MAY 1, 1999
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Oi January 27, 1999 the Grand Ronde Tribal Council passed Resolution No. 005-99 asking for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) to conduct a vote of the Grand Ronde tribal membership to amend the Tribes Constitution, with regard to
enrollment requirements. This process is permitted under Article II, Section 1(e) of the Tribal Constitution and federal law.
1 What are the current enrollment requirements
under the Tribal Constitution?
Tribal membership is currently available to all persons who are not mem
bers of another federally recognized tribe, band, or community and:
D Who are listed on the official tribal membership roll prepared under the
Restoration Act; or " -
D Who file for membership and meet the following requirements:
a. Are a descendent of a member of the Grand Ronde Tribe (descent
means lineal decent from any ancestor on the tribal rolls); and
b. Have one-sixteenth (116) or more degree of Indian Blood of any
federally recognized tribe(s);
c. Are accepted as members pursuant to the Tribal Enrollment
Ordinance.
2 Vhat would the enrollment requirements be if the
Tribal Constitution is amended as a result of this
election?
Tribal membership would be available to all persons who are not members
of another federally recognized tribe, band, or community and who for one
year have fully and unconditionally relinquished membership in another
Indian tribe and;
1. Who are listed under the official tribal membership roll prepared under
the Restoration Act; or
2. Who are listed on the current tribal membership roll; or
3. Who file for membership and meet the following requirements:
a. Have one-sixteenth (116) or more degree Grand Ronde Blood (Grand
Ronde Blood is defined as all Indian blood derived from a direct
ancestor who is on the tribal roll prepared under the Restoration Act) ;
b. Whose parent(s) was a tribal member at the time of applicant's birth
and at the time of application for enrollment, unless deceased; and
c. Are accepted as a member pursuant to the Tribal Enrollment
Ordinance.
3. How would this amendment change the enrollment
requirements?
1. Applicants who wish to relinquish from another tribe and enroll in the
Grand Ronde Tribe would be required to be relinquished from another
tribe for one full year before they could apply for membership in the Grand
Ronde Tribe.
2. Applicants would no longer be able to count the Indian blood they have
from non-Grand Ronde ancestors. (For example, if mother is Grand Ronde
tribal member and father is Spokane tribal member, only the mother's
Indian blood would be counted).
3. Applicants must be born to a parent who was already a member at the
time of hisher birth and at the time an application for membership is
filed, unless the parent is deceased.
4 What will this amendment do if it is passed?
The likely result of this amendment will be a reduction in the number of
new tribal members. Some applicants for membership into the Tribe, who
may meet the current enrollment requirements, may not meet the amended
requirements. If passed, this amendment will not affect tribal members
who are currently enrolled.
5 When will this special election be held?
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Siletz Agency office, will be conducting this
election on behalf of the Grand Ronde Tribe. The election date is July 27,
1999.
6 What is the process for conducting a BIA election?
All eligible Grand Ronde tribal members will be notified through mail when
this election will be held. You will be able to vote by mail, and will receive a
Voter's Pamphlet from the BIA in the mail. Even if you are already regis
tered to vote in Tribal Council elections, you must register with the BIA to
vote in this special election. All tribal members 18 years of age or older are
eligible to vote. All information on how to register will be in the pamphlet.
7. I will turn 18 years old this year Can I vote in this
election?
If you will be 18 years of age by the date of the election, you will receive the
same information in the mail as everyone else, and will be eligible to vote in
this election.
8. Is there anything about voting in this election
I need to pay careful attention to?
Yes. When you register and vote by mail, your signature has to be the
exact name that is printed on the Voter's Pamphlet. For example, "Mary
Margaret Jones" would have to sign that exact name, not "Mary M. Jones"
or "Mrs. M. Jones." All names have to be signed EXACTLY as the BIA has
them, which is how they will appear on the ballot packages, or they will not
be counted. Your pamphlet will contain instructions on how to register and
vote. It is also important to remember that you must register with the BIA
to vote in this election, even if you are a registered voter with the Tribe.
9 What does it take for this amendment to pass?
To pass, at least 30 of the BIA registered voters must vote in the election,
and of those, at least two-thirds must vote to approve the change. It is not
like the Tribal Council elections, where the most votes wins. For example, if
there are 1,100 BIA registered voters, and 650 vote to pass the amend
ment, while 450 vote to keep the enrollment requirements as they are, the
amendment would not pass. Two-thirds of 1,100 is 733. So even though
the amendment received a full 200 more votes, it still didn't receive enough
votes required to pass.
10 What is going to happen next?
Several things will happen in the next few weeks. Even though the BIA is
running this election, the Tribal Council has selected four people to serve on
a special board to review the election process and work with the BIA.
The special election board has set July 27, 1999 as the date of this election.
Over the next few months the board will:
D Prepare a Voter's Pamphlet and registration form which will be sent to
eligible tribal members on May 3, 1999.
D Post a list of registered voters for the special BIA election in 3 to 4 places
for 20 days starting on June 7, 1999 (anyone who is registered, but not
on the list, can challenge the list, but the last day to challenge will be
June 18, 1999).
11 What happens after the list of registered voters is
posted?
D Official ballots and instructions are mailed to everyone on the list on
June 25, 1999.
D Ballots must be mailed or hand-delivered to the BIA Siletz Agency Office
by July 27, 1999. (Siletz Agency Office is the local BIA office serving
Grand Ronde, Siletz, and Coquille tribes.)
D Ballots are counted by the special election boardcommittee.
0 Election results are posted for three (3) days (challenges to the results
can be made to the BIA Siletz Agency).
The election results are then forwarded to BIA headquarters, and the
BIA must approve or disapprove the amendment (if passed) within 45
days.
D The Constitutional Amendment (if passed) is effective on the day it is
approved by the BIA.
If you have any questions regarding
this special election, please contact the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Siletz Agency Office
at (541) 444-2679 and ask to speak with
Ron Kortlever or Mary Battels