Siletz news letter., January 01, 1997, Page 3, Image 3

“Indian Joe”
Now, I’ve written this poem
for my dear friend Joe.
He was a full Blood Indian,
a proud Navaho. .
Now Joe was the best friend
I ever had, and the
night that he died I was
so very’ sad.
We grew up together we
were two of a kind, and
a
true friend like Joe was so
hard to find.
Our youth was spent on
the Arizona Reservation,
and we were mighty proud
of our Indian Nation.
Now ours wasn’t always
an easy way of life,
for there were times we
experienced hunger, and
there were times when we
experienced strife.
Now we learned not to trust
just anyone, and we
learned there was a lot
more to life than just
having fun.
Now there came a day we
went off to war, and being
both young Marines made
our young spirits soar.
Now 111 never forget that
cold Korean night,
it was hand to hand
combat, a terrible fight.
We were pushing our way
up this Korean Hill
if you wanted to survive you
had to kill;
Now the sounds of gun fire
filled the air, and the
sounds of the dying were
everywhere.
Now Joe was about twenty
yards ahead, and in the
twinkling of an eye, he laid
there stone dead.
I rushed to his side, but
there was nothing I could
do,
for the bullet entered his
heart and passed on
through.
Now Joe was as brave as
any man could ever be,
and
that night he lost his life so
others could be free.
So, what I have written is
my tribute to Joe
one mighty brave Indian
just wanted you to know.
Vem Davidson, 1996
To all Tribal Members,
February 1, is almost
here, tim e to vote for
three new Tribal Council
Members and it happens
every year in February.
You Tribal members
are not an interruption
to Tribal Council, you
are the purpose of us.
My goal is to promote a
smooth running,
high
integrity system and I
believe I have contri­
buted to where we are
today.
All does not run
smooth as we want it to
in any business , yes,
we are a business, we
have had our good times
and bad times but we
still go on thanking each
of
you
for
the
opportunity to partici­
pate and try our best to
protect
all
of
us.
Sometimes we run into
road blocks,
at times
within
the
Tribal
Council. Several
Tribal
Council Members were
not with us in the
struggle for Restoration,
education,
health,
housing
and
general
welfare of our Tribe, Yet
they criticize and vote
against
progress
in
economic development.
Many
of
our
programs
and
busi­
nesses and some of our
employees are at stake
because of the greed for
personal
gains
and
favoritism for families
and areas within the
service boundary.
Yes, I want health,
education, child care, -
housing
and
social
services for everyone
that qualifies, no, matter
where you reside. I also
want dividends to come
to us when the bills are
paid.
Now is the time to
keep continuity within
our Tribe and We can do
that if we stick together
and vote for committed
candidates. Mike Darcy,
JoAnne
Miller
and
myself are able to devote
the time and knowledge
to all of you.
Our
phones are open for
questions and concerns.
We will listen and do
what we can to resolve
whatever is asked of us.
, Your vote for Mike
Darcy,
Jo Ann Miller
and I will ensure equal
employment,
benefits
and whatever this Tribe
has to offer to Tribal
Members.
We worked
together in the past and
our goals were all the
same. Names and places
were not a problem.
Greed,, retaliation, and
pay day are in not in our
vocabulary.
Thank You,
Mary (Dolly) Fisher
My name is Darelle
Butler and I am a
candidate
for
Siletz
Tribal Council. It is my
belief that one should
have a better reason to
run for such a position
in our tribe than that of
a gripe that motivates
them to run for Council
so they can change
things. As a 54 year old
Siletz man, I had to
endure some very lonely
and difficult, learning
experiences to get to
where I am today. What
I went through was no
greater, or less, than
what any of my people
had to go
through;
growing up in a society
that has no respect for
us an Indigenous people.
Today, I am honored,
by our tribes accom­
plishments, to be a
member of the Siletz
River
People.
The
accomplishments
we
have achieved as a
People, a Nation are clear
indications that we have
never given up. That the
will-to-live, still moti­
vates the Siletz People.
As an adult member
of the Siletz Tribes, I
offer these words from
my heart that bears no
bad feeling for anyone. I
grew up on the Siletz
Reservation during
a
time when - it was not
only forbidden, but even
encouraged by some of
our people - not to teach
us our culture, the
foundation of our natural
identity
to
all
life!
Without that balance, I
grew up a very confused
person.
I know that
giving up our identity,
our culture is not the
key to our success as a
nation of today.
The growth of our
tribal
businesses
is
beginning to slow down.
This is a natural process
of evolution.
To each
and everyone, life is a
continuous
learning
process. Continually, we
learn about who we are
spiritually and physic­
ally, to maintain our
identity to the natural
world. We have oppres­
sed our spiritual identity
to develop our physical
identity. This is evident
through the education of
our children who have
returned to work for our
people
and
helped
develop successful tribal
businesses today. One
of my Uncles once told
me, “I don’t have much
education, but I have a
lot
of
knowledge”.
Education represents a
value system that was
brought
to
our
homeland.
Knowledge
represents
a
value
system that has been in
place for thousands of
years before there was
any other way in our
homeland.
We must
learn to adopt the best
from both value systems
to create a balance for
our children’s future of
good
health
and
happiness.
To achieve
this, I ask that we put
aside
our
personal
differences so that we
can
learn
to
work
together.
Maybe by
learning to work together
we can learn to like each
other. It’s worth a try -
vote for me.
Darelle Dean Butler
P.O. Box 168
Otis, OR 97368
(541) 996-6316
To The Editor,
I am Geraldine Foss. I am a
homemaker for Fred Hostler, a
Tribal Elder. I am a student in
the NAP cooking program. I
enrolled in the nutrition
program to learn to cook and
to learn new recipes. I have
enjoyed the program very
much and Fred has enjoyed
the recipes. Erin O’Haver-
Hicks has been wonderful to
work with. We have had a lot
of fun cooking the wonderful
recipes.
I recommend the
program to anyone. I hope the
program will continue.
Sincerely,
Geraldine Foss