Siletz news /, July 01, 2018, Image 1

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. 7
July 2018
Presorted
First-Class
Mail
U.S. Postage
Paid - Permit
No. 178
Salem, OR
Courtesy photo
Left to right: Tony Walters executive director, National American Indian Housing
Council; Sami Jo Difuntorum, former NAIHC chairwoman; Gary Cooper, NAIHC
chairman; and Carol Gore, president/CEO of Cook Inlet Housing Authority
Difuntorum receives lifetime
achievement award from national
Indian housing organization
By Diane Rodriquez
Sami Jo Difuntorum, executive director
of the Siletz Tribal Housing Department,
received a lifetime achievement award from
the National American Indian Housing
Council at the organization’s annual con-
vention and tradeshow in late May.
Difuntorum (Kwekaeke band of
Shasta) recently completed four years as
the chairwoman of NAIHC. She has 24
years of experience in Tribal housing,
which includes providing testimony to
Congress during the reauthorization of
the Native American Housing and Self-
Determination Act (NAHASDA), repre-
senting NAIHC at the first Tribal leader
meeting with the White House, member-
ship on the Indian Housing Block Grant
Formula Negotiated Rulemaking Com-
mittee, developing multiple residential
communities and administrative offices,
and Region VI representative to the
NAIHC’s Unexpended Funds Workgroup.
“I was very honored and humbled to
receive the Virginia Kizer award. It was
particularly nice to receive this from my
colleagues on the board for whom I have
the uptmost respect,” said Difuntorum.
The award was presented by Gary
Cooper (Cherokee), newly elected NAIHC
chairman, and Carol Gore (Ninilchik Vil-
lage), Region IX representative for NAIHC.
Their presentation reads as follows:
The Virginia Kizer award is a lifetime
achievement award given to a woman in
Indian housing.
On behalf of the 267 members of
NAIHC representing 467 Tribes and hous-
ing organizations, the NAIHC Board is
extremely pleased to present the Virginia
Kizer lifetime achievement award. This
award is being given to a member who
wants no recognition, but is so deserving
of this award – we are very pleased to honor
our outgoing chair, Sami Jo Difuntorum,
with this prestigious award.
Sami Jo provided leadership in a
number of roles, including the Lincoln
Community Development Corporation,
Northwest Indian Housing Association,
Southwest Indian Housing Association,
Formula Negotiated Rulemaking Com-
mittee and most recently as our chair and
the chair of the NCAI Housing Committee.
She approached the position of
NAIHC chair as a way to bring everyone
together with a unified voice in Washing-
ton, D.C., and a plan to provide NAIHC’s
members with a sustainable organization.
With her leadership and her Tribe’s very
significant financial support, she has
made a lasting impact to NAIHC and its
members.
Sami Jo brought meaningful change
to the NAIHC that resulted in administra-
tive efficiencies, reduced overhead, deeper
investments in members through the
training and technical assistance program
resulting in a stable and healthy financial
future for our organization. The last piece
of her puzzle was to establish an operating
reserve to provide NAIHC with a safety
net in an unstable funding environment.
Perhaps most important of all is Sami
Jo’s tireless advocacy for Indian housing
See NAIHC on page 4
Photo by Andrea Taylor
Healyah Butler, Danica Lundy and Anastasia Zigler walk toward the stage at the
beginning of their graduation ceremony at Siletz Valley Early College Academy
on June 2. See more graduates on pages 10-11.
Courtesy photo from OCCC
Tribal Council member Gloria Ingle accepts the Friends of the College Award from
Dr. Birgitte Ryslinge, president of Oregon Coast Community College, during the
college’s graduation ceremony on June 16.
OCCC presents Friend of the College Award to Tribe
Each year, Oregon Coast Community
College selects a community member or
organization to receive the Friend of the
College Award. The purpose of this award
is to recognize those who have made
significant contributions in furthering
the vision, mission, values and goals of
our college.
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Indians is a confederation of more than 27
ancestral Tribes and Bands, speaking 10
completely different languages, who were
removed to the Siletz Reservation from all
parts of Western Oregon west of the Cas-
cade Range summit, the lower Columbia
River in Southwest Washington, and the
Upper Klamath River, Shasta and Scott
River Valleys, Smith River and Crescent
See OCCC on page 15