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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 1997)
OR. COLL. E 78 .06 S66 August 15, 1997 m m f CLlvL Tribes may face loss of sovereign immunity By Greg Archuleta Indian tribes could be adversely affected by requirements placed in a funding bill by Washington Senator Slade Gorton. One measure requires tribes to waive their pro tection from lawsuit to receive BIA funds, and another would require the development of means testing formulas for funds. Senator Gorton is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies. He included the pro visions as part of his chairman's mark up of the bill that provides funding for the BIA. The subcommittee approved the proposal on July 18. The measure now goes to the full Senate for consideration. Sovereign Immunity Provisions The bill requires a tribal waiver of sover eign immunity from lawsuits as a condition for receiving Tribal Priority Allocation (TP A) funds from the BIA, and allows such cases to be heard in federal court rather than tribal court. The TPA funds go directly to tribes for social service, education, housing, forestry and other necessary programs and services. The BIA funding is the primary source of funding for many tribes. Sovereign immunity is considered an in herent right of federal, state and tribal gov ernments. It is used to protect government revenues and property against loss, tribal assets are protected unless the tribe expressly waives it's immunity by tribal resolution. Allowing tribes to be sued could result in financial and property losses and potential harm to their trust resources, such as timber. The provision is seen as a direct attack on tribal sovereignty, and a step towards ter mination. "Termination applied to a few tribes, but this applies to all tribes. We really have to look to our friends in Congress to under stand this , and help us on this issue," said Kathryn Harrison, Tribal Chair person. "When we worked towards Restoration, we thought that it would end termination pressures, but we continue to face threats such as this one, each year," said Harrison. Many governments provide limited waiv ers of their immunity under certain circum stances. For instance, tribes may allow a limited waiver for business or economic de velopment purposes. The bill not only requires a waiver of sov ereign immunity, but allows federal courts to grant relief in a suit to individuals, enti ties or other governments. The requirement leaves out any Tribal Court jurisdiction in such matters. Means Testing Provisions The bill requires the BIA to create a fund ing formula to means test tribes. The Bu reau would have to collect information on tribal government income, including busi ness income for economic development enterprises. The BIA "is directed to develop a for mula through which TPA funds will be al located on the basis of need, taking into account each tribe's business revenues from all business ventures, including gaming," according to bill language. It requires the BIA, by January 1 , 1 998, to "submit to Congress its recommendations for need-based distribution formulas." The for mulas are to provide alternative means of "measuring the wealth and needs of tribes." Tribes could face funding reductions based on the adopted formulas. Reductions could occur, although needs for programs like forestry, social service and education far exceed the revenues most tribes receive from economic ventures. "No one seemed to care about us during our 29 years of termination, but now that we are trying to help ourselves, they want to penalize us," said Harrison. Means testing is seen as undermining the principles underlying the trust relationship of the tribes to the federal government. These trust obligations are based on trea ties, court decisions and federal law, says Francis Somday, tribal Executive Officer. Overall, Indian communities are ex tremely poor. While some tribes have had some economic successes, Indian country still has 31.6 of the population living in poverty. The policy is considered discriminatory because it singles tribes out, without means testing states, counties, or other units of government, said Somday. The full Senate will consider the Interior Appropriations bill shortly after they return from summer re cess on September 3. More related articles on pages 5-7 Member Benefit Fund Update There are hundreds of members who have not completed the Members Benefit Ap plication. Under the terms of the ordinance, anyone not completing the paperwork by September 25, 1997 for themselves or on behalf of their children WILL FORFEIT THE DISTRIBUTION MADE ON SEPTEMBER 25, 1996. Letters will be mailed to those who have not responded. If you or a member of your family have not completed the necessary papers, please contact Chris Lcno at 1-800-422-0232, extension 2340. (If you made any withdrawals during the year, you are OK). There will be a separate announce ment concerning any member benefit to be made for 1997. Important Election Notice The Tribal Election is only three weeks away! A number of ballots have been received that do not have Voter Registration Forms on file. Before a ballot can be counted, the Election Board must have a signature that matches the signature on the back of the enve lope. If the Voter Registration Form is in the same return envelope as the ballot,THE BALLOT WILL NOT BE COUNTED because we cannot verify the signature. If this notice may apply to you, please contact the Election Board immediately at 1-800-422-0232 or 879-5600. "IMP" fJB3(iT30! a . ' t - ; "-- . ' - "I f f ; : , ' ' - . i . ' I V.l.Hifcc 'Mv"" -IX . . . . , "1 . .. ,i . .: f , 4 i t f i - ' ; ,1 i . University of Orsnnn i 'r1- ' . .Ried o: m- .9"Llbrar' . ' "e sijnau 97 " :. ! LJ -a. 12 -t; Traditional Camas harvesting. Members visit Fern Ridge just outside of Eugene for a day of harvesting. Pictured above is Veneta Mayor Galen Carpenter; Albert Jeffers, site moni tor; and June Olson, Cultural Resource Protection Specialist. The Tribe's Cultural Resource Protection Program would like to build a list of tribal members throughout Oregon interested in traditional gathering and harvesting. Their ultimate hope is to revitalize Camas fields on reservation lands or in our ceded trust lands to be harvested every year. Please contact June Olson at 1-800-422-0232, ext. 2249.
