By Teresa Simmons, STAHS Vice Chair
An estimated 250 people attended the celebration for Indigenous People’s Day hosted by the Siletz Tribal Arts & Heritage Society (STAHS) on October 10, 2022. Some traveled from areas as far as Springfield, Oregon and even those on their travels all the way from Alabama. Friends and supporters of STAHS that were able to attend included Oregon State Representative David Gomberg, Oregon State Senator Dick Anderson, Lincoln City Council Member Riley Hoagland, and Mike Holden who has held too many offices to list and is currently chairman of the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contributions Fund (STCCF).
The celebration was held at the recently remodeled STAHS office building and boutique in the center of town at 146 SE Gaither Street in Siletz. The weather was perfect for the event! Guests had the opportunity to view and purchase handmade jewelry created by Shantel Peacock who was located at the front of the building, wander through the boutique to select from a variety of STAHS merchandise, purchase the history book of the Siletz Tribe, People Are Dancing Again and many unique items. Past STAHS Board member and the current President of the Board of Directors for the North Lincoln County Historical Museum Cynthia Farlow is a talented jewelry artist who was present to talk about the origins of the shells and beads that she uses in the fine wearable art she creates.
Valerie and Larry Hidden with their daughter Heidi Lussier volunteered their time and talent to serve up in the neighborhood of 300 servings of complementary fry bread on the back lawn. Students from Siletz Valley High School even stopped by at lunch. Bristo’s Place Food Truck was on hand for some tasty Asian and American Wok Cookery takeout like pan fried noodles with chicken plus those wonderful hamburgers Bristo & crew serves up.
Children’s games were supervised by Jacob Reid. DeAnn Brown offered information on the much needed Siletz Tribal Child Care Assistance Program.
It was a rewarding and fun day visiting with Tribal Elders, community members and those that traveled hours to come support our community. Siletz Tribal Council Members Loraine Butler, Bonnie Petersen and of course, Angela Ramirez who is also a hard working member of the STAHS Board stopped in. The number of people from outlying areas, out of staters, and the interest in the soon to be built museum and the baskets on display was gratifying. One visitor donated a small basket and another donated a large collection of olivella shells. Shantel Peacock will be making some necklaces with the donated shells that will be part of upcoming raffles.
The hourly door prize of a Carmel corn and the collectable book for the STAHS Capital Campaign were a big hit. The two prizes for the raffle, a pair of earrings made by Shantel Peacock and the basket that was a collection of STAHS merchandise had many hopefuls hanging out until the drawing was done at 4PM.
Members of the STAHS Board, Gloria Ingle, Teresa Simmons, Angela Ramirez and Jacob Reid extend their whole hearted thanks to our outstanding volunteers, Cynthia Farlow, the Hibdon Family, Shantel Peacock and Ashliegh Ramirez.
