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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2021)
4A | SATURDAY EDITION | SEPTEMBER 25, 2021 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 CHANTELLE MEYER , EDITOR | 541-902-3520 | CMEYER @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion The First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibit- ing the free exercise thereof; or abridg- ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peace- ably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” — Thomas Jefferson (1800) Oregon’s nine tribes ask for voice in water planning natural limitations of our water con- that our voices will be clearly heard in all that process might entail, the sumption, including groundwater. Our people have seen the changes tribes request the following: 1. By executive order, establish a to our waters and our lands caused by mismanagement. There is a very “Tribe-Agency Water Vision Task real threat of extinction for steel- Force” to include representation Dear Gov. Brown, head, salmon, lamprey, suckers and from Oregon’s nine federally recog- We the nine sovereign tribes of other species in our oceans, streams, nized tribes and the nine state agen- cies identified in Oregon’s Water Oregon thank you for your lead- Re- sources Strategy. The goal of ership in recognizing that our Guest Viewpoint this group would be to fully co- great state needs a water vision ordinate the vision and goals of a with at least a 100-year view. We (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submissions holistic water vision. are all dedicated to improving this on this and other topics are always welcome 2. Collaborate with each of our beautiful place that we now call as part of our goal to encourage community tribes to develop specific recom- Oregon. discussion and exchange of perspectives.) mendations for the water plan. We have met as the tribes of Each of our sovereign tribes may Oregon to share and discuss our beliefs, concerns and needs for an rivers and lakes. We have known of have unique, specific interests perti- nent to water resources and/or water Oregon water vision. Each of us is these problems for a long time. a distinct and unique sovereign, but The extinction of these vital fish- infrastructure within their ancestral we have all reached agreement re- eries would equate to the genocide of areas. All of Oregon’s tribes are eager and garding these issues. our people and the end of our irre- Water is sacred. Water is life. Wa- placeable lifeways — because these willing to engage. The inclusion of ter is the heartbeat of our culture. resources form essential parts of Oregon’s tribal voice in its water vi- Our understanding of these truths is who we are. The extinction of native sion will ensure its comprehensive based upon a legacy of survival and fisheries is completely unacceptable commitment to our collective hu- reliance on our Oregon oceans, riv- to our nations. Whether intentional man and ecosystem resiliency needs. ers, and lakes. Whether we are plan- or not, we know our state is treading Oregon’s tribes hope your office can ning for one year or 100 years, any a dangerous path in several water- instruct all affected state agencies to reciprocate in kind. water vision must, at its core, restore sheds. All regards, and protect cold, clean water. We have seen many planning pro- The nine sovereign tribes of Ore- As modern Oregonians we have cesses come and go. If a plan fails not done this well. It is time for a step to take on these issues, it will fail gon to create acceptable solutions. The forward. Confederated Tribes of Coos, Our tribes and their fisheries lived truth is that the state and the tribes Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indi- together before Oregon existed. Our in Oregon know the main barriers ans; Confederated Tribes of Grand ancestors understood that they had to healthy oceans, rivers, and waters. to live in a balanced relationship We all have known for some time. Ronde; Confederated Tribes of Siletz; Confederated Tribes of Umatilla with oceans, rivers, creeks, lakes, What is missing is the will to change Reservation; Confederated Tribes of springs, marshes, and the flora and the way we do business. Our water Warm Springs; Cow Creek Band of fauna that depend upon them. There and those who depend on it have Umpqua Indians; Coquille Indian was, and is, no other way to survive. paid the price. Tribe; Klamath Tribes; and Burns As Oregon’s “water vision” initia- Many modern Oregonians, however, Paiute of Harney County act as if there are no consequences or tive moves forward, and to ensure The following commentary summa- rizes a letter to Gov. Kate Brown from the leaders of Oregon’s nine federally recognized Indian tribes. The letter was delivered Sept. 21, 2021. LETTERS (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint submissions on these and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and ex- change of perspectives.) Warning About Hoax Letters A friend suggested I send this to the Siuslaw News in an attempt to warn others. Recently, I received a letter after the death of my husband asking for personal and billing information. This is a cruel hoax hap- pening here in Florence and all over the country. They are trying to get personal information from people and bilk them out of money they don’t owe. When I read the letter, it up- set me and all I could think was, “How much money will it cost me to fight this?” because I knew there was