SILETZ NEWS
Siletz News
Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians
P.O. Box 549
Siletz, OR 97380-0549
Delores Pigsley,
Tribal Chairman
Brenda Bremner,
General Manager
and Editor-in-Chief
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Vol. 46, No. 6
June 2018
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No. 178
Salem, OR
UNITY announces 25 Under 25
youth leaders in Indian Country,
Rilatos included in latest class
From unityinc.org/25-under-25-youth-
leaders-in-indian-country-announced-
2/#more-5343; originally posted April
27, 2018
UNITY has announced the third class
of its “25 Under 25 Native Youth Leaders”
national recognition program that honors
American Indian and Alaska Native youth.
Siletz Tribal member Savanna Rilatos is a
member of this class of honorees.
The program, which launched in 2014
and is awarded every other year, recog-
nizes and celebrates the achievements of
Native youth leaders under the age of 25
who embody UNITY’s core mission and
exude living a balanced life developing
their spiritual, mental, physical and social
well-being.
“So many of our Native youth are
doing amazing work in Indian Country.
UNITY’s 25 Under 25 program is one
way of recognizing these young leaders
and acknowledging the passion they have
to improve their communities. There was
an overwhelming amount of applications
from outstanding youth leaders across the
nation. We offer our congratulations to
the honorees and wish all nominees the
very best,” said Mary Kim Titla, executive
director of UNITY.
The 2018 Class of 25 Under 25 Native
Youth Leaders includes:
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Katherine Carmain, 16, Rosebud
Sioux, Texas
Sapphire Carter, 24, Chippewa Cree,
Montana
Shasta Dazen, 24, White Mountain
Apache Tribe, Arizona
Nancy Deere-Turney, 23, Muscogee
Creek Nation, Oklahoma
Jay Fife, 18, Muscogee Creek Nation,
Oklahoma
Ashleigh Fixico, 21, Muscogee Creek
Nation, Oklahoma
Frederick Gipp, 24, Apache Tribe,
Oklahoma
Tristan Joe, 18, Navajo Nation, New
Mexico
Maddie Lamb, 19, Muscogee Creek
Nation, Oklahoma
Vonica LaPlante, 17, Mandan/Hidatsa/
Arikara, North Dakota
Jayden Lim, 16, Pomo, California
Faith Long, 19, Eastern Band of
Cherokee Indians, North Carolina
Xavier Medina, 19, Pascua Yaqui,
Arizona
Elwood McClellan, Jr., 18, Iowa Tribe,
Oklahoma
Audri Mitchell, 19, Colorado River
Indian Tribes, Arizona
Tashoni Morales, 18, Yachi-Tokut/Te-
Moak/Western Shoshone, California
See UNITY on page 11
Butler signs letter of intent to attend
Southwestern Oregon Community College
Photo by Andy Taylor
File photo
Isaac Butler (center) puts on a hat from Southwestern Oregon Community
College to indicate the college he has chosen to attend on a wrestling
scholarship. He signed his letter of intent at an all-school assembly at Siletz
Valley Early College Academy on May 9. Isaac was joined by (l to r) Bob Tom
(his grandfather), Lee Butler (his father), Reggie Butler Jr. (his uncle) and Sam
Tupou, school superintendent/principal. See page 10 for additional photos.
Savanna Rilatos
Merkley, Wyden, Walden, DeFazio announce passage of
legislation to return Tribal control over private lands
WASHINGTON – Oregon’s U.S. Sens.
Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, with Rep.
Greg Walden (R-OR 2) and Rep. Peter
DeFazio (D-OR 4) announced May 16
that Congress has passed the Oregon
Tribal Economic Development Act, which
allows certain Tribes in Oregon, including
the Siletz Tribe, to lease and sell property
that they own.
“It’s absurd that Tribes were forced
to get congressional approval before they
could develop property that they privately
own,” Merkley said. “Several Oregon
Tribes asked me for help on this issue as
they encountered barriers to development
projects and I could not be more pleased
to see it heading to the president’s desk to
be signed into law. This legislation is criti-
cally important to Tribal sovereignty and
economic growth, allowing Tribes to take
ownership over development opportunities
on their reservations.”
“Tribes in Oregon should have the
authority to set their own economic course
and an essential piece of that decision-
making must be the flexibility to develop
their privately owned property,” Wyden
said. “I am gratified that common sense
and fairness have prevailed so that Tribes
throughout our state can choose to pursue
development opportunities that create jobs
and revenues.”
“Passage of this measure will help
improve the lives of Oregon Tribal mem-
bers by giving them new opportunities to
manage their lands without unnecessary
federal red tape,” Walden said. “I look
forward to President Trump signing this
bipartisan measure into law.”
“Throughout our nation’s history, our
terrible federal Indian policy has decimated
Tribes not only through displacement, but
through economic discrimination as well,”
DeFazio said. “In Southwest Oregon, the
INIA made it impossible for the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and
Siuslaw Indians in my district to fully
function as a sovereign nation, acting as a
roadblock to the Tribe’s economic devel-
opment. I’m proud to help right a historic
wrong by exempting the Coos from its
unnecessary restrictions.”
Currently, under the Indian Non-
Intercourse Act, Tribes are required to get
federal approval to purchase, sell, convey,
warrant or lease lands they own privately.
This makes it difficult, expensive and
impractical for Tribes to seize economic
development opportunities when they
must get approval from Congress every
time they want to obtain a commercial
mortgage for their non-trust property.
The Oregon Tribal Economic Devel-
opment Act allows certain Tribes in
Oregon to forego that additional approval
on privately held lands. The bill does not
affect property that is held in trust by the
United States, which means the federal
government holds the legal title to the
land in trust on behalf of a Tribe and the
Tribal government manages the land for
the communal benefit of the Tribe.
Merkley and Wyden led the act in
the U.S. Senate, and Walden and DeFazio
led a companion bill in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
The Tribes in Oregon impacted by
this bill include the Confederated Tribes of
Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians;
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; Con-
federated Tribes of Siletz Indians; Confeder-
ated Tribes of Warm Springs; and the Cow
Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians.
“We give great thanks to Sen. Merk-
ley, Sen. Wyden, Rep. DeFazio and Rep.
Walden for their hard work to secure the
passage of S 1285, the Oregon Tribal
Economic Development Act,” said Chief
Warren Brainard of the Confederated
Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and
Siuslaw Indians. “This bill advances the
potential for economic development for
Tribes in Oregon by strengthening our
self-sufficiency and self-determination
and ensuring the equality of Tribes to buy
and sell fee lands like other Americans. It
is a great day for Tribes in Oregon.”
“Economic development and invest-
ment is vital to improving the lives of our
Tribal members,” said Cheryle Kennedy,
chair of the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde. “This bill removes a significant
barrier to the Tribe leasing and develop-
ing fee land. The Tribe is grateful for Sen.
Merkley’s leadership on this issue and his
role in passing the legislation.”
The next step for the legislation is to
be signed into law by the president.