10
S moke S ignals
OCTOBER 1, 2018
Tribal Council OKs Enrollment Ordinance changes
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council approved changes
to the Tribe’s Enrollment Ordi-
nance that will now permit the
consideration of Tribal case law
when making enrollment decisions
during its Wednesday, Sept. 26,
meeting.
The proposed changes elicited
record response from the member-
ship with 243 comments submitted
to the Tribal Attorney’s Office. Of
those, 45 supported the changes,
197 opposed them and one was for
and against different parts of the
amendments.
The changes, approved in a 4-3
vote, will allow Tribal Council to
reinstate former members if it is
appropriate under Tribal law, as
well as Tribal case law.
Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris
Mercier, Secretary Jon A. George
and Tribal Council members Kath-
leen George and Michael Langley
supported adoption of the amend-
ments while Tribal Council mem-
bers Jack Giffen Jr., Lisa Leno and
Steve Bobb Sr. voted against them.
George voted by phone and Tribal
Council Chairwoman Cheryle A.
Kennedy only votes in case of a
tie. Denise Harvey was absent on
business travel.
However, the ordinance amend-
ments include limitations. The loss
of membership had to have been
decided by the Enrollment Board
between July 2, 2014, and Jan.
28, 2018 – the time period during
which the board was invested
with making final determination
regarding involuntary loss of mem-
bership cases – and the individual
applying for reinstatement cannot
have enrolled in another federally
recognized Tribe. Applicants also
must meet the constitutional blood
quantum requirements for mem-
bership at the time he or she was
originally enrolled.
If reinstated, the person will be
reassigned their original roll num-
ber and will not have rights to any
Tribal benefits or payments they
did not receive during the time they
were disenrolled.
During the Tuesday, Sept. 25,
Legislative Action Committee
hearing, Tribal Council member
Kathleen George said that the
current council has inherited “a
bit of a mess with enrollment on
a number of levels” and that she
favors the amendments because
it will promote the ideal of Tribal
laws applying equally to everyone.
However, Giffen and Bobb said
they would oppose the amendments
because Tribal Council ignored
what a majority of respondents said
in their comments.
“I feel that we really didn’t ad-
dress the comments appropriate-
ly. … I think it is, in my opinion,
disgraceful to the membership
that did supply their comments,”
Giffen said.
However, George said that Tribal
staff responded to and considered
every comment received, and added
that some opposing comments came
from children as young as 6 years of
age. Ten of the 197 opposing com-
ments came from minors, according
to the Tribal Attorney’s Office.
The effect of the amendments
is that Tribal case law – decisions
handed down by the Tribal Court
of Appeals – can now be taken into
account when deciding individual
enrollment cases.
This may allow for the re-en-
rollment of more Chief Tumulth
descendants into the Tribe. In 2016,
Ad created by George Valdez
the Tribal Court of Appeals ruled
that the Tribe waited too long to
disenroll 67 descendants of Chief
Tumulth, a signer of the Willamette
Valley Treaty of 1855 who never
reached the Grand Ronde Reserva-
tion to appear on an official census
roll because he was executed by the
U.S. Army.
However, there are other disen-
rolled Chief Tumulth descendants
who were not subject to that Court
of Appeals ruling because they
failed to file an appeal in a timely
manner.
Kennedy said during the Tribal
Council meeting that the amend-
ments to the Enrollment Ordinance
would bring fairness and justice to
a Tribal family that has not been
re-enrolled because of a legal tech-
nicality.
“This equally and fairly applies
Tribal law to all members of the
family,” she said.
Former Tribal Council Chairman
Reyn Leno said that he thinks the
amendments are unconstitutional
and that Tribal Council should
leave the matter up to the Tribal
court system.
“This is a huge slap in the face of
our ancestors,” Leno said. “There
should be no back door to enroll-
ment in this Tribe.”
Mercier said the enrollment audit
started in 2013 sent the Tribe down
a “dark and divisive path” and
that he can no longer support the
disenrollment of Tribal members.
“When you disenroll people, you are
second-guessing a lot of decisions,”
he said.
Langley said the amendments are
a small part of fixing the Tribe’s
enrollment morass, which was
exacerbated by an audit that was
done on the cheap. He said the
original enrollment audit was bid at
$300,000 and then whittled down to
$90,000, and he expressed concern
about what might have been missed
by the auditors in an effort to save
money.
Kennedy said the amendments
are in the “best interest of the Tribe
and community” to heal before
Giffen called for the roll call vote.
In other action, Tribal Council
approved the agenda for the 11 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 7, General Council
meeting to be held in the Tribal
Community Center. The presenta-
tions will include a financial update
from Finance Officer Chris Leno
in executive session and a status
report from the Tribal Lands De-
partment in open session.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Approved a new Microsoft soft-
ware purchase agreement with
SHI not to exceed $175,000 a year
over the next three years. The
Tribe has been using Microsoft
products for its administration
and government operations since
2012;
• Re-appointed former Oregon Con-
gresswoman Darlene Hooley and
former Oregon Rep. Val Hoyle to
the Spirit Mountain Community
Fund Board of Trustees with
terms expiring in September
2020;
• Removed former Tribal Council
member Brenda Tuomi as an
authorized signer for Tribal bank
accounts and use of a Tribal cred-
it card, and named Bobb in her
place;
• Approved an amendment to the
Tribe’s Portland Harbor environ-
mental services agreement with
Industrial Economics, which ex-
tends the agreement to Sept. 20,
2019;
• Approved the 2019 harvest sea-
son licenses that are projected to
earn the Tribe $57,258 in reve-
nue;
• Approved the Green Shark log-
ging unit as presented by the
Natural Resources Department.
The unit is expected to produce
approximately $853,000 in reve-
nue;
• Approved paying up to $7,500
in annual dues to the Affiliated
Tribes of Northwest Indians and
named Giffen as the Tribe’s pri-
mary delegate;
• Approved paying up to $30,000
in annual dues to the National
Congress of American Indians
and appointed Tribal Council
member Michael Langley as the
Tribe’s primary delegate;
• And approved the enrollment of
four infants into the Tribe be-
cause they meet the criteria out-
lined in the Tribal Constitution
and Enrollment Ordinance.
Tribal Elder Greg Archuleta
made the cultural presentation to
open the meeting and discussed
the Table Rocks encampment held
north of Medford over the Sept. 21-
23 weekend.
The entire meeting can be viewed
by visiting the Tribal website at
www.grandronde.org and clicking
on the News tab and then Video.