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About Siletz news. (Siletz, Oregon) 1983-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1985)
PAGE 2 - JANUARY, 1985, SILETZ, OREGON Council Chairman’s Report Delores Pigsley FROM THE CHAIRMAN: Because this is m y last opportunity to express my thoughts to you in 1984,1 w ant to review some of the high lights of the year: F irst let me say that I have appreciated serving as your Chairm an and look forw ard to working with you in 1985. A list of noteworthy events of 1984 m ust include the establishm ent of our tribal court. We have trained and certified 26 tribal judges. Our Chief Judge, John Roe, is an attorney and a tribal m em ber. The court has heard several cases and has come a long way in becoming an im portant tribal institution. The m ost im portant activity of the Tribal Council was its focus on planning for the T ribe’s economic future. A highlight of this effort was the conference held specifical ly for the Tribal Council a t Kah-Nee-Ta back in July. The conference provided much needed information to Council m em bers and gave all of us a clearer picture of the dif ficult economic decisions we have ahead of us. I also am proud of our efforts to develop a cultural preservation program and to foster pride in our Indian heritage. Our Pow Wow was another great success and has become one of the m ore im pressive tribal cultural ac tivities in this p art of the country. I am happy to report on the trem endous success of our new bingo gam e. The Bingo Commission consisting of Ja n e John, Kristi Martin, Bud Lane, along with the help of very capable staff, has established an economic enter prise which provides income to the Tribe and offers a recreational activity to the participants. If you have not yet attended one of our bingo gam es, I encourage you to enjoy the fun and excitement. Having listed a few activities about which I am p ar ticularly proud does not m ean th at I do not equally adm ire the accom plishm ents of our individual m em bers a t work, a t school and in their other endeavors. Nor does it m ean that activities listed are the only events our Tribe can take pride in. I chose these to rem ind us that our Tribe truly is a functioning social, political and cultural entity and all of us should be proud to be m em bers. While we take tim e to look back a t our ac com plishm ents, I think we m ust rem ind ourselves th at the m ost im portant tim e is the future. I encourage each of you to m ake your contribution by exercising your right to vote in the upcoming election. This dem ocratic processes the best m eans for individual Tribal m em bers to m ake the Tribal Council responsive to individual needs. I encourage all of you to take advantage of the opportunity. Before I close, I w ant to express my gratitude and ad m iration to each and every one of our tribal staff. I think we have a tendency to take our staff for granted and fail to recognize the extrem ely difficult jobs they do under often trying circum stances. I personally w ant to thank each of them for the trem endous job that they do. Finally, I hope every tribal m em ber has the happiest of holiday seasons and a joyous and prosperous 1985. Sincerely, Delores Pigsley Tribal Chairm an New Babies Vernon and Marie Brown wish to an nounce the birth of th e ir son, N icolas Nathan Brown, brown a t 12:50 p .m . on December 14th at New L in c o ln H o sp ita l. Congratulations Ver non and Marie. Timmy & Tommy Stuart welcome a baby sister Tiffaney Dawn born on 12-14-84, 8 lbs. 15V2 ozs. Proud parents are Thomas & Marlene Stuart. Proud Grand mother Maxine Rilatos of Siletz, also the late Robert Rilatos Sr. Also Grandparents Mr. & Mrs. Wallace Stuart of Hayward, Calif. Great G ra n d p a re n ts M rs. Pearl Rilatos and Mr. & Mrs. Archie Ben, all of Siletz. Letters To TheEditor D ear Editor: At the General Council m eeting on November 3, 1984, our people forgot the h eart and spirit of this Tribe. We forgot independence and pride, and by a slight m ajori ty reco m m en d ed to • the elected Council the first steps of term ination. Oh, it was spoken in term s of fairness and equal distribu tion of benefits, but never theless, per capita paym ents today, is the beginning of the END for the Siletz Tribe. And a swift, sure term ina tion it would b e ! A per capita paym ent is not the right solution to our m em bers’ various financial p ro b le m s . A nd th is is definitely not the right tim e to even consider one! The« tir tib e r re v e n u e s ac cum ulated to date cannot m eet the real needs of all tribal m em bers for a sus tained period. Decreasing our capital resources would benefit a few, and th a t’s a noble cause. But much of the per capita paym ents would be spent on good times, lux