Editorials The Oregonian Founded Dec. 4, 1850. Established as a daily Feb. 4, 1861. Sunday Oregonian established Dec. 4, 1881. Published daily and FRED A. STICKEL, President and Publisher ALBERT L. MCCREADY, Managing Editor ROBERT M. LANDAUER, Senior Associate Editor Letter Siletz need a home The Siletz Indian Tribe must have a reservation on the central Oregon Coast. A tribe without land is like a native bird shorn of its nesting area. The unique status of the Siletz as the only landless, federally recognized tribe among 481 in the nation calls for a remedy. The tribe needs land, as much to nurture its members' spiritual rebirth as to provide a modest income for tribal programs. The Siletz Tribe is a confederation, formed in the 1850s under U.S. cavalry duress, of four major tribes the Tillamooks, Chetcos, Tu-toonay and Alseas - and 17 other tribes and groups. They were assigned a reservation, with agency headquarters at Siletz. The tribe once owned more than a million acres of land along the central Oregon Coast. Some payment was made for much of the land, but at least 600,000 acres were taken without payment. In 1977, Congress restored its recognition of Siletz tribal status. This had been terminated in 1954, after a request from a council meeting of only 30 Indians, and without a ballot, among the approximately 900 then on the rolls. Congress also ordered, in the Siletz Restoration Act of 1977, that the Department of Interior develop a plan, in the form of proposed legislation, for a Siletz reservation, and file it with Congress by Nov. 18, 1979, less than three months from now. Preliminary drafts show the plan's two basic elements to be a 36-acre parcel, known as Government Hill, in the town of Siletz and 3,666 acres of public domain timber land, now administered by the Bureau of Land Management, to provide annual tribal income of approximately $600,000. The tribe proposes that Lincoln County continue to receive, for 25 years after establishment of a reservation, the 5 percent of revenues from sale of timber on public land that BLM now pays. The act would provide that no hunting, fishing or trapping rights would be established on the reservation, and state hunting, fishing and trapping laws would apply there as in the rest of the state. The summary states, "It has not been determined whether the tribe lost its hunting and fishing rights at the time of termination, and the plan does not affect that issue. If the rights were not lost, they would remain in effect; if the rights were terminated, they would not be restored." During the next two months, the tribal plan must be examined minutely by federal, state and local interests. As a matter of equity, however, the Siletz - with 1,083 certified members and perhaps 60 percent more expected to enroll should have restored to them land for a tribal home on the central Oregon Coast. Oregon Oregon Journal, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 1979 Journal opinion Siletz should get back part of their homeland A century ago the Siletz Indians owned a 1.1 million-acre reservation on the Oregon Coast. Through a federal policy of ineptness, unratified treaties, removal and termination, the reservation was disbanded. The Siletz were victims of a cruel hoax that they probably never understood. Now the Siletz Indians, whose tribal rights were restored in 1977, are on the verge of receiving a small reservation near the town of Siletz. The reservation would be minute compared to what the tribe has lost. But it would be a tribal home, a place where culture and tradition could be re-established and eventually a place where health and educational services could be obtained. The tribe is negotiating with the city of Siletz for 27 acres known as "Government Hill," where agency headquarters once were located but which now is overgrown. But the bigger chunk of land for the reservation is 3,666 federal acres administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The bill which would create the reservation will be introduced in Congress this fall. It provides that no hunting, fishing or trapping rights would be established on the reservation or by the tribe. Tribal leaders have negotiated with federal, state and local governments to re-establish the reservation. Lincoln County, for example, now receives 5 percent of the revenues from the public domain lands. The tribe proposes to pay 5 percent of its timber revenues to the county for 25 years. The tribal roll counts about 1,100 members of tribes which once lived on the reservation or who are descendants. Possibly as many as 2,000 persons could qualify for trib: Twenty-five years ago the fed- The Siletz should have a portion interior to return to Congress with- Who could really imagine that a people Native Americans in the United States "The Siletz tribe was subjected to IN 1970, A PORTLAND official of the calvin Through the work of Sen. Mark Hat- The Siletz Restoration Act was an- Of the 431 federally recognized tribes, THE SECRETARY OF the Interior is The plan is modest at most, but calcu- just for what is really needed. It is an- And Confederated Tribes of Siletz In- THE PLAN CALLS FOR the reserva- Government Hill, from late the 1800s the city by the federal government. It The tribe and its attorneys worked WHEREAS, WHEREAS, WHEREAS, WHEREAS, the Siletz Restoration Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-195) restored federal recognition to the Siletz Tribe and required the Secretary of the Interior to prepare and present to Congress a plan for the establishment of a reservation for the Tribe, said plan to be presented by November 18, 1979; and the Siletz Tribe once had a reservation which included more than 1.1 million acres of prime timberland on the Oregon coast, but now is fully federally recognized tribe to have no reservation at all; and the members of the Siletz Tribe have urgent needs which only Tribal government can fully address, namely, severe uncmployment, health problems, alcoholism, poverty, substandard housing, and educational deficiencies; and the establishment of a reservation will assure the Tribe's government of a permanent and independent existence, so it will be able to work for the common good of its members and culture forever; and WHEREAS, the Siletz Tribe has proposed the establishment of a modest reservation that will enable it to meet the minimum needs of its members, retain its Tribal identity, and be a homeland for its members forever. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American Indians fully supports and endorses the Siletz Tribe's proposal that "Government Hill" and the approximate 3,666 acres of public domain land in Lincoln County, Oregon, be taken into trust and designated as the Reservation of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon. Afiliated Cribes of Northwest Indians RESOLUTION NO. C RESOLUTION WHEREAS, The Siletz Restoration Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-195) restored federal recognition to the Siletz Tribe and required the Secretary of the Interior to prepare and present to Congress a plan for the establishment of a reservation for the Tribe, said plan to be presented by November 18, 1979; and WHEREAS, The Siletz Tribe once had a reservation which included more than 1.1 million acres of prime timberland on the Oregon coast, but now is the only fully federally recognized tribe to have no land base at all: and WHEREAS, The members of the Siletz Tribe have urgent needs which only Tribal government can fully address, namely, severe unemployment, health problems, alcoholism, proverty, substandard housing, and educational deficiencies; and the establishment of a reservation will in a small way compensate the Tribe for its enormous and unparalleled loss of land; and WHEREAS, The establishment of a reservation will assure the Tribe's government of a permanent and independent existence so it will be able to work for the common good of its members and culture forever; and WHEREAS, The Siletz Tribe has proposed the establishment of a modest reservation that will enable it to meet the minimum needs of its members, retain its Tribal identity, and be a homeland for its members forever, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians fully supports and endorses the Tribe's proposal that "Government Hill" and the identified 3,666 acres of public domain land in Lincoln County, Oregon, be taken into trust and designated as the Reservation of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon. Ship Skenin Executive Director President |