Chairman’s Report
Native American Rights Fund
Mamook Tokatee
I was pleased to be able to attend the
Native American Rights Fund (NARF)
50th anniversary celebration in Aurora,
Colo., in April of this year. I was invited as
a guest speaker as NARF played a signifi-
cant role in our Tribal Restoration effort
prior to 1975 when I was first elected.
Many Tribes and lawyers were present
who assisted our Tribe back in the day
when we had no funds whatsoever for any
legal assistance.
Our good friend Charles Wilkinson
also was in attendance. He expressed many
fond memories of our Restoration effort,
remembering all the folks with whom he
worked. We reminisced about old times.
NARF continues to work on major
Tribal issues; John Echohawk is still
the executive director. We are proud of
our association with the organization.
Through charitable donations we fund a
summer intern at NARF.
Our housing development in Portland
(Mamook Tokatee) celebrated a ribbon
cutting ceremony with all of the partners
(Native American Youth and Family Cen-
ter (NAYA), Community Development
Partners) in May. The housing develop-
ment is beautiful; we are extremely lucky
to have the partners working with us and
us with them.
Our housing director, Sami Jo Difun-
torum, is to be commended for her work
Paul Lumley, NAYA CEO. The artwork in
the facility, organized by Phillip Hillaire,
is outstanding.
Chemawa Indian School
The Por tland regional director
invited the Siletz, Grand Ronde and
Coquelle Tribes to participate in a meet-
ing at Chemawa with several Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Bureau
of Indian Education (BIE) officials to
STBC seeks landscape contractor(s) for
properties in Salem/Keizer area
The Siletz Tribal Business Corporation is looking for a suitable vendor/
vendors to perform landscaping services for both vacant land and developed
land in the Salem/Keizer area
An RFP is available by contacting Ann Lewis, acting CEO for STBC, at
541-994-2142 or alewis@stbcorp.net. Proposals are due by 4 p.m. on Friday,
June 15, 2022.
CTSI Jobs – Tribal employment information is available at ctsi.nsn.us.
Siletz News is free to enrolled Siletz Tribal members. For all others, a $12
annual subscription fee applies. Please make checks payable to CTSI and mail
to Siletz News.
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ers – call the newspaper office.
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Siletz News
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June 2022
Member of the Native American
Journalists Association
discuss Chemawa issues that have been
discussed many times in the past. We are
making some headway.
The issues have centered on upkeep of
the old campus and the cemetery. Funds
have not been allocated for the upkeep and
Tribes have always insisted that it is the
responsibility of the school. We toured the
facility and all the surrounding grounds,
including the cemetery where the grass
was knee-high.
I also had the opportunity to have the
BIA officials visit our future Salem casino
property. It was a good visit and I let them
know they will get an application from us
soon and we look forward to them approv-
ing our project.
Memorial Day
Delores Pigsley
Our Memorial Day ceremony took
place on May 30 at the Paul Washington
Cemetery on Government Hill. It was
good to see so many of you there.
Elders Council Meeting
The Elders Council will host an in-person meeting on Saturday, June 18, 2022,
at 1 p.m. at the Hee Hee Illahee RV Resort in Salem, Ore.
If you have questions, please contact the Elders Program at 541-444-8233.
Editor’s note: In the article on Nellie Orton in the May issue of Siletz News,
Wolverton Orton’s name was misspelled. Siletz News regrets the error.