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About Siletz news letter. (Siletz, Oregon) 1989-1997 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1996)
ten ta 1996 ATNI Honors Siletz Tribe The Confederated Tribes o f the Siletz Indian Reservation were honored for their cultural heritage programs by die Affiliated Tribes o f Northwest Indians at their annual tourism symposium, at Kah- N ee-Ta "Resort, September 3-6. M ore than J.70 attended the four-day event. A TN I’s highest award was given to 10 organizations for their w ork combining, educational tourism, cultural preservation and comm unity service. Affiliated Tribes of N orthw est Indians is a consortium o f 54 tribes in a five-state region including Southeast Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western , M ontana and northern California. The Award o f Excellence was given to the Siletz Tribe a day early to acknowledge their quiet dedication to cultural heritage, an often unacknowledged and underappreciated effort by individuals working behind the scenes, often, for decades. “Relearning the language, the songs and the w ays o f our people is often the hardest work o f all, because so much has been lost and so m any o f our people were relocated,” said Gail Chehak, ATNI tourism director, w ho gave the award in an emotionally-moving presentation. Accepting the award on behalf o f the Confederated Tribes was Selene Rilatos, cultural coordinator for the Siletz Tribe. Chehak read the text o f die awards program before she presented the etched- glass award to the Tribe: “A ll o f the original tribal members o f the Siletz Reservation were people o f different languages fo rc e d to move to Oregon ’s central coastline, near the Siletz R iver during the Indian Wars o f the 1 8 7 0 ’s. A cultural revival is underway fo r the Siletz, who are maintaining the language, dances and ceremonial regalia o f their ancestors. N o t only do the Siletz honor the o ld ways, they also dance a headdress, constructed o f non-traditional materials, that was made fo r exhibition purposes during N ew port’s 4th o f July parades a t the turn o f the century—the only time that laws forbidding Indians tb make a n d dance ceremonial regalia were relaxed. The Tribe fo r years has sponsored the N esika llla h ee Powwow on the beautifully kept grounds on top o f Government Hill, the site o f the form er Indian Agency 9 and military buildings. N ow tribal m embers have a dance group who wear traditional deer skin dresses that were once worn in ceremonies o f the southern Oregon coast and inland valleys. Dance aprons, adorned with shells and seeds rustle as the dancers move, sometimes with a sound as so ft as the wind in the trees. In 1995, descendants, o f the fir s t people o f the Siletz Reservation ran along the Oregon coastline fo r more than 200 miles, back to one o f their Rogue River villages, carrying an Eagle staff, retracing the steps o f their ancestors who • had been m arched north over that trail o f tears— stopping to p ra y a t sites along the way that had been told about by survivors o f the march. This yea r they have com pleted a traditional Ceremonial dance house in a sheltered grove o f trees near the Siletz River. It is with great respect that we present this A w ard o f Excellence to the Tribe fo r their support o f traditional values and to the Tribal Council and Cultural Resources s ta ff fo r their unswerving dedication, & Other award winners are The People’s Center, Flathead Reservation, M ontana for their exceptional educational guided tours; the N ooksack T ribe’s stream restoration project, in Deming, Washington. Architectural awards were presented to The M useum at Warm Springs for architectural excellence and tribal collaboration in design; and to Jones & Jones, a Seattle architectural firm with Native American Johnpaul Jones as one o f the principals who designed the Longhouse Project on the Evergreen State College campus in Olympia. Thè Gaming Tribes o f Oregon were recognized for their important advertising campaign informing the public about the role o f Indian gaming in Coming Home The drums beat last night sounding outcries of welcome honoring runners carrying eagle staff two hundred miles all the way from Siletz They carried the eagle banner high bringing home symbols of the tribe marched north in chains crying tears of life long ago The ancestors raised their grateful spirits seen dancing in the firelight honoring youth carrying their staff back home to Rogue River country Moon and stars looked down as tribal drums beat on into the night s i n g i n g songs of tribal lore carrying cadence to dancers clad in ancient tradition dancing special rendition to meanings of Indian tradition Did you hear as I did way into the night the drums of ancients resounding in delight the freedom of their spirits celebrating the circle of our life the Northwest. Goldbelt, Incorporated, Sealaska Heritage Foundation, Saxman V illage and Taquan Air, all o f Southeast Alaska, were also honored. For more information about cultural programs offered to the public by Indian tribes Of the Pacific Northwest, ask at your local bookstore for N ative Peoples o f the N orthwest, A Traveler’s Guide to Land, Art and Culture, co-authored by Jan Halliday and Gail Chehak, and the A ffiliated Tribes o f N orthw est Indians, published by Sasquatch Books. Jack Churchill 9-9 6 Run to the Rogue II The Run to Rogue honoring the long march of our ancestors in 1856 took place once again on September 19 through the 21, ending at the Agness Pow Wow on the Rogue River. Many people took part both running and walking, carrying the eagle staff around the clock with a spirit of reverence for the hardships endured by our people not so long ago as the were forced to leave the Rogue River for the Siletz reservation. Thanks to all of those who participated including the support people who provided food, set up camp and did the driving. Frank Petersen gets our vote of thanks for once again coordinating the event. For the upcoming year, a committee has been appointed and a fund raiser has begun. T-shirts commemorating the run will be on sale soon. Bonnie Petersen has designed the front of the shirt which is a feather dancer transformed into an eagle staff runner. On the back, all of the participants from 1995 & 1996 will be listed. Contact Margo Norton if you are interested in purchasing one of the shirts at 444-8205. Darcy Jones (holding Eagle staff) I _________ & Sandy Gordon_______
