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About Siletz news letter. (Siletz, Oregon) 1989-1997 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1990)
¡PAGE ¿ .• S ^ ^ ¿ r0 R E G O fT .^ v é ÍB b e r~ J199Q '''.»i,...Lii.- ' ' , ' ' ¡. '- V LETTERS TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: * it has been one year since I, Royce Strong was fired at STEDCO. I have been w a itin g fo r a DA investigation to find out if it is true that one million dollars did in fact disappear. Why was there no police involvement? Why is this STEDCO happenings, so hush hush? Two people did admit that they out right lied about m e. A T r ib a l member/STEDCO employee did tell the Council at a General Council meeting that people down at STEDCO did lie. False charges were brought against me and I want the DA involved. A computer and other items has been stolen, was the police notified? I feel that all Tribal members would w ant to know the truth about STEDCO and the money, lying and sex involved. There are sexual allegations that has occurred with a couple of Tribal Council members. I feel e v e ry th in g s h o u ld be brought out in the open. I talked with former Council member Bud Lane about STEDCO, way before I was fire d , and now I understand that when he was running for re-election he never knew anything about what happened at STEDCO. W ell, I know d iffe re n t because I had talked io him. Doug Brown did in fact talk to Andy Viles for about 2-3 hours and told him the truth, and Andy did not print one word. Why? I was told I would get a letter to clear up my name in any wrong doing at STEDCO, but to-date, I received nothing. The "money” that did get lost should be all Tribal members' concern. The T rib a l C hairm an Should demand an investigation now, or is there a reason that is' stopping her? We need to know the "REAL TRUTH!" \ L Royce Strong Tribal Member To the Editor: I was .struck by an ironic juxtaposition of items in a recent issue o f the Tribal Newsletter. The front page p ic tu r e d th e groundbreaking ceremonies for: the new health clinic. Turning the paper over, I was faced with a plea to collect lids from cans of chewing tobacco to he used as adornments on ceremonial garments. ... I am fr a n k ly c o n c e rn e d about th is e x h ib it e d n a iv e te su rrounding the c ritic a l health is s u e s .. The - life e xp e c ta n c y fo r N a tive Americans does not exceed fifty in most parts of the country. All too often m e m b e rs of our com m unities succumb, in what should be the prime of life to diseases wrought by the poisons o f modern western culture. My wife and I -are raising our children to lead spiritually, physically and intellectually. rich lives; and w ould like the T rib a l C o m m u n ity to be a touchstone for reinforcing these values. I would like to see your editorial staff take an a g g re s s iv e and s o p h is tic a te d p o s itio n c o n ce rn in g fu n d a m e n ta l quality of life issues. Finally, there is a sad irony in the fact that we are eager to adorn ourselves in the expression of our Tribal Selves, with the by- p r o d u c ts o f ’ th o s e unwholesome elements that are unraveling our culture. Sincerely, Ciayborne W. Arden To Council Men and Women: I am w ritin g this letter in regards to your job as a Council.person. We the people elected you to office to do the best job you can for us. But you are not, I urge you if you haven't got the back bone or starriina to fight to make the tribal system run like a well oiled machine then I urge you to resign and let the people elect someone into your position. Don't jusU sit there and draw pay o r • tra v e l a ro u n d The country. Have some1 pride: and respect for yourself as representatives t fa r y o u r people. But yet you as our nine chiefs let one man disrupt and cause chaos among our working staff and tribal members. The people working for the tribe are scared to speak in their own defense for fear of being reprimanded or fired. We can't have things like this going on in our tribal system. It's up to you to step in, if you don't know who I am talking about:? It's our G eneral M anager, P h il. Rilatos. I will give you an example of how he operates. A job was advertised, he hired a non-tribal member saying that no qualified tribal member applied for the job, but when one-of our Council persons checked, the truth was that a tribal member applied for the job. But to our General Manager- that didn't mean anything? The trib a l mem ber has worked at a technical job for. several years but yet wasn't qualified for the job. When confronted with this by one of his boss's, Phil still held his ground that th e tribal merpber wasn’t qualified. Two days la te r, another job comes up for hiring, the General Manager o v e rrid e s the h irin g com m ittee's number one pick for the job and does the h irin g h im s e lf w ith o u t i ntervie wi ng anyone. A nephew of his that wasn't recommended got the job. You Council men and women are our leaders. You're Phil Rilatos's boss, he is not your boss. I believe you Council people will have to act on these issues. I've worked in the logging industry for 40 years and I've seen a lot of P h ils, they th in k the business is going to roll over and die without them and I think some of you think the same way. I want you Council people to keep it in mind then any man or woman can be replaced. I have ■ i I | I j j- never saw or heard of a business shutting, down on account o f one em ployee; being terminated. I urge you as a concerned tribal member, don't let the General Manager run our tribe like . a dictator. I believe deep down in my heart the trib a l : members would like to see a change in the G eneral ; Manager position. I think Jt will save a lot o f trouble for everyone in the future. The tribal members, are being pushed in to a corner where something will have to give. Reginald Butler Sr. Dear Editor: I'm a U.S. Marine in S audi. Arabia who is an enrolled m em ber in the Siletz Tribe. During the day we have.a lot of down time because of the heat. This is the time we write home or read books. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps can't supply my platoon with sufficient reading materials. "Would Jt -be possible-tor. you to collect up some used books fo r m yself and .fe llo w marines to read? If so, it would be greatly appreciated by myself and others who would benefit from this. I'd also like to give a special thanks to my family and frie n d s fo r su p p o rtin g myself and other servicemen who are here in Saudi Arabia. s -T hanks fo r your- cooperation. If you want to write, pen pals, etc, here's my address: CCPL Metcalf; 541828990 Golf217WPNS PCTL.O.D. FPO San Francisco, CA 9 9 6 0 8 -5 5 1 3 Sincerely, Nathan Metcalf SILETZ NEWS DEADLINE November 15, 1990 mail articles and B/W photos to: Siletz News, P.O. Box 549, Siietz, Oregon 97380
