South Coast Times

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, U.S. Representatives Val Hoyle (OR-04), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley introduced federal legislation to allow the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon to restore their traditional ability to hunt, fish, and gather, restoring fairness by revoking a decades-old discriminatory legal clause. The bills are cosponsored by U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), and Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) in the House. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden cosponsored the Senate version of the bills.

If new hunting and fishing agreements are complete, this federal legislation will allow the State and the Tribes to return to federal court to request the termination or modification of their current consent decrees. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are the only tribes in the country that have consent decrees which legally disallow them to negotiate for traditional hunting and fishing activities on their land.

“The consent decree that is keeping the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians from negotiating additional fishing and hunting areas is rooted in unjust and quite frankly racist policy which needs to be changed immediately,” said Rep. Hoyle. “I’m glad to work with members of the Oregon delegation as well as Tribal Chairman Dee Pigsley to right this historic wrong.”

“The consent decree applied to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde was not negotiated in good faith and unfairly restricted their hunting and fishing rights – and it’s far past time Congress intervened to rectify this injustice,” said Rep. Salinas. “My bill does just that. I want to thank my Oregon colleagues, as well as Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy, for their steadfast partnership on this issue.”

“The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde were forced to give up their traditional ability to hunt, fish, and gather on tribal land as the price of restoring their homelands. This historic injustice has stood for far too long,” Sen. Merkley said. “This legislation would finally give the tribes the legal ability to renegotiate these restrictive agreements that have prevented them from engaging in these traditional activities. It’s long past time to remove these restrictions so that the Siletz and Grand Ronde tribes can finally engage in these activities again.”

“It’s long past time to end the unjust and racist policy that has kept the Siletz and Grand Ronde Tribes from renegotiating new fishing and hunting agreements with the State,” Sen. Wyden said. “Members of these tribes should be able to hunt, fish and gather food on their ancestral lands without government overreach and intervention. I will continue to partner with Chairs Pigsley and Kennedy, as well as the chairs of the other seven federally recognized tribes in Oregon, to continue to protect tribal sovereignty.”

“The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians is extremely grateful to Rep. Hoyle for introducing this legislation.  It reverses a historic wrong against the Siletz people and removes an unconscionable restriction to fish, hunt, and gather foods in our ancestral homelands,” said Chairman Dee Pigsley.

"For years, the Consent Decree has been a dark cloud, looming over Grand Ronde's sovereignty and denying us the ability to provide for our people fully,” said Grand Ronde Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy.  “The introduction of H.R.2850 by Congresswoman Salinas gives us the first tangible steps to righting this historic wrong."

When Congress passed the Western Oregon Termination Act in 1954, the Siletz, the Grand Ronde, and other Oregon Tribal nations were stripped of their land and federal status. In 1980, as part of restoring their federal status, the Siletz were forced to give up their traditional fishing and hunting activities through a consent decree and legislative restriction. Similarly, in 1985, the Grand Ronde, in restoring their federal status, was stripped of their traditional fishing and hunting activities through a consent decree and legislative restriction.

Original source can be found here.