Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Siletz news letter. (Siletz, Oregon) 1989-1997 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1995)
May 1995 M e t t l e j f a t . ... Some of the comments I've been hearing on lowering the blood degree makes sense on both sides. Most tribal members that are for it are thinking of their grandkids or even their children, and the ones that are against it do not want to share what is ours with the ones that aren't. Lowering the blood degree does not make that person "Indian". Even white people have told me that they think it should be lowered. In our Tribe now, there are Tribal members that don't even know what blood they are. There were a few Tribal members that did not claim their Indian blood at all, but now they are more Indian than everybody else. There are 27 bands that exist in the Siletz Tribe. I myself am Tututni, Tolowa, Sixes and Chetco. In my family history, half of them are from Northern California. The Tribal Council should not make one language everybody's language. Now the Tribal Council wants to lower the blood degree. We can't even help our Tribal members out of the service area and we don't have a high school here. Where are the priorities? Joella Cain Letters to the Editor : All letters received will be printed except those which are determined to be slanderous. Please type or write legible, no profane language will be p r in te d . The Siletz N e w s le tte r and T rib a l G o v e rn m e n t accept no responsibility for statements made in the letters to the editor. The opinions expressed are souly those of individuals writing in. LETTERS THAT EXCEED 350 WORDS IN LENGTH WILL BE EDITED as approved by___Tribal Council Resolution #91-04. All letters must include vour name- address and signature. Send letters to : Siletz News, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, Oregon 97380. Attn: Teresa Miller, Managing Editor. PLEASE NOTE: The Chief Executive Officer of the Siletz Tribe is the Chief Editor of the Siletz Newsletter. To whom it may concern: My name is Pamela (Klamath) Legaux. I have been enrolled with the Siletz Tribe all my life, as have my two teenage daughters. But in order to receive benefits, we must reside in one of the designated areas. I have always done so until recently. I will explain my dilemma how lowering the blood quantum and no assistance outside of des ignated areas is involved. My family lived in Corvallis, OR where there was many problems invol ving drugs, crime and prostitution. My daughters didn't have problems with drugs but my oldest daughter was raped & forced into prostitution. We were able to get her the best medical care & lawyers thanks to contract health. We moved to Grants Pass, OR., by my husbands family. We have no more help from Contract Health because we live outside the designated areas. My daughters moved back to Corvallis to finish high school, and so that they could receive health benefits. My youngest girl (16), finally got her braces. But, my oldest daughter (17), was again raped and was pregnant. Jenifer, (my daugh ter) had a baby boy named Cody about a year ago. She told us she couldn't raise him be-cause Cody was not eligible for IHS (he was 1 /16), and she didn't have a job. So Jenna gave Cody to CSD. We couldn't provide any health care for him because he wasn't eligible for I.H.S. and we still lived out of the service areas. So now he is in a foster home. This is why we need to vote yes on lowering the blood quantum, and also pass the vote for I.H.S. out of the designated areas. Where are the people to count 8s depend on? My guess is that they would most likely be at the g a m i n g facilities, trying to see just where all that money is going. My heart is so tom, to see all this money being spent on recreation. Thank you for reading this letter, Pamela "Klamath" Legaux (Edited for length.) Blood By RayBlacketer I must disagree with previous letters in which ideas were presented in which the individuals felt that we should "marry our own kind", and that we should not "dilute our blood" with other kinds. There are other groups which make such statements concerning them marrying US!!! They don't want their blood contaminated with our "Lessor" Indian Blood!! Who is right? Do you know that they don't care if you have 1/1000 degree of Indian blood in your veins, you are still contaminated in their eyes!!! And more importantly, you are still an dirty Indian in their eyes!!!! Is prejudice only prejudice when whites make such statements? How about when we, as Indians make such statements. Does that make us prejudiced? Lets speak of how we make statements about how much we value and love our children. Does that mean we only love and value them if they meet some magical blood quantum? Or are they not still our children, and direct descendents of all the Indians who have been buried on Government Hill and other areas? Are they not descendents of Miller Collins, Louie Fuller, Henry Winkler, Elmer and Abe Logan, Joe Simmons, Holly Catfish, Joe Washington, Sam Klamath, Gramm Blacketer, Adolph Tronson, Sr., Mamie and Norman Strong, Abe Strong, Jug Bell, the list can go on and on. What if these same ancestors decided that only full blooded Indians could be enrolled in the Siletz Tribe? Would they have done that?, or did they truely cherish their children and grandchildren and want all of them, no matter what their blood degree, a part of this tribe? I believe there is room for all in our tribe. I also believe that if we lower it to 1/16 blood quantum and also accept all Indian blood, we will be actually raising our blood degree within our tribe. If each of us, no matter what our blood degree is, would stop and consider what would have happened if our ancestors had actually decided that only full blooded Indians could be members? Where would that leave you? So, please in this election, listen to your heart. Vote yes to lower the blood degree and open our roles to all Indian blood. Lastly, if we spent as much time and effort in recovering our treaty reservation lands that were taken improperly, we would now have 900,000 acres for the full use of all of us, including our children. Tribal Members: Our people voted on the blood degree once, the outcome was to "leave the blood degree as is." Certain Council members have openly ex pressed that they wanted decendencies. Was this for family? By having the BIA doing the election, this shows what great lengths the Council will go to get their way and this also shows our people how much they respect "our vote". It means nothing, I f it did, they would not allow this vote to happen. Tribal members that live outside the service area, you need to vote. You've been denied service, you should be a priority, not non-Indians, so vote no! Tribal Council should be involved with our people's concerns and needs. One is the Tribal youth in public schools. In Siletz, there are teachers that are prejudiced. They mistreat our Indian students. Council should approach the principal and teachers involved and take them before the school board and report them. Education should be taken seriously. We need to study the "Termination" to see if all rights were lost. Was the river rights included? If not, then this needs to go before the US Supreme Court to be settled, not a state court. We need to start electing Tribal Members that are Indian to Tribal Council, ones that will fight in the US Supreme Court, not have pictures taken. The more time we lose, the more issues will be lost. So vote when it comes t i m e for Council Election. Vote no on lower-ing the blood degree. We need to take care of our people that are being denied service (outside the service area and lack of funds). Sincerely, William Stanley Strong Tribal Member SILETZ NEWS DEADLINE May 15,1995 mail articles and photos to: Siletz News, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, Oregon 97380
