Donald ‘Doc’ Slyter, chief of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw tribes, has died

Donald “Doc” Slyter, Chief of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI), died this past weekend. He had served in his role since 2020.

Brenda Brainard is a fellow tribal member who worked with Slyter on restoring federal recognition for their people in the 1980s, as part of the CTCLUSI restoration committee.

“Our families were very active together in our tribe’s struggle to sustain a community during termination, and then work for restoration.”

Brainard told KLCC that he battled esophageal cancer in his final years. He was 72.

“What will always stand out to me with Doc was his smile,” said Brainard. “He just had the cutest, sweetest, little smile. And it kinda had a hint of impishness with it. But what I remember most about him was his quietness. He was very calm, he was a very humble man.”

Slyter was also a U.S. Army veteran.