nothing owed, having handled all the finances for 27 years. Thankfully, I Googled it before I did anything else. People should not respond or contact the letter writers — mine was from “Phillips & Cohen Asso- ciates, Ltd.” — in any way. Thank you in advance for any- thing you can do to protect others who are grieving. — C.B. Florence End of Summer and Remembrance Last weekend’s rain threatened the end of summer on Sweet Creek. Autumn is descending upon us. In Eastern Oregon, the golden carpets of wheat blanketing the rolling hills have been harvested. The Pendleton Round-Up is the big celebration of this area and culminates with the ever-popular Bronc Busting competition, which occurred last Saturday. It remind- ed me of a story of past systemic racism. It is not a sad story, like George Floyd. This is the story of George Fletcher and Oregonians’ refusal to accept racism over fairness. George Fletcher migrated with his family from Kansas to Northeast Oregon during 1890. Though the Civil War provided freedom to Black people, the Oregon legislature stubbornly refused (for 58 years) to remove their laws forbidding them from owning property or residing in the state. The penalty was severe whip- pings, which were no longer car- ried out by the state; rather, Ore- gon’s 25,000 Klan members upheld the spirit of the law. Young George tried to attend the local school but was scorned, so he went to the nearby Nez-Pierce Indian Reservation. They schooled the young boy in their ways, teach- ing him their language and horse- manship. He became an extremely talented horseman and, at 21 years old, George entered the world champion saddle bronc event at the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up. The grand prize was the coveted E.L. Powers & Sons saddle, with silver trim. George easily worked his way to the finals where he so easily broke the first horse, Del, that the judg- es ordered he ride another bronc, Sweeney, the meanest of the bunch. The animal bucked wildly with a limber George scratching and spurring the beast into a frenzy. The crowd screamed “Let’ Er Buck” until they were hoarse, knowing they had witnessed the clear win- ner. When the jury awarded the win to John Spain, who “pulled leather,” the crowd erupted with displeasure at the clearly unfair ra- cial pick. Many spectators booed and heckled until George reappeared. That’s when the crowd start- ed chanting: “People’s Champi- on! People’s Champion! People’s Champion”! The director of the Round-Up, Sheriff Til Taylor, approached George Fletcher and snatched his hat from his head before disap- pearing into the crowd. Sheriff Taylor had cut the hat into pieces selling them to George’s supportive fans. Soon the sheriff reappeared and presented George with over $700 cash and officially declared him the “People’s Champion.” George Fletcher was able to pur- chase a prized silver laden saddle, with enough money left over to buy a new hat! Back then, as with today, even when the authorities embrace rac- ism, the Oregon crowd rejects it. — Bill Shepard Mapleton USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2021 © Siuslaw News Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439. 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Website and E-Edition: TheSiuslawNews.com Submit press releases to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. Siuslaw News Office: 148 Maple St./PO Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 Office Hours: Monday to Thursday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday: 8 a.m. to noon Letters to the Editor Policy The Siuslaw News welcomes Letters to the Editor and Guest Viewpoints as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Email letters to cmeyer@thesiuslawnews.com To be considered for publication: Letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. In addition: • Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Siuslaw News cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. 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All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. The newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publish- er and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. WHERE TO WRITE President Joseph Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 TTY/TDD: 202-456-6213 www.whitehouse.gov 900 Court St. NE - S-417 Salem, OR 97301 503-986-1705 Email: Sen.DickAnderson@ oregonlegislature.gov Oregon Gov. Kate Brown State Rep. Boomer Wright (Dist. 9) State Sen. Dick Anderson (Dist. 5) 160 State Capitol 900 Court St. 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301-4047 Salem, OR 97301 Message Line: 503-986-1409 503-378-4582 Email: Rep.BoomerWright@ www.oregon.gov/gov oregonlegislature.gov U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-5244 | 541-431-0229 www.wyden.senate.gov U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley Lane County Dist. 1 Commissioner Jay Bozievich 125 E. Eighth St. Eugene, OR 97401 541-682-4203 Email: Jay.Bozievich@ co.lane.or.us 313 Hart Senate Office Bldg Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3753 | 541-465-6750 Florence City Council www.merkley.senate.gov & Mayor Joe Henry Florence City Hall, 250 U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio Highway 101, Florence, 97439 (4th Dist.) 541-997-3437 2134 Rayburn HOB ci.florence.or.us Washington, DC 20515 Email comments to Florence 202-225-6416 City Recorder Kelli Weese at 541-269-2609 | 541-465-6732 kelli.weese@ci.florence.or.us www.defazio.house.gov