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