Smoke Signals 3
Tribal Community Meetings Take On Enrollment Amendment
The first meeting in Portland draws a lighter than usual crowd.
MAY 12007
Community Membership meet
ings this year will all be on week
ends, mostly Sundays with one
Saturday meeting scheduled in
May.
Some said that the weekend
scheduling may have hurt atten
dance - it was under 60 for the first
meeting - at the Portland Airport's
Embassy Suites Hotel on Sunday,
April 22nd, but Sunday General
Council meetings in Portland have
drawn crowds of more than 100.
Those in attendance mainly took
on the Tribal Council's newest ef
fort to amend Enrollment law but
also made time to make proposals
for other Tribal issues. In fact, the
discussion continued until the ho
tel shut off the lights in the room,
a gentle reminder that the Tribe's
time was up.
Amending Enrollment law has
not been an easy task. Many say
that it is about fairness, not money,
but both issues are affected by what
the membership decides.
The amendments need a two
thirds approval vote by the mem
bership followed by approval from
the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA).
The proposed amendments were
derived from the recommenda
tions of the Ad Hoc Enrollment
Committee and will continue to
be discussed at future meetings
scheduled to take place in Oregon
and Washington.
"There is a balance," said James
Mills, an expert in enrollment
law from the consulting firm, DCI
America, brought in for the meeting
by Tribal Council, "but it is a very
difficult job."
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The agenda for the meeting in
cluded two break-out sessions, one
on enrollment and the other on all
other topics, but most stayed with
enrollment.
Topics beyond enrollment includ
ed the Portland Satellite Office re
model, timber harvesting, economic
diversification, linking education to
development plans, and lowering
health care costs through improved
prevention education.
At the meeting's end, Consultant
Mills reminded members, "Consider
yourself all advertisers for these
meetings. There is nothing better
than a personal recommendation."
The second meeting was sched
uled for Tacoma on Sunday, April
29, followed by the combined
General Council and community
Membership meeting in Grand
Ronde on Sunday,. May 6, and
one in Eugene on Saturday, May
12, and ending with a meeting
in Bend, Sunday, May 20. If you
have questions about the upcom
ing meetings, call Kim Ray Rog
ers, Planning & Grants Manager
at 503-879-2250.
Tribal Chair Chris Merrier, left,
describes Council efforts to
update Tribal enrollment law.
To Mercier's side is Tribal
Council member Reyn Leno.
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