Siletz Tribes regain part of their Oregon homeland at Table Rock

The Jefferson Exchange

Siletz Tribal Council members (L to R) Robert Kentta (Treasurer), July Muschamp (Secretary), Delores Pigsley (Chairman) and Gerald Ben on newly purchased Table Rock land.(Photo by Matt Hill, Lone Rock Strategies)

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (Siletz Tribe) announced the purchase of approximately 2,000 acres of privately-owned property within the original Table Rock Reserve in southern Oregon.

Joining the Exchange are Robert Kentta and Buddy Lane. Both are members of the Siletz Tribal Council. Robert has conducted historical research for the tribe for more than 30 years and Buddy serves as the tribe's cultural resource manager.

The Siletz Tribe's history is inseparably linked to the Table Rocks, dating back to and beyond the 1853 Table Rock Treaty, which was the first treaty signed by any native tribe in the west and ratified by the U.S. Senate. The treaty came on the heels of significant bloodshed that compelled groups of native tribes to cede their lands and join the Siletz Confederation. Other tribes ceding their lands are: Takelma, Applegate River, Galice Creek, Shasta Chasta, Scoton and Grave Creek.

The U.S. moved the tribes to reserved lands at Grand Ronde, a journey experience remembered as a "Trail of Tears" by western tribes.

The Siletz Tribe's purchase of private lands from willing landowners is the largest contiguous block of private land within the historic 1853 Table Rock Reserve. It covers more than 2,000 acres of undeveloped land from the western cliffs of the Lower Table rock to the Rogue River. The Siletz Tribe believes the likely location where the 1853 treaty was signed sits within the recovered lands. The tribe intends to use their Table Rock property for cultural purposes, just as their ancestors did.