Angela4Siletz 
Tribal Member Outreach and Social Media
The Tribe has always been a part of my life. It started with my mom driving to my grandparents house each weekend from Wilsonville when I was little, attending pow wows for as long as I can remember, attending General Council meetings with my mom and then as an adult on my own, volunteering for Standing Committees, taking my own children to Tribal Program sponsored events and then by moving to Siletz 15 years ago I became part of the community itself.
I know that not everyone can attend the events and be involved with the formats that were available prior to COVID-19. Many Tribal members feel that if they live outside of Siletz they can’t participate – feel their opinion doesn’t matter. I want to see that change!
Specifically due to COVID-19, many activities were cancelled and some, like Culture Camp, moved online. Moving the activities that could online was a good thing and a huge step. It gave those that couldn’t travel to Siletz and those who can’t take three (3) days off of work to attend when it was an in-person only event the opportunity to participate.
By specifically engaging with Tribal members online plus with social media with this election campaign I want to show that Tribal awareness as well as participation can increase by first showing an increase in the voter participation rate.
The Tribe is working on having a social media presence for the whole Tribe, not just individual Departments and Area Offices, as well as updating the Tribal website. In my opinion, it is taking for too long. Multiple Tribal Council members, including myself, have brought this up as a concern multiple times over the last three years I have been on Council and I am sure before that which is why it has moved forward as much as it has, by hiring a designated position. I hope by Election Day 2021 that both the Tribal Facebook page and website will have been launched.
What I would like to see:
- Live Facebook Feeds: Of important public events like the Candidate’s Fair, the counting of ballots on Election Day and the swearing in ceremony. I would especially like to see the pow wows, Run to the Rogue, Culture Camp, Memorial Day Ceremony, CEDARR meetings/dinners and other events aired live – then having that footage edited into a news broadcast style video that can be archived. We have very few videos of events that have occurred within the Tribe. These videos would be a valuable learning tool for the membership, of all ages.
- Live Airing of Meetings: High quality live airings of the regular monthly Tribal Council meeting so the membership can see and hear for themselves what occurs with the Tribal Government; not just be able to read the approved minutes the month following the meeting.
- Once the Website is Updated: there should be at minimum weekly postings of blogs that provide current events and information. The current format for advertising an event required submission by the 10th of the month prior to the publication month. So any events held after that date may have no article or photos as follow up ever published. A common answer is “no one reads the newspaper” which may or may not be true – however many people get their daily news online, it should be an option to get current Tribal news the same way; immediately and up to date.
- Additional Staff: For these things to happen, additional staff and/or contractors will be necessary and should be done without issue in order for the Tribe to give the membership the ability to be more involved. The technology is there and we need to use it.
Angela4Siletz 
Outreach and information, using technology is a great idea. As bad as Covid-19 is, I think many will see that connecting through technology is do-able and necessary. Great ideas! … I like your website!
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