April 1995
MOTION #2 - Phil Rilatos Jr. moved to approve die
General Council minutes from November 5, 1994.
Seconded by Selene Rilatos. Motion carried.
TRIBAL COUNCIL CONCERNS:
ED BEN
I come before you, the General Council, to voice
some serious concerns. The opinions I share with you
are those o f an individual tribal elder. I ask only that
you pay close attention and respect to die message,
regardless o f whether or not you respect the
m essenger.
We have gathered here today to cast our vote for 3
Tribal Council members. As we prepared for this
election, much has been said about the need for
change. The change desired by many members seems
to be to establish a Tribal Council that makes major
tribal decisions in concert with the membership. A
Tribal Council can best demonstrate a commitment to
that concept by referring those decisions that have a
major impact on the tribe to a vote o f the people.
Voting on decisions that have a major impact on our
tribe is our tribal tradition. Article U, Section 1. (C)
o f our Tribal Constitution grants our right to exercise
our traditions. Article VII, Section 2 o f our Tribal
Constitution prescribes the formula for the Tribal
Council to provide the opportunity for us to exercise
those traditional voting rights.
Some would ask "What do you consider a major
impact?". Two examples o f major impact come to
mind.
1) Any decision that changes or has the
potential to change the trust relationship between the
tribe and the U .S. Government
2) Any decision that depletes or has the
potential to deplete tribal assets.
These are only 2 examples and certainly are not all
inclusive.
Past Tribal Councils have made major impact tribal
decisions that should have been referred to a vote of
the people.
Let us look first at the decision to adopt Self
Governance. The point is not whether Self
Governance is good or bad. The original Self
governance pilot project should not have been
accepted without approval by a vote o f the people.
Self Governance has been touted by some proponents
using the term "self determination". Without tribal
voter approval there is no "self determination", but
rather what you have is the "determination o f nine".
The mistake was compounded when the decision was
made to extend Self Governance beyond the pilot
project without approval by a vote o f the people.
Some would ask "What is the problem?". The
problem is that a precedent has been set on how the
U.S. Government administers federal policy as it
relates to the tribe. It is conceivable that in the future
a Tribal Council could negotiate the termination o f
our tribe. Some would tell you "That would never
happen". No one present here today can g iv e you that
assurance. Twenty years ago at the height of our
Restoration movement our tribal representatives
traveled to Washington, D .C ., to testify to the
devastating effect U.S. Government experiments such
as the Allotment Act, Relocation Act, and
Termination had on our people. If you would have
asked me then if, in my lifetime, we would elect a
Tribal Council that would subject out people to
another U .S. Government experiment without the
approval o f the membership I would have told you
no. As evidenced by recent actions by Tribal Council
I would have been wrong.
Next let us look at haw our cash assets have been
administered. The initial funding to establish and
subsequent funding to sustain STEDCO should not
have been appropriated without approval by vote o f
the people. The point is not whether STEDCO is
good or bad but rather that the funding was in
violation o f our tribal constitution and not in keeping
with our tribal traditions.
Article IV, Section 1 o f our Tribal Constitution
empowers the Tribal Council the "...authority to
prevent the sale, disposition, lease, or encumbrance o f
tribal lands, interest in.lands, or other tribal assets
without the consent o f the tribe... " The key words in
this section is "consent o f the tribe”. Consent o f the
tribe can only be granted by the membership in these
issues. The Tribal Council has the responsibility to
seek the consent o f die tribe in administering Tribal
Council authority as it applies to tribal assets. It is
not proper for them to make these decisions based on
assumed or implied consent.
The decision to establish gaming also involves the
appropriations o f vast tribal assets. Without
membership approval, the Tribal Council cannot
guarantee to anyone a continuing commitment to the
project or availability o f related funding. Because the
Tribal Council chose to pursue gaming without
seeking voter approval o f the concept they have place
the project at risk o f being canceled at a n y tim e by
referendum petition and subsequent vote o f the
people. It simply does not make good "business
sense" to me for the Tribe or a management company
to find themselves in such a precarious position.
