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About Siletz news letter. (Siletz, Oregon) 1989-1997 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1994)
Chairman's Report by: Delores Pigsley Once again, the Siletz Tribe held an outstanding Pow Wow on August 12th through the 14th - this year, celebrating seventeen years since our Tribe, was "Restored". We should be proud of the fact that the Siletz Pow Wow is now known throughout the northwest as one of the best. It is estimated that from 7,000 to 10,000 persons attended our Pow Wow with dancers representing Tribes from throughout the western and southwestern United States and Canada. The remarkable thing is that, except for a number of paid personnel who perform security, maintenance and other duties, Pow Wows have been, year after year, a voluntary effort. On behalf of the Tribal Council, and the Tribe, I want to express our appreciation to all our Pow Wow volunteers who contributed their time and energy to the success of this outstanding event. * On the national level, Jessie Davis reports (elsewhere in this issue of the Newsletter), that Tribes once again face a crisis in Indian gaming caused by the introduction of a bill to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The proposed amendment, introduced by Senators Inouye and McCain, if adopted, would seriously damage Tribal Sovereignty. As you know, Jessie has been an active participant in the NIGA / NCAI Task Force to prevent the passage of any bill hostile to Indian Tribes. I refer you to Jessie's report for details on the status of our gaming project. * September 17, 1994 will be a Red Letter day for the Siletz Tribe. With construction completed, we will dedicate the new addition to the Siletz Health Clinic on September 17th, that will enhance our capacity to provide health services to our people. On the same day, we will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of our long- awaited, new administration building. The new facility will help bring together under one roof, many of our scattered offices and help in the coordination of programs and services resulting in greater efficiency. * Our Self-Governance negotiations with the BIA have been finalized, generally to our satisfaction, with just a few issues remaining. As for the EHS, another Tribal/ IHS negotiation session was held in Seattle on August 22 with most of the issues resolved. We anticipate completing negotiations on September 7th on the remaining issues. * At our August 22nd meeting with IHS, the Logsden Road water issue was again called to their attention. As a result of the Tribe's strong objections to the do- nothing policy of the IHS, an IHS team from Portland, including sanitation engineers, the following week, made a site visit to Siletz to study the problem and to develop a plan to address this water availability problem. We will be closely monitoring the IHS efforts to implement a plan that will bring desperately needed water to this September 1994 area. * Regarding the future of the Siletz Agency, the Area Office’s original plan for drastically reducing the budget and staff is still an unsettled issue. It is clear now, that contrary to what we had been told before, decisions regarding the agency budget and the restructuring of the agency is a responsibility of the Area Director. We are deeply concerned that the Area Office had disregarded the basic principle that Self-Governance (or any similar plan under another name), must not adversely affect the other Tribes served by that agency. In the case of the Siletz Agency, the three small, southern, non-Self-Govemance Tribes would be severely impacted under the Bureau's earlier plan, for it would have destroyed the Agency. We feel we have a responsibility to see to it that while protecting and advancing our own Tribal interest, we should help our fellow Tribes from Bureau decisions that are injurious to them. * In our two-day meeting in Portland on August 20 and 21st our Tribal Council discussed and took action on a wide range of subjects including changes in the election ordinance, timber sales, the personnel manual, use of GSA vehicles, Corps of Engineer's cultural research project, gaming, etc. Brett Kenney, the Chief Tribal Judge, presented a report of his review of the Tribal Court system. His recommendations for strengthening the Tribal Court system based on his review were adopted by the Council. The need for a strong: judicial system is becoming increasingly important as we assume greater and greater control of our affairs. It is, after all, one of the foundations of Tribal self- determination and sovereignty. Proposed Amendments to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act by: Jessie Davis, Ad Hoc Gaming Commission The issue which dominated the NIGA/NCAI Task Force meeting in Phoenix on Aug 21 & 22 which I attended was the proposed substitute amendment to S 2230, a bill introduced by Senators Inouye and McCain to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. As I reported last month, S 2230, if enacted, would prove very detrimental to Indian gaming. The substitute amendment would also result in a significant loss of sovereignty rights for all Tribes. Our Task Force carefully analyzed each section of the proposed bill and discussed strategy for dealing with the problems created by these Senate Committee proposals. Although it is unlikely that any bill to amend IGRA will be passed during this legislative session, there is great pressure on the part of states and others to amend the Act. Their purpose, of course, is to greatly diminish, if not destroy, Indian gaming. All Tribes have been strongly urged to submit comments regarding the bill to NIGA by September 9, 1994. J 4 4 4 4 4 < < 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 < 21 We are preparing, and will submit to NIGA our comments in opposition to the bill as proposed by the Senate Committee. Other Contacts during the NIGA Conference While in Phoenix, I (and Zak Zakoji) met with Franklin Ducheneaux, our Washington, DC consultant, to discuss the status of, and strategies to deal with, issues involving our Tribal Gaming Project. We also discussed with Ducheneaux, the potential adverse impact on the Siletz Tribe of the proposed substitute amendment to S 2230 and the need to make our objections known. We also had the opportunity of establishing contacts with, and gathering useful information from representatives of companies that deal with all aspects of Indian gaming, i.e., the testing and certifications of machines, security systems, gaming machines, etc. Tribal Gaming Ordinance and Regulations 4 On the basis of the work by the Ad Hoc 4 Gaming Commission, copies of the drafts of the 4 < Tribal Gaming Ordinance and Regulations 4 involving (1) establishment and role of the 4 Tribal Gaming Commission (2) Licensing (3) Dispute < Background Investigations and (4) Resolution, were distributed to the Council < members for their review. , These drafts were approved by the 4 Tribal Council on August 20th. 4 Tribal / State Compact Negotiations for Class III Gaming 4 The sixth in the series of Tribal / State 4 Compact Negotiations was held at the State < Capital on August 26, 1994. Over the past seven 4 months, we have arrived at substantial 4 agreement with the Governor's team on most of < the key issues. There are a few remaining issues 4 to be resolved. The issues that our teams have already addressed include: The Gaming facility (size and design), scope of gaming (including the types and number of games), 10th and 11th Amendment issues. Casinos definition, certification of machines, approval of gaming contracts, confidentiality of information, approval of gaming contracts, background investigations, security and access to gaming site. Our next session, which may be the last session, is scheduled to be held on September 9, 1994. Management Agreement and Property Option Draft copies of the management agreement and property option were distributed for Tribal Council review and comment prior to the Council meeting on August 20th. After discussing these drafts during the Tribal Council meeting on August 20, 1994 provisional approval was given the Tribal Chairman to negotiate a management agreement for the operation of a Siletz Tribal Gaming Enterprise. The Council also authorized the Chairman to negotiate an option on property for gaming purposes. 4
