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About Siletz news. (Siletz, Oregon) 1983-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1985)
PAGE 2 - AUGUST, 1985, SILETZ, OREGON Council Chairman’s Report Delores Pigsley FROM THE CHAIRMAN: Many of you may not know that our Vice-Chairman, Art Bensell, suffered a stroke on July 17,1985. Art, LeRoy Wilder and myself were in Washington working on our land acquisition project and held a series of meetings with D epartm ent of Labor, Administration for Native American, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Oregon Con gressmen. Art is hospitalized in George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. By the time you read this, he may have been released and on his way home as he is progressing well. Drop him a card, I’m sure he would like to hear from you. We all pray for his speedy recovery. Pow Wow time draws near. August 16,17,18 is Nesika Illahee Pow Wow. This year should be one of the biggest and best pow wows ever. Our new comfort facility should be completed, we will have additional lighting, and a fine meal is planned. Your Pow Wow Committee has worked hard to make this year a success, and if you would like to help, please let the Pow Wow Committee know. Tribal Employee Interested T he C o n fe d e ra te d Tribes of Siletz form ed a Housing Authority in Ms. Doni White, a Siletz T rib a l em p lo y e e w as order to receive fun selected to the Performance ding for HUD housing. S ta n d a rd s A d v iso ry If you think you m ight Committee for the Indian and Native American (INA) be interested in renting program under the Job or buying a home in the Training Partnership Act. Siletz a re a through the This Advisory Committee provides a participatory Siletz Indian Housing framework through which Authority contact Jeff the Employment and Train ing Administration can con W illia m s , H o u s in g sult with grantee repre C oordinator a t P.O. sentatives on policy issues Box 549, Siletz, OR involved in the development and operation of the per 97380 or phone 444-2532 formance standards system E x t . 33. T o ll- f r e e c o v e rin g th e 193 INA n u m b e r is 1-800- grantees âcross the country. 922-1399. (In-State on ly) SILETZ NEWS BREMER E D 'T 0 R Mailing Address: P.O. Box 549 Siletz, Oregon 97380 Telephone: (503) 444-2532 DEADLINE FOR THE SEPTEMBER SILETZ NEWS IS AUGUST 20,1985 Send all articles and photos (black & white only) to P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR. 97380. Letters To The Editor Just Reply,! Dear Editor: In the Lincoln County Leader which came out July 24, 1985, a letter to the editor was published which reads: To the Editor: I am so angry! My children struggle to . make house payments or pay rent on homes that are too small for their needs. The Siletz Indians are given $2.5 million to build homes. This money came from taxes taken from my children and yours. I am tired of these give away programs. Enough already. Write your con g ressm an o r re p r e sentative. Bette Selkregg South Beach This person doesn’t think that Indians pay taxes, and we don’t struggle to pay house payments or rent. She wasn’t the least bit upset that the Newport Housing Authority also built new townhouse apartm ents in Newport last year. Where did she think all of that money came from? Heaven NO — TAXES mine and yours, Tribal members. The Siletz Tribal Council is working very hard to pro vide a better life for tribal members. The goal of an en terp rise is to provide employment for any tribal member who wants to work and a home to live in. The Revenues from these homes will be returned to H.U.D. If only people — In dian and non-Indian — would stop being so jealous of one another and try to work together for a better sense of unity — all of us would benefit. Kristi Martin Siletz, Oregon Concerned Dear Editor: I am a Siletz-Chetco, Tututni born in Crescent Ci ty, California July 15, 1957. At an early age I was remov ed from my parents and placed in various state in stitutions. This has been my lifestyle, but this is not my purpose for writing this let ter. There is a group that is g ranted by the F ederal Government or the tribe to research our Culture. I wonder what this means. There.are a few of us resear ching our history seeking Historical Documentation of fact concerning the status of the Siletz tribe. It has been my privilege and honor to know these people and their concerted efforts to unders tand the total impact of past and present Federal Policies and Procedures of the Siletz Tribes. On more than one oc casion I have assumed er roneously a particular In dian issue to be clear and definite. Upon further in vestigation other valuable information was revealed and there led to yet other