The actions o f past Tribal Councils leads one to
believe that some members have attempted to
function with limited comprehension o f our Tribal
Constitution. Some o f them act as though they have
not acquainted themselves beyond Article IV, Section
1, that states in part, "The Tribal Council is
empowered to exercise all legislative and executive
authority o f the government". Some o f them have
interpreted this to mean we establish a government
based on paternalism. As one who assisted in
drafting the Tribal Constitution, I can assure you that
was never my intent.
Past Tribal Councils have demonstrated that they are
not fully aware of the purpose and provision of
Article VII, Section 2 o f our Tribal Constitution. I
draw that conclusion based on the fact they, have used
this provision only to obtain Tribal Council
compensation and a raise in compensation. In those
instances it was required by die constitution.
The provisions o f this section was intended to address
more than Tribal Council compensation approval. It
was written based on the theory that some decisions
affecting the tribe are larger than nine council
members or even a citizens committee can
responsibly make. Much of that wording resulted
from the concerns regarding disposition o f tribal
assets prior to termination and die decision to
terminate.
In addition to providing the Tribal C ouncil the
process to refer issues to a vote o f the people, it also
provides the process for the membership to take
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command and require a vote o f die people. The
process as it relates to the membership is burdensome
and should be necessary only as a last resort. As I
have stated before, this section provides a qualified
Tribal Council lacking in institutional arrogance, who
possesses knowledge o f tribal traditions, and has the
humility to recognize there are decisions larger than 9
people can responsibly make, the means to govern in
concert with the membership.
When these 9 Tribal Council chairs are filled after
today's election, the occupants must be made to
understand that they must demonstrate the change
desired to many members. They must demonstrate
that the concept o f "Self Determination" that they
have subscribed to applies to die entire tribe and not
the determination o f 9 individuals. If this does not
happen then the people must take on the task to
exercise their rights under Article VII, Section 2 o f
the Tribal Constitution to insure that the will o f the
people is properly represented.
In closing, this being a General Council meeting and
there existing no rules to the contrary, I request that
my presentation be included, unedited, in the General
Council meeting minutes of February 4,1 9 9 5 . To
that end, I so move.
MOTION #3 - Ed Ben moved to have his statement
included, unedited, in the General Council meeting
minutes o f February 4, 1995. Seconded by Joe Lane.
Motion carried.
INCENTIVE AWARDS
Mike Darcy presented the following awards:
Employee o f the Year - Mike Kennedy
Special acts and services - Cheryl Ben
Special acts and services - Howard Roy
Special acts and services - DeAnn Brown
Employee o f the Quarter - Walt Klammath
Outstanding Service - Salem Area Office
Outstanding Service - Ronald Butler
Outstanding Service - Joella Cain
Outstanding Service - Debbie W illiam s
Outstanding Service - Connie Hoffman
Outstanding Service - Matt Kentta
Outstanding Service - Shari Husberg
TRIBAL COUNCIL CONCERNS:
Gilbert Towner wants the elders to work together to
get things going on die Oregon Indian Council On
Aging and contacting the other tribes. The
Governor's from each State is allowing three extra
spots in the Washington, D.C. conference on aging,
so you elder people may want to appoint someone to
go to this Conference in may.
He has concerns about the Tribal Council and about
the homeless. Some o f our Tribal Members and
Veterans are homeless. Elders that visit the sights
and one o f the Area Directors was overheard saying
"I hope we don't have anymore Tribal members
coming in hear to gripe around". The offices are to
serve the people.
After the Rogue River Wars there was a lot o f gold
found along Gold Beach. President Lincoln, Honest
Abe took all o f the gold that he could get to help die
North fight die South with a promise to repay the
people o f that area, our people, our ancestors.
Lincoln did not repay any o f die money to our people.
Gilbert does not know if the new constitution is a
legal thing or if it was put up to a vote by die
(Continued on page 16)
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