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.