Tribal Council appoints interim chief judge

Tribal Council voted 4-3 on Wednesday, May 28, to hire David Shaw as interim chief judge of Tribal Court for a term not to exceed six months.

Shaw will succeed Suzanne Ojibway Townsend, who has been Tribal Court chief judge since 2006 and announced her desire to retire at the end of her current two-year contract.

Shaw owns Shaw Law Group in Portland. His online resume states that he has a national reputation for his expertise in business development with Tribes and Native organizations.

He has been a speaker on economic development in Indian Country before the American Bar Association, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, Northwest Tribal Lending Institutions Association and National Indian Gaming Association.

He also is a former Court of Appeals judge for Grand Ronde and serves on the Executive Committee for the Indian Law Section of the Oregon State Bar. He also was an in-house counsel for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state.

Shaw is a graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Washington School of Law.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Re-appointed Steven Holmes and Janel Lara to the Powwow Special Event Board;
• Appointed Bob Duncan to the Rodeo Special Event Board;
• Re-appointed Carol Gleason and Tonya Gleason-Shepek to the Social Services Committee;
• Appointed Michael Lane and Raymond Petite to the Veterans Special Event Board;
• Approved Baird Venture Partners IV Special Affiliates Limited Partnership agreements, which will add a new asset class to Tribal endowments, according to Tribal Economic Development Director Titu Asghar;
• Ratified the Tribe's application to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program funding. If received, the 24-month project would include wages and benefits for the emergency coordinator to work on the project, a command vehicle, a towable emergency generator, radio equipment, training and disaster event exercises, emergency supplies, storage containers and other related equipment and supplies;
• Approved the enrollment of four new Tribal members - three infants and one minor;
• And approved the voluntary relinquishment of membership for one Tribal member who decided to join his father's Tribe.

Tribal Council member Jon A. George and Tribal members Jan Looking Wolf Reibach, Eirik Thorsgard and Brian Krehbiel performed the cultural drumming and singing to open the meeting.