S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 1, 2018
7
Tribal Council reinstates 19 Tumulth descendants
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council voted 4-3 to rein-
state the membership of 19 Chief
Tumulth descendants during its
Wednesday, Nov. 14, meeting,
concluding a more than four-year
process.
The descendants, including some
who are now deceased, were identi-
fied for disenrollment in 2014 when
the Tribe’s Enrollment Committee
ruled that they and other Chief Tu-
multh descendants did not meet the
Tribal Constitution’s lineal descent
requirements at the time of their
enrollment.
They were the second of two
family trees descended from Chief
Tumulth, who signed the Willa-
mette Valley Treaty of 1855. He
did not reach the Grand Ronde
Reservation to appear on a valid
roll or record created by the federal
government because he was execut-
ed by the U.S. Army.
Some argued, however, that sign-
ing a foundational treaty should be
considered a “valid” document for
enrollment purposes.
The first branch of the Tumulth
family tree, which included 67
descendants, eventually won their
disenrollment case with the Tribe
when the Tribal Court of Appeals
ruled in August 2016 that the Tribe
waited too long in its attempt to
correct the membership status of
Chief Tumulth descendants. The
cases were remanded back to Tribal
Chief Judge David Shaw and the
Enrollment Board.
In October 2016, the Enrollment
Board dismissed disenrollment
proceedings against the 67 descen-
dants. However, the other 19 Tu-
multh descendants were not given
back their Tribal enrollment status
because they failed to file an appeal
within the 14-day time limit set by
the Tribe’s Enrollment Ordinance.
That decision was upheld by the
Tribal Court of Appeals.
On Sept. 26, Tribal Council ad-
opted amendments to the Enroll-
ment Ordinance, also by a 4-3 vote,
that allow for reinstatement of
former members if it is appropriate
under Tribal law, as well as Tribal
case law.
The loss of membership had to
have been decided by the Enroll-
ment Board between July 2, 2014,
and Jan. 28, 2018 – the period
during which the board was invest-
ed with making final determination
regarding involuntary loss of mem-
bership cases – and the individuals
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.
In January, Tribal Council voted
to return final decision-making
authority regarding enrollment
cases to itself.
Upon reinstatement, individuals
will be reassigned their original roll
numbers, but will not have rights
to any Tribal benefits or payments
they did not receive during the time
they were disenrolled.
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. Hence, if the
Tribe waited too long to disenroll
one branch of the Tumulth descen-
dants, it waited too long to disenroll
the other branch as well.
“This is an attempt to apply
the Alexander decision across the
board,” Tribal Attorney Rob Greene
said.
Former Tribal Council Chairman
Reyn Leno spoke in opposition to
the reinstatements, asking if the
19 descendants meet current en-
rollment requirements.
Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris
Mercier, who chaired the meet-
ing, said they met the enrollment
requirements at the time they
were enrolled, which is one of the
requirements.
Tribal Council member Michael
Langley said there are numerous
Tribal members who would not
meet current enrollment require-
ments.
Leno said that Tribal Council was
taking enrollment matters away
from the general membership and
was incorporating the idea of fair-
ness into enrollment issues instead
of keeping it about having Grand
Ronde blood.
Tribal Council member Jack
Giffen Jr. said that an ordinance
should not trump the Tribal Con-
stitution regarding enrollment
requirements.
Tribal Council member Kathleen
George said that she favored the
reinstatements because the entire
enrollment audit process, which
was started when Leno was Tribal
Council chairman, was not fair
because some findings were acted
upon while others were not.
Langley, in a previous Tribal
Council meeting, said the audit was
so limited in scope to save money
that its findings are not reliable.
Mercier restated his opinion that
the Tribe should never have gone
down the road of auditing enroll-
ment and that the reinstatements
were about fairly and equally ap-
plying Tribal law to everyone.
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George and Tribal Council mem-
bers Langley, Denise Harvey and
Kathleen George voted in favor
of the reinstatement while Tribal
Council members Giffen, Steve
Bobb Sr. and Lisa Leno voted
against it.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Declared a per capita and timber
distribution date of Tuesday,
Dec. 11. Although the per capita
amount will be undetermined
until early December, Tribal
members will each receive $582
in timber proceeds;
• Approved a resolution supporting
Oregon Health & Science Univer-
sity’s 13-week program through
the Northwest Native American
Center of Excellence that al-
lows Native youths to experience
health care careers firsthand;
• Approved two $5,000 donations
to the Native American Rights
Fund and National Indian Child
Welfare Association to help the
organizations’ legal efforts to
uphold the Indian Child Welfare
Act, which was ruled unconsti-
tutional in October by a U.S.
District Court in north Texas;
• Approved hiring Moss Adams, a
Seattle-based accounting firm, to
conduct an assessment of Spirit
Mountain Casino’s network secu-
rity;
• And approved the enrollment of
one infant into the Tribe because
he or she meets the enrollment
requirements outlined in the
Tribal Constitution and Enroll-
ment Ordinance.
The entire meeting can be viewed
by visiting the Tribal website at
www.grandronde.org and clicking
on the News tab and then Video.
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