LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To the editor:
On Dec. 7, 2000, our tribe
faced a momentous challenge to our
democracy. Thanks to the voters who
voted NO on all proposed
amendments, our constitutional
rights have been protected,
especially our right to vote.
The voting process was in the
news for over a month with the
presidential election. Just as we
expect a fair process in national
elections, we must demand fair
elections within our tribe. There was
overwhelming support by the
General Council for electronic
voting. Why has there been no move
to assure the membership of a fair
voting process in Tribal Council
elections? There are a few
suggestions I would like to make to
improve voter confidence in the
current election procedures:
The ballots must be tamper
proof.
Sequential numbering stamped
on the ballots with different color ink
will enable the Election Board to
verify the accuracy of the vote tally.
The total number of printed ballots
compared to the total ballots cast and
the unused ballots should be equal,
and there should be no ballots with
duplicate numbers. These figures
should be included in the Election
Board’s certification.
•
Security of the ballots is
essential.
Except for the voter, a ballot
should never be accessible to any
•
To the editor:
This is a critique on the article
“Criminal Code & ICRA” by Diane
Henkels.
The U.S. Constitution states
“Treaties are the supreme law of the
land.” Treaties are joint agreements
made between “sovereign” nations.
The Siletz Nation is a sovereign
nation. We have the right to make our
own laws, mistakes, and triumphs.
In the Indian Civil Rights Act,
the U.S. government tells sovereign
nations how to govern themselves;
the same government that stole our
land, language, culture, lives, and
violated article 2 sections a-e of the
U.N. Convention on Genocide
against members of our nation. This
other individual at any time. Ballots
must be secured immediately after
printing through the close of the
election. All mail-in ballots could be
secured at the post office and
retrieved only on Election Day by the
full Election Board with observers
watching the process. This procedure
may delay the final tally due to
signature verification, but the
assurance of a legitimate election
outweighs the time factor in counting
the votes.
•
The counting of the ballots
must be open to observers.
Interested observers could look
at each of the ballots as the votes
noted on the ballots are being
announced.
•
The poll book and copies of
signature envelopes should be
public information.
Documents showing only
whether or not a person voted, not
how the vote was cast, should be
accessible upon request.
t
4.
,4« r
These procedures are just a
few that could be implemented to
prevent the appearance of election
fraud. Voters must be assured that the
successful candidates are elected
legitimately in order to have
confidence in their leadership.
I urge you to demand that the
Election Board enact procedures to
protect your vote.
Sincerely,
Pat Duncan
same government gave Indians
forced adoptions, boarding schools
(where children were raped,
tortured,
murdered,
etc.),
reservations with abject poverty,
forced sterilizations, small pox
blankets, etc.
Our tribal government bares
the throat of our nation to the same
government that has attempted to
wipe us off the face of the earth. Are
we a sovereign nation? No. We are
subjects of the great white father in
D.C. Do you expect us to believe
they have our best interests at heart?
As far as prohibiting peyote on
the rez because it’s “not part of
our tradition,” well neither are
To the editor:
For what it is worth!
The results from the tribal
constitutional amendment election,
the following results were posted:
Tribal members eligible to
vote: 2,192
Tribal members taking time to
register: 679
Tribal members who actually
voted: 335
The results from the ballot
were:
Isn’t it strange how close the
votes are?
The tribal Constitution is the
document that we as a nation are
governed by, just as the Constitution
of the United States governs us as
U.S. citizens. When you look at it,
we are United States citizens first
since this is our country. As Siletz
Indians, we are in the minority by
the very nature of our being a
sovereign nation. The only higher
body to have any say in how we live
our lives and govern our nation is the
United States government, and yet
we are all too willing to allow the
governing document to be amended
or remain status quo by 14 percent
of our people.
The idea that we as a tribe be
self-governing is a wonderful
concept, however, if we are to be
self-governing, we as tribal members
have the responsibility to take an
active part in our government.
The
proposed
tribal
constitutional amendments were
decided by 1 /7th of our nation. Is that
the percentage we want to decide
how and what controls our nation?
For those who say, “My vote doesn’t
count or matter,” look at the national
election recently decided. The results
were separated by fractions of a
percent. If we want to be self-
governing, we must be willing to
make the effort to speak our minds
and to cast our votes.
The bottom line is this:
Are we willing to be controlled
by the voice of so few?
Do we consider the power of
the vote to be so minor in our lives?
Have you considered what it
would be like if we were not allowed
to vote?
The vote (The Voice of the
People) is what can control the
destiny of this country and our
nation. If you want to have a say in
the way the tribe is run, then you
have to be willing to have your voice
be heard and your vote counted. The
destiny of our communities, our
counties, our states, our country, and
our nation lies in the hands of those
who vote.
By the Great Spirit, I made a
difference. I voted. Did you?
Thomas E. Sini seal
pow-wows, casinos, electricity,
computers, Christianity, TV,
automobiles, the English language,
etc. Peyote has helped many Indians.
Why is this not addressed?
Internalized racism, maybe?
There was only mention of
alcohol and drugs, yet no mention
of what guides us to abuse them,
such as hopelessness, despair, and
the lack of community activities.
And what about the whole spectrum
of drugs - aspirin, over-the-counter
drugs, prescriptions, caffeine,
tobacco (tobacco is also a sacrament
to many Indians), etc. (10 times more
people die of prescription overdoses
than illegal drug overdoses)?
I see the word “punishment”
many times but never “discipline.”
We’re willing to punish Dave for
beating up Bob, but we are not
willing to discipline Dave for his
actions. We are not willing to teach
Dave alternatives to violence, how
to apologize and make amends, or
to be a stronger citizen of the Siletz
Nation. But we are willing to bow to
our white masters in D.C. and punish
Dave. And what happens after he
gets out? Nothing.
Let’s think as a sovereign
nation, not as a subject of the
government of the U.S.
Thank you,
Eugene Johnson
Measure
;\
B
C
D
E
Yes
124
135
147
148
155
No
210
200
187
186
174
5