4
June 1995
Letters to the Editor :
All letters received w ill be printed
except those which are determined
to be slanderous. Please type or
write legible, no profane language
will be printed. The Siletz News
letter and Tribal Government
accept
no
responsibility
for
statements made in the letters to the
editor. The opinions expressed are
souly those o f individuals writing
in. LETTERS THAT EXCEED
350 W ORDS IN LENGTH WILL
BE EDITED as approved by
Tribal Council Resolution #91-04,
All letters must include your name.
address and signature. Send letters
to : Siletz New s, P.O . Box 549,
Siletz, Oregon 97380. Attn: Teresa
Miller, Managing Editor.
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Chief
Executive O fficer o f the Siletz
Tribe is the C h ief Editor o f the
Siletz Newsletter.
Awaken Tribal Members!
This letter is a plea
to all o f you Tribal
Members who do not take
the time or make the
effort to attend Tribal
Council
and
General
Council meetings.
You
know my people, we
elected the members of
the Siletz Tribal Council to
represent US, we the
people of this Tribe. And
yet, each meeting is a
conflict, a battle between
"Us and Them".
Why won't they
listen to the will of the
People?
Why do they
overturn issues that have
been voted upon and
approved by the General
Council?
Why do they
deliberately turn their
backs on our concerns
and desires? Because we
let them.
They have
stated that not enough
people are voting on
issues of concern (our's
anyway) to be a true
representation of the Tribe
as a whole. So, in their
infinite
knowledge
of
knowing what is best for
the people, they do what
they want. They represent
us, but they do not listen
to us.
WE NEED TO
UNITE!!!!
We
need
enough concerned mem
bers at the meetings to
make a difference.
We
need a General Council
Commission! This would
enable the people to vote
on issues that will then be
carried to the Tribal
Council to be acted upon.
This will not be an easy
thing to accomplish. The
Tribal Council will fight to
keep their totalitarian
powers. Our Tribal Con
stitution as it stands,
gives total power to the
Tribal Council.
These
powers can be amended,
but only by a unanimous
vote
by the
General
Council. It would be a
beginning.
Remember People,
it is very easy to sit back
and say, "This should be
changed, that must be
changed, how can Council
do these things?" Again,
because we the People, in
our apathy of involvement
in Tribal matters, let
them. We do have a voice
in this Tribe, but we must
speak louder.
If Tribal
Council refuses to listen
to a few, they must listen
to many.
PLEASE
ATTEND
THE MEETINGS!!!
General
Council
and Tribal Council must
act as one entity for the
good of our Tribe.
Thanking you, I am
C.W. Case Sr. #183
Enrolled Tribal
Members: 2,320
Eligible Voting
Members: 1,643
Tribal Council
Members: 9
SILETZ NEWS
DEADLINE
June 15,1995
mail articles and photos to:
Siletz News, P.O. Box 549,
Siletz, Oregon 97380
To the Editor:
I would like to say
thank you to Delores
Pigsley and Jessie Davis
for all their years of hard
work (in spite o f all the
roadblocks) in getting the
gaming center off &
running.
I don't think
anyone (unless you have
been through it yourself)
has any idea of the time,
effort, & headaches to get
something
of
this
magnitude off 8 b running.
I know it is hard to keep
going when you have
those sitting in the wings
grumbling, finding fault 8 b
waiting for you to fail.
How much easier it would
be to have people tell you
we are behind you all the
way. If I can help let me
know. I know there are
many who do this, but it
seems the fault finders
are always the ones
making the most noise. I
guess it's because the
others are to busy trying
to help. I have been on
committees
before
8 b
sometimes you feel if one
more person says, "this
will never work" 8s "it can't
be done", I'm going to tell
them, "if you think you
can do better have at it."
But then someone comes
to you 8 b says, "good job,
keep up the good work."
Those are the people you
keep on going for.
By the time this
letter comes out the voting
will be over. I hope we get
over our prejudice 8 b
bickering. Since my son
was small he has loved
the
outdoors,
drew
pictures
of
animals,
Indians, etc. When he got
older he started studying
about Indians, has made
a sweat lodge 8 b had
"Indians" come join him.
He was a drug 8 b alcohol
abuse counselor in the
Lincoln City High School,
has helped out at the
Siletz Smoke House 8 b yet
they tell him you can help
but, others say you don't
have enough blood to
belong with us. It's ironic,
two of the people who
wrote against the lowering
of the blood degree, I'm
pretty sure we are related.
My great grandmother
Jane "Shellhead" Collins,
was Lucy Metcalfs sister
8 b her uncle was William
(Skookum Bill) Strong.
Maybe we don't have as
much
blood
degree
because
our
great
grandmother married a
white man but, does this
make us any less or better
than anyone else? To me
it's more important, what
is in this persons heart
than blood.
Thank
you
for
listening,
Wanda Melton
Dear Tribal Members:
As I stated at the
General Council Meeting,
I plan to start a petition
effort to recall council-
persons
Jessie
Davis,
Delores Pigsley, and Phil
Rilatos.
Anyone who
would like to help with the
petition gathering, or have
someone get a petition to
them to sign a petition, is
encouraged to contact me
at 5110 Hill Villa, Salem,
OR,
97306,
or
at
telephone number (503)
378-1483.
Each petition Will
identify an individual.
You need not sign or work
to recall all three people.
If you have any questions
or input, please contact
me.
Sincerely,
Gerald D. Ben
H a p p y B irth d a y
Patrick Pullam, we
all love you back here in
Missouri.
May
this
birthday be a special one
just as you are special to
us.
Love you always,
Angela, Rob, Dale
8 b William