Siletz tribal member’s hunt for native foods is also a quest to change 40-year-old Oregon law

By BRIAN BULL/KLCC

EUGENE — In a tall, grassy field in West Eugene, a small group of Native Americans dig for camas bulbs, one of their traditional foods.

In the setting sunlight as traffic passes by in the distance, there are moments of discovery … and of regret.

“There they are,” said Joe Scott, examining a shovel load of dirt. Small bulbs protruded from a mass of reeds and roots.

“I think I cut mine in half, unfortunately,” said one woman, gingerly holding a split bulb.

“A casualty,” Scott responds.

Scott is a Siletz tribal member, who directs the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program for the Long Tom Watershed Council. He told KLCC that he enjoys educating people about Indigenous practices, including the gathering and preparation of camas, which is often baked in an earthen oven and pounded into cakes. And he said this particular patch is beautiful, and filled him with good feelings.

“At the same time, we’re by a highway, it’s next to a development, the surroundings are a little industrial,” he observed. “Frankly, it’s property that was slated for development and hasn’t happened yet.”

Which means this field could soon be dug up and made into apartments.

One might ask why Scott just can’t go dig up camas bulbs on Siletz ancestral lands up north.

Turns out, he can’t – due to an agreement his tribe signed with the state of Oregon more than 40 years ago.

Shared burden

Of more than 570 federally-recognized Native American tribes in the U.S., two currently lack the right to hunt, gather, and fish on their ancestral lands. And both are located inside Oregon’s boundaries.

“In the 43 years since the consent decree became law, our people’s ability to hunt and fish and gather our First Foods has languished,” Bud Lane, the vice-chair of the Siletz Tribal Council, testified before Congress in June. “My people have been treated like criminals in their own land for simply gathering our traditional foods.”

Lane was referring to an agreement signed with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1980 that limited hunting and fishing, during a time when tensions over the so-called Indian Fishing Wars were high. The consent decree was part of reinstating the Siletz after federal termination ended their tribal status in 1954.

“It’s an unjust and racist policy that I believe needs to be changed immediately,” said Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore. Her bill, HR 2839, would restore those rights.

“HR 2839 is about fairness,” she said. “Siletz tribal members should be able to hunt, fish, trap, and gather like they have traditionally done for thousands of years. They should be treated as other tribes are.”

Another Oregon tribe — the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde — has a similar agreement in place. Their tribal chair, Cheryle Kennedy, testified last year in support of a bill sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. It would restore her people’s fishing, hunting, and gathering rights if passed. Like the Siletz, the Grand Ronde had its tribal status terminated, then reinstated decades later for a price.

Kennedy said back in 1986, her tribe had to approve their consent decree in order to get reservation lands back.

“Grand Ronde leaders were left with no choice but to sign an agreement,” she said. “I was on the tribal council during this time and agreed with other tribal members who believed that this bargain with the state was one made with a gun to our heads.”

On July 19, Merkley and Hoyle’s bills passed unanimously through the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and the House Natural Resources Committee, respectively.

A return to tradition?

Back at the field in West Eugene, the camas diggers are having fun, unearthing bulbs ranging from the size of peas to golf balls.

“I love watching people just have their hands in the dirt,” said Scott, with a smile. “Everyone’s got their own moment going on where they’re learning something about the things that live under the ground.”

Scott and others at the digging project worried whether or not the camas patch will be here next year, or if there’ll be a row of apartments and a parking lot, instead. But if legislation for the Siletz and Grande Ronde continues to enjoy support, they could soon be able to legally use their traditional lands to gather, hunt, and fish.