in formation, other investiga tions. I often wondered where did it start? What pur pose did it serve? There was no revelations to my reason ing and analyzing. All basic educational study habits at random selection of one area of Federal Policies of one particular tribe would keep a dedicated person busy for an 8 hour day for the rest of his or her life. It has been my ex perience that the research has had an effect to the degree of discouragement. It has also appeared to be the design of the documents to mislead and hide the intent and scope of its contents with language that the tribes (that dealt with those issues at that time) had to deal with at that time. Another exam ple to consider is the tribes immediate concerns which was survival with pressure from the weapons of the set tle r s a n d g o v e rn m e n t military weapons. We could pursue this line of investiga tion indefinitely. It’s that simple to get involved with one crisis that instigated other critical policies. I will direct your attention for the need for this through ex amination of the historical “ F a c ts” documented. To clearly understand the im-- pact of those facts today, I could not put a right or a wrong label on any. of these policies and procedures that "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 549, Siletz, OR. 97380. Questions? Call 444-2536. were forced upon the Siletz tribes, nor acceptance of the different segments. But the facts are the truth, truth is assumed to be good. That’s how we were taught to look at truth with honor and dignity. If we could look at it a different way with a dif ferent view, with our emo tions, prejudices and opi nions put on hold. Let’s study the issues as they are, ex amine the language closely and be clear about the (in ferences) implications that we make are often mistaken inferences and judgments. By a thorough investigation we have to take into account that the first glimpse of evidence is our signal to dig further into the issues. So often we arrive at the door but we never go in. The sur face overwhelms and con ceits to the point of complete knowledge. Perhaps this is part of our weakness as human-beings because we all want to be right whether it be for praise or just the n ee d fo r re c o g n itio n . Whatever the case may be should not stop your efforts to cram for the examination, term papers or thesis of the lives that were sacrificed for our existence. There is a need to direct our energies toward the forces that are responsible for our/yours and mine present survival. The energies that we direct at each other for what ever reasons can be utilized for th e united stu rg g le for freedom. I Pray for the People Gary Butler AKA P.O. W. 41965 P.S. The Tututni’s were the most important tribes. They lived on the lower Rogue River and on the Coast north and south of its mouth. They were “moved” to the Siletz Reservation AKA concentra tion c a m p in 1856 as Prisoners of War, having taken part in protecting their traditional homelands from invaders. This camp served as a means to destroy our na tions through extermination policies. This is not an assumption on my part this is re c o rd e d in Oregon History there has been a grave miscarriage of justice done to our people. If our na tion is to survive we have to be what the Creator intended us to be and live in harmony with Grandmother Earth to preserve life not create weapons to destroy Her and life too. We have given up nothing our people never had a chance to vote on the land agreement or the Hunting and F ish in g ag re em e n t those issues are not closed. We cannot afford to let these issues be closed. We cannot blame any tribal members for any wrongs. I believe in the beginning they believed they were doing the right th in g a n d in th e end manipulated by the U.S. Government with govern ment funding to succeed in making sure we could not sue for 1,000,000 acres of land so we could not hunt or fish on 1,000,000 acres of land. These issues are still open we as people need to become aware of this. You are one person as I am one person. Let’s start working together and begin building a nation our future generations can be proud of. I Pray for the People CHANGE OF ADDRESS or ADDRESS CORRECTION Old or Incorrect Address: Name (s) Address _______• ■ ______ ____________ i— :— - -- ________ _____ _______ _____ ___ __________ City/State______________ ________ _______________ __ Zip Code ____________ __ _________ ________________ New or Correct Address: Name(s) Address ,__________ _______ ___________________ __________________ ________ _____________ — City/State_______________________¿_______:__________ Zip Code _____ :____ _3____________ :________________ Mail to "Siletz News" P.O. Box 549 Siletz. OR. 97380
