S p ily y Tymoo
September 29, 1981 Page 11
Siletz tribe home after long struggle
by Marsha Shewczyk
The Siletz tribe is celebrating
its restoration as a tribe along
with the return of some of the | |
lands that was once theirs.
Their happiness and pride
radiates from Government Hill
in Siletz where the first
powwow was held on their own
land after many years without a
home base.
But much of the Siletz story
does not shine with pride and
happiness. Many Siletz tribal
members can recall sad times,
there were many in the history
of the Siletz people.
The ancestral land belonging
to the Siletz people wgs rich in
timber and natural beauty.
With the coming of white
settlers the coastal tribes were . _
forced to move from the land ******WW8
they occupied for so long.
The superintendent of
Indian Affairs in Oregon, \ w
General Joe Palmer, nego
tiated with chiefs and headmen 1
of many bands to arrive at the
settlement for the 1855 treaty.
f
- ■ * '
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________________
The bands agreed that their Speeches and opening ceremonies were staged on a slab of concrete on Government Hill which was
people would within one year at one time the foundation of an old cannery where tribal members would can salmon, meat and
move from the lands of their vegetables for themselves and other tribal members. This will be the site o f the new Siletz cultural
ancestors to a very rugged and community center.
portion of the coast. The thirty- accustomed to.
surviving Indians east of
Another act of congress in
nine bands would occupy a 1.1
1910 authorized the sale of the
General Palmer continued the Cascades.
million acre reservation and his efforts to get the treaty
On March 3, 1875 Congress reserved allotment lands,
would become known as the ratified. Pending ratification he passed an act closing the Alsea Much of the land then passed
Confederated Tribes of Siletz asked for an executive order to reservation and reducing the into non-Indian hands. Bv 1954
Indians of Oregon.
protect the designated Indian Siletz reservation some 360 tribal lands had dwindled to
The August 11 treaty gave lands from settlement.
thousand acres: The act 2,598 acres. Seventy-six
the Indian people of the coast
The treaty was never ratified d e s ig n a te d th e S ile tz individual allotments con
one year to move to the and the executive order reservation as a “permanent tained 4,390 acres.
reservation. But because of guarantee gave no “vested” reserve.” Not one Indian
In 1954 the most extreme
skirmishes and insistance by property rights. Executive
policy in the history of Indian
consented
to
removal.
Despite
white settlers Palmer was order land could be taken
that the land was opened to affairs, term ination, com
forced to order removal of the without payment of full value. white
settlement. Labors spent pletely severed the relationship
in d ia n p e o p le to th e White settlers who saw the
between the federal govern
over
the
preceding 15 years ment
•eservation in February of possibilities of commercial went uncompensated.
and various Indian tribes.
Federal support and programs
1856. There was much loss of enterprises convinced the
Individual ownership was were cut off and all tribal land
ife along the way due to president to sign an executive
:xhaustion, disease and attacks order which cut the Siletz not a part of the Indian way. was sold. Only after it was
The federal governm ent realized that termination had
by settlers.
reservation into two parts. The
No one knew that the treaty middle section between the ignored this concept when in almost completely destroyed
would never be ratified by northern Siletz reservation and 1887 it passed the Dawes Act. tribal life among terminated
congress. Almost all Indian the southern Alsea reservation The attraction to white settlers tribes was the policy rejected
tr e a tie s w ere p ro m p tly was o p e n e d to w h ite in the passage of this act meant and reversed. Termination was
approved by the Senate. settlement. This amounted to that Indian land not allotted to imposed on only three percent
History reports the failure to 240 thousand acres taken from individual tribal members of all Indian tribes. The Siletz
ratify the Siletz treaty as being the Siletz tribes without their would be declared surplus. The tribe was included.
accidental and unintentional.” c o n s e n t a n d w ith no land would be opened to
P ublic Law 588, the
homesteading.
The consequences to the Siletz compensation.
termination act for the western
By 1892, 536 allotments had
tribe were nothing short of
The attractiveness of the been filed on or in behalf of Oregon Indians, resulted in the
sale of the remaining tribal
devastating.
