“We the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians are the most diverse confederation of Tribes and Bands on a single reservation in the United States. Our ancestors spoke 10 completely different languages, each of which had multiple dialects. Our ancestors brought with them deep connections to more than 20 million acres of ancestral territory combined, including all of Western Oregon from the summit of the Cascade mountains to the Pacific and extending into what’s now SW Washington State and northern California. Our ancestors signed many treaties with the United States. We were promised the 1.1 million acres Siletz Reservation as our permanent home, but following massive reservation reductions Congress passed the Western Oregon Termination Act in 1954 (took effect in 1956), and our federally recognized status as a tribe was also taken. In 1977 our lobbying of Congress to repeal our Termination was successful, and we became the second formerly Terminated Tribe to regain federal recognition as a Tribe.” (Source: Tribal website)
Tribal website Ancestral lands, reservation and language group maps Heritage, history and culture
Skookum Tillicum - “This video recounts the history of the Siletz Tribe from our (the Siletz) point of view”
Language & Arts
“The Siletz Language and Traditional Arts program was established in 2003 to teach and promote use of the Siletz Athabaskan Language and Siletz Traditional Arts. The Language program offers a comprehensive array of Language materials for beginners to more advanced speakers. Siletz Dee-ni Language Volumes 1 & 2 offer a graduated approach to learning basic nouns, simple greetings and goodbyes and table talk. Volume 3 deals with verbs and verb conjugation and Athabaskan sentence structure. These Volumes of materials play on most standard computers, with the written word and the audio combined for ease of learning. Included with the audio and visual lessons are Word documents and tests that can printed for personal study and assessment. The Nuu-Wee-ya’ (Our words) Athabaskan Language Dictionary is completed and now available, along with an online ‘Talking Dictionary’. These resources can be found in the Member Area under ‘Our Language’”.
“The Language Program is also being taught in the Siletz Valley School, along with community classes ongoing monthly in the Siletz, Portland, Salem and Eugene Area offices. Traditional Arts are also taught in the Area offices prior to Language classes. The classes are scheduled two months in advance and posted in the Siletz News and in Area Newsletters. We also conduct seasonal gatherings of basket materials and teach Siletz basketry, regalia making and other Siletz traditions.” (Source: Tribal website))