on.
For Tyee John’s words still hung in the
air. They hung over every river, meadow,
forest and coastal formation. Yes, Tyee
John’s message of sovereignty, love of
the land, culture and staying power was
everywhere. Indian people could hear, and
feel, those messages and that spirit in the
air. But for long generations, the people
were kept down and they had no way to
break out.
CEDARR
Community Efforts
Demonstrating the Ability to
Rebuild and Restore
Mission Statement
We will utilize resources to prevent
the use of alcohol and other drugs,
delinquency and violence; we
will seek to reduce the barriers to
treatment and support those who
choose abstinance.
Then came the 1970s and you had
leadership. Oh, did you ever have leader-
ship 40 years ago. Yes, Art Bensell and Joe
Lane, as Tribal chairs, and Pauline Ricks,
Ed Ben, Robert Rilatos, Alta Courville,
Dolores Pigsley, Sister Francella Griggs,
Dolly Fisher, Bob Tom and Katherine
Harrison were indispensable, but there
were many others who made all manner
of contributions. Together they took Tyee
John’s words and spirit to Washington,
D.C., and people listened.
And that powerful sense of tradition
and commitment carries over to today.
Forty years later, you can remain proud
of a government that is stable, visionary
and productive. My admiration for what
you have accomplished since the 1977
statute is unbounded. You have achieved
a great many measurable things: the larg-
est government in the county, the larg-
est business in the county, housing, the
magnificent health clinic, the community
school and much else. You also have made
deeply cultural advances: Land acquisi-
tion, the Dance House, Nee Dosh, the
language program, the basketry, the Run
to the Rogue.
You have, then, put an exclamation
point after restoration. Its original mean-
ing was restoration of the federal-Siletz
Tribal relationship. You have done that but
have made it much more. You have reversed
the assimilationist assault by looking back
to your truest origins and restoring land,
history, sovereignty and culture. There is a
great deal to be celebrated today and that
will be true at every restoration anniver-
sary celebration in all the years to come.
For Tyee John’s words still ride on the
currents high above Siletz country and
always will.
Always,
Charles
Siletz Tribal
Behavioral Health
Programs
Prevention, Outpatient Treatment,
and Women’s and Men’s
Transitional
Siletz: 800-600-5599 or
541-444-8286
Eugene: 541-484-4234
Salem: 503-390-9494
Telephone: Day (
) ___________________ Evening (
) ___________________
Portland: 503-238-1512
If you only want to be considered for one committee, please indicate by
inserting the number 1 next to the committee of interest. If you have interest in
more than one committee, please indicate by numbering your preference 1 (first
choice) and 2 (second choice).
Enrollment Committee
Health Committee
If you have any questions, please call Tami Miner, executive secretary to Tribal
Council, at 800-922-1399, ext. 1203, or 541-444-8203.
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Siletz News
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December 2017
Dec. 6 • Noon
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Help Line – 877-233-4287
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