Smoke Signals February 1 994 Page 4
TRIBAL COUNCIL NEWS
Council's Year-End Presentation
Editor's Note: At the January General Council Meeting,
Candy Robertson gave the Council's year-end report which ,
discusses the different committees and work groups each
Council member is involved with. The report is reprinted
here to allow tribal members to become familiar with the
purpose of committees and work groups, and who serves on
them.
Good afternoon, everyone and welcome to our first
General Meeting of the new year. For those of you who do
not know me, my name is Candy Robertson, and I'm going
to be making a brief report on other meetings and organizations
Tribal Council is involved with.
In the past, you have heard us refer to ATM, and
NCAI; today, I want to tell you more about them, since they
are the two main organizational meetings Council attends.
"NCAI" or National Congress of American Indians, is an
organization with a main office located in Washington, D.C.
The membership consists of Indian tribes from all over the
United States. There are two main conferencesconventions
that NCAI holds, one is the mid-year conference and the
other is the annual convention. The annual convention is the
one Council representatives just recently attended, from
November 28 to December 3. It was the 50thyear convention.
Each tribe appoints by tribal resolution a delegate and an
alternate to represent their tribe. This last year at the mid
year conference, Kathryn Harrison served as the tribal
delegate, and Margaret Provost as the alternate. At the
annual convention, Kathryn Harrison served as delegate,
and I served as the alternate. Merle Holmes also attended
both conferences and Ed Larsen, Andy Jenness, Leon Tom,
and Val Grout each attended one.
The delegate has the authority to vote, and the
alternate votes in the delegate's absence. This very rarely
happens. The Grand Ronde Tribe has a reputation for
staying and being at the conference at all times, to the very
end. The Health Reform and Gaming are examples of two
major issues discussed at the conferences. There were 1300
registrants and 153 tribes present at the aimual convention,
the highest attendance in approximately ten years. It was
mentioned that Indian people are getting the important
message that we need to unite and be heard by our legislative
people, especially regarding our tribal sovereignty.
It is very beneficial for the Grand Ronde Tribe to
continue their support and participation to this organization.
Along with the meetings and workshops held during
the day, there are area caucuses held as well. Grand Ronde
belongs to the NorthwestPortland Area group. So when
General Assembly recessed at 5:00 P.M., we went right into
area caucus until 7:30 or 8:00 P.M.
Since this was the time for elections for positions on
the NCAI Executive Board, we scheduled three area caucuses:
to hear who the Northwest Tribes wanted to support for
President, etc. Other important issues discussed were issues
that had an impact on the Northwest area and wanted NCAI
to be aware of.
"ATNI" or Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians",
is similar to NCAI, only the membership consists of about 46
tribes from the Northwest.
Instead of holding area caucuses, we sometimes
hold Oregon tribes meetings in the evenings and discuss
what issues and concerns Oregon tribes have that they want
ATNI to be aware of, and forward to NCAI.
The tribal delegate and alternate is also done by
tribal resolution. They are Merle Holmes, and alternate Ed
Larsen.
We are well known in this organization also, for our
attendance and participation. The Council representatives
that attended the most recent ATNI conference along with
EdandMerle were KathrynHarrison, and myself. Leon Tom
has attended previous meetings. During this last meeting,
Ray McKnight and Leon Tom were attending a Timber
Conference.
Chairman Mark Mercier has attended a special
ATNI meeting called earlier this year.
Because Council has seen a need for more time to
be spent on tribal issues and activities due to the growth of
the Tribe, at a December 23, 1992 planning meeting, work
groups were established. These work groups' duties would
consist of looking at specific needs, resolvent possibilities,
then taking the proposals back to Tribal Council meetings
with recommendations of final approval or disapproval.
The work group assignments are as follows:
Jurisdiction: This group focuses mainly on tribal court
issues. Kathryn and Merle serve in this group.
Legislative Development: This group looks at legislation
that has an impact on Indian tribes , local and nationwide.
These issues could be in the proposal proposed amendment
stages. Gaming and Senate Bill 6 1 are two examples of these
issues. Merle, Andy, Kathryn, and myself serve in this
group.
Community Development: This group will devote its time
to looking at and researching changes in the community,
making it possible to look at program services and restructure
them to best meet community needs. Kathryn, Val, Andy,
Ed, and Leon serve in this group.
Tribal Laws & Ordinances: This group drafts new tribal
ordinances andor proposed amendments to current tribal
law. The proposed language within the ordinances is
discussed and reviewed thoroughly in work group meetings
before a recommendation is made to Tribal Council. There
are several staff people who contribute to the drafting of the
ordinances by facilitating, preparation, or program input
Jim Willis, Mike Mason, summer intern student Angie Leno,
Jackie Whisler, John Mercier, Dakota Whitecloud, Cliff
Adams, and Spirit Mountain Development Corporation.
' The tribal government to date has 31 different
ordinances in effect. If a tribal member wishes to review
these ordinances, an ordinance book is available at the
information table located just inside the main door of the
tribal government building, or in each division. Kathryn,
Merle, Ray, Ed, Val, and myself are in the Laws and
Ordinances Work Group.
Land Acquisition: This groupworks at researching possible
land purchases. Ray, Leon, and Ed serve in this group.
Council members each serve as a liaison to a tribal
committee. Currently, I serve on the Fish & Wildlife
Committee, Kathryn Serves on the Health Committee, Ray
Serves on the Timber Committee, Leon Serves on the
Cemetery Committee, Val Sits on Elders' Committee as the
elected position, Merle serves as liaison to the Education
Committee, and Ed serves as Council liaison to Spirit
Mountain Development Corporation Board of Directors.
In closing, I would like to let you know it is the
Council's intent to keep you informed. We will provide you
with information and on-going reports either at the General
Council Meetings or through the Tribal newsletter.
Thank you for your time and attention
Candy Robertson
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Personnel Director Kit Devine left, works on Strategic Planning with Tribal Council They are developing
a plan for the Tribe's future, which resulted from input at the Strategic Future's Conference last October.
Part of the plan involves adopting a Vision Statement, which will be printed in Smoke Signals when it's
completed.