Chairman’s Report
Charles Wilkinson
The news of Charles Wilkinson’s
passing was shared by his family in Boul-
der, Colo.
Charles was a fiercely devoted friend
to our Tribe since I first met him back in
1975. He supported and led Tribal resto-
ration efforts even prior to that date. At
the time, he lived in Eugene, taught at the
University of Oregon and was very active
in the Native community in Eugene.
He attended most all of our early
Tribal Council meetings, coordinating
information with many organizations,
including the Native American Rights
Fund and with our congressional delega-
tion. He played an extremely important
role in Tribal restoration.
Our first Tribal Council visit to Wash-
ington, D.C., was in March 1976. Each
council member and our general manager
testified before the Senate Select Com-
mittee on Indian Affairs. Charles assisted
with all the testimony as we had only five
minutes each to testify.
We then made a huge lobby effort to
members of the House of Representa-
tives. Charles greatly assisted with his
passionate pleas in the House. It was an
unforgettable trip and the Tribe’s first time
to testify before Congress.
Charles attended many Tribal func-
tions over the years, including our pow-
wow, Tribal Restoration, Run to the Rogue
and Nee Dosh. He kept in touch with all
Tribal activities. It was those relationships
that told us he would be the best person
to write our story, The People Are Danc-
ing Again.
We contacted Charles to determine if
he had the interest and the time to write
about Siletz. We were pleased that he
really wanted to undertake the job.
He took a one-year sabbatical from
the University of Colorado Law School
in Boulder to do the writing. As it turned
out, the book took more than a year to
complete because he wanted to make sure
it was absolutely correct. He gathered
many Tribal members to be sure.
After the book was complete, Charles,
Bud Lane and I promoted the book to
many places. It was well-received by
the public and by scholars. Charles has
famously written many books, his exper-
tise in Tribal issues has been acclaimed
by many Tribes and universities. He has
received numerous awards and I have been
lucky to be present at some of those.
Charles is greatly missed, not only
by his family, but by many people whose
lives he has touched over the many years.
Siletz Tribal Consent Decree
The Tribe has worked for several years
to find a way to rid us of the hunting and
Legal Aid Services of Oregon and the Oregon Law Center, civil legal service
providers for low-income Oregonians, operate a public benefits hotline where
low-income Oregonians can talk to lawyers and paralegals to get advice on public
benefits, including unemployment benefits:
Oregon public benefits hotline: 800-520-5292 • Oregonlawhelp.org
Siletz News is free to enrolled Siletz Tribal members. For all others, a $12
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to Siletz News.
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Siletz, OR 97380-0549
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2
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Siletz News
•
August 2023
Member of the Native American
Journalists Association
fishing restrictions that were necessary
in order to be restored back in 1977. In
the 1980 Reservation Plan, the Tribe had
to agree to the Consent Decree that gave
the state authority over hunting, fishing
and gathering.
The Tribe recently worked out an
agreement with the Oregon Department of
Fish & Wildlife and the ODFW committee
approved the agreement in June. On July
19, 2023, the U.S. House of Representa-
tives Natural Resource Committee passed
our legislation by unanimous consent
to amend the Restoration Act to remove
the restrictions on hunting, fishing and
gathering.
On the same day, the U.S. Senate Com-
mittee on Indian Affairs also unanimously
passed the same legislation (see page 1).
The legislation now needs to pass the full
House and the full Senate, which we are
hoping occurs before the August recess.
Many hours have been spent to get
us this far to justify the Tribe’s position
on managing our own natural resources.
Delores Pigsley
We still have a ways to go and it will be a
topic of discussion at our General Council
meeting this month. We have reason to
celebrate!
Hope to see you all at the pow-wow!
Elders Council Meeting
The Elders Council will host an in-person/Zoom hybrid meeting on
Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, at 1 p.m. in the Shasta room at Chinook Winds
Casino Resort in Lincoln City, Ore.
If you have any questions, please contact the Elders Program at
541-444-8212.