Oregon tribe has hunting and fishing rights restored under a long-sought court ruling
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Oregon have just celebrated newly lifted restrictions on their rights to hunt, fish and gather
LINCOLN CITY, Ore. (AP) — Drumming made the floor vibrate and singing filled the conference room of the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, on the Oregon coast, as hundreds in tribal regalia danced in a circle.
For the last 47 years, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have held an annual powwow to celebrate regaining federal recognition. This month’s event, however, was especially significant: It came just two weeks after a federal court lifted restrictions on the tribe's rights to hunt, fish and gather — restrictions tribal leaders had opposed for decades.
“We're back to the way we were before,” Siletz Chairman Delores Pigsley said. “It feels really good.”
The Siletz is a confederation of over two dozen bands and tribes whose traditional homelands spanned a large swath of what is now western Oregon. The federal government in the 1850s forced them onto a reservation on the Oregon coast, where they were confederated together as a single, federally recognized tribe despite their different backgrounds and languages.