Because there was no treaty coastal land owned by the Indians. Before allotment the lands. Thirty-nine acres in the
Siletz
Indians
prompted
the
Siletz reservation contained city of Siletz known as
no subsistence annuity came
from the government. The state legislature in 1870 to 225,580 acres; after allotment Government Hill was donated
rugged land the Siletz people pass a memorial requesting the Indians held onlv 46 by the federal government to
occupied made it difficult to that the federal government thousand acres. The Indians the city of Siletz. This was once
survive the wav they were abolish the entire coast received 74 cents per acre for the headquarters for the coastal
reservation and move the their land.
tribes. The tribes retained a
small cemetery on the hill.
Individual allotment lands
became subject to taxation. By
1960 many of the last lands that
belonged to the Siletz Indians
passed out of Indian ownership
due to non-payment of taxes.
Many Indians had no means of
paying the imposed taxes.
The security of having a
place to go home to was lost.
Throughout the years many
Siletz Indians dispersed to
various places in Lincoln
County. A great number went
to larger cities such as Salem
and Eugene.
Many leaders of the Siletz
tribe saw what termination was
doing to their people. In an
effort to reorganize they filed as
a non-profit corporation under
state law in 1973. The Siletz
Resoration Act was passed on
November 18, 1977. The act
provides that once again the
Siletz tribe and its enrolled
members are eligible for
assistance and benefits that the
The cultural and community center to be located on Government H ill in the city o f Siletz has recently federal government extends to
*>een approved by the Siletz tribal council
all federally recognized tribes.
The tribe has regained its
position as* a sovereign people,
providing services to its people
and providing a sense of unity
and identity for its members.
On November 28, 1979,
3,630 acres of land had been
located which today composes
the Siletz tribal lands. Plots of
Bureau of Land Management
land scattered throughout
Lincoln County along with 39
acres on Government Hill in
the city of Siletz were returned
to the Siletz tribe.
Before a settlement was
made the conflict concerning
hunting and fishing rights for
Siletz tribal members had to be
cleared up. According to Siletz
tribal council chairman Art
Bensell, “We had been studying
the fishing issue a long time.”
Negotiations with the stati
resulted in the Siletz tribe's
acquiring three sites on three
streams off the Siletz river
“These streams are closed tr
everyone but tribal members,
says Bensell. “Only cultura
fishing is allowed, that is, witi
spear, gap, hook, basket weir
and net. This way we can teach
cultural fishing to the young,
Bensell commented. “ Th<
number of fish we catch i
limited." however.
Bensell pointed out that
because there was not.so mucl
organized opposition to
hunting, tribal members did
better on the hunting issue
Tribal members may hunt for
one additional deer and elk
beyond state limits.
The Siletz tribe settled on
these issues in a compromising
manner because as Bensell
states, “We didn’t want to as!
for too much. We might get
nothing.”
With the goal of getting £
land base met new goals can
now beset. A 10 year economic
projection was developed to
assist the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the Tribe which
reflects the goals adopted by
the Tribal Council.
The Tribe’s chief goal
according to the report on the
proposed Siletz reservation
plan is “to improve the lives of
its members by meeting their
pressing social needs and
sustaining their sense of pridi
in being Siletz Indians.”
The 1551 member tribe
currently has a manager and
small administrative staff as
well as a staff that operates
education, employment, health
and housing programs.
Potential tribal enterprises
were discussed and researched
during the course of the
reservation planning. They
include tim ber sales, a
com m ercial cam p g ro u n d
operation and a business loan
program for tribal members.
G overnm ent H ill will
become the site of a cultural
and social service facility which
will be shared with the
community. A proposed site
plan for Government Hill has
been developed that includes a
cultural and community center,
tribal and BIA offices, medical-
dental clinic and indoor and
outdoor recreational facilities.
So now, after many years of
struggling, the Siletz tribe
Bin come together to develop
plans for the future. The
Government Hill site given
back to the Tribe by the city of
Siletz provides an ideal
location to begin based on the
Siletz people’s history. It’s
home.