ury items, and perhaps, pay a few bills. In the long-run, how will we finance im provem ents on Government Hill, buy land, sta rt a college fund, build a museum or finance sm all business loans if our money has all been spent? A p er ca p ita paym ent policy is a poor, short-term solution, th at would create long-term problems for our Tribe! We need to build an independent, secure finan cial future through well plan ned program s of tribal enter prises and investm ents. A p ay m en t to each T ribal m em ber is not going to im prove their housing, health benefits, or create jobs: only cripple the T ribe’s ability to do so as a whole. There was a suggestion that all we need as a people is to hang on to the coattails of governm ent p ro g ram s and grants. T hat is not my idea of success or pride! I suggest we need to become financially independent as quickly as possible. As seen by cutbacks in Indian pro gram s in the last 4 years, the A m e r ic a n p e o p le d o n ’t New Phone Numbers The new central telephone system is now in use. All calls will come through a switchboard, answered by D arlene Carkhuff, who will transfer the calls to the ap propriate extension. You m ay call 444-2532 and ask for the staff person by nam e or extension. The following is a list of staff, their position and extension. always elect officials sym pathetic to Indian problems and needs. We can ’t and ALDRIDGE HOUSE shouldn't, depend on Govern Ext. # Person Title/Position m ent monies to run our pro Secretary 35 Nancy Simmons gram s. It’s vital that we 36 Wilma Strong Social Service Worker create other sources of con Indian Child Welfare 37 F ran k Peterson tinued income rath e r th a n ’ 38 Eloise Case CHR depend on our lim ited tim ber 39 Maxine Rilatos CHR funds. It was well stated at 40 Kim McCarthy . Community Health Nurse General Council, WE NEED M O N EY TO M AKE SILETZ CENTRAL TRIBAL OFFICE MONEY! The Federal Government 11 Darlene Carkhuff Receptionist continues to deal with “ the 12 Judy John Secretary Indian problem ” , as if it will 13 Tina Jones Adm inistrative Assistant just go away! Well, Red 14 Word Processor Culture hasn’t “ju st gone 15 Doni White Human Resource M anager aw ay” , not even in the last 16 Robert Lockyear General M anager 200 years of exterm ination, 17 Conference Room removal, allotm ent, or final Vice Chairman 18 Kristi M artin ly te r m in a ti o n . W e’ve 19 Dan Rilatos M aintenance Supervisor always hung on to our pride 20 Kitchen and uniqueness. L et’s not do what the Federal Govern SILETZ AREA OFFICE m ent could not do, that is 21 M ary Brown Receptionist m aim forever that spirit that 22 T ed Werth Hunting & Fishing/ Siletz unites us as Indian people! News Should we support per capita 23 Phil Rilatos Tribal Comptroller paym ents today, when it 24 K aren Bell Bookkeeper I points towards a second te r 25 Shirley Strickler Enrollm ent mination tomorrow? I say, NO!!! 26 Sharon Edenfield Bookkeeper II At some point in the future 27 Computer Station per capita paym ents m ay 28 Conference Room become realistic. Until then, let’s not cut our own throats SILETZ AREA OFFICE #2 because of “ I just don’t care JT P A /Secretary 29 Allison Simmons anym ore” attitudes. It’s not 30 M ary Lane JTPA/Counselor the right solution! 31 Jim Willis Economic Planner Instead of a per capita Head S tart Program 32 Sue E ggert paym ent, a more reasonable Chief Judge 33 John Roe solution to the question of Court Clerk 33 Kelly Strickler e q u a l b e n e f its fo r a ll m em bers would be increas U.S.D.A. FOOD PROGRAM ing our service area. Siletz 34 Clerk T rib al m e m b ers, p lease, w rite or call Council and ask th at im m ediate steps be taken to secure the service area required to benefit the m ajority of m em bers. It would take tim e, perhaps as long as 2-3 years, but other new ly re c o g n iz e d sm a ll tribes have equitable service areas, so there is hope that we c o u ld p ersu a d e legislators to correct ours. Once an equitable service area is being worked on, I hope we can set aside the q u e s tio n of p e r c a p ita paym ents until a tim e when it would be appropriate. Thank you for reading. Sincerely, Denise A. Wilson TED WERTH 7006 Logsden Rd. EDITOR Logsden, OR 97357 4444444 SILETZ NEWS “ Opinions, Questions, Concerns’’ All letters received will be printed. Please type or write legible, no profane language will be printed. All letters must Include your name and address. Send letters to: "Siletz News", P.O. Box 670, Siletz, OR. 97380. Questions? Call 444-2536. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 670 Siletz, Oregon 97380 Telephone: (503)444-2536 DEADLINE FOR THE FEBRUARY SILETZ NEWS IS JANUARY 14, 1985 Send all articles and photos (black and white, only) to P.O. Box 670, Siletz, OR. 97380.
