Tribal Council OKs changes to Restoration Roll

Tribal Council voted to correct or add the names of 19 current Tribal members to the Restoration Roll during its last meeting of 2015 held on Wednesday, Dec. 23.

Member Services Manager Penny DeLoe said during the Tuesday, Dec. 22, Legislative Action Committee meeting that three were corrected names and 16 additions.

The corrections and additions, which went through a Tribal process and were recommended by the Enrollment Board, will be forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior for approval.

Tribal Attorney Rob Greene said during the Legislative Action Committee meeting that the process of adding names to the Restoration Roll started in 2012. At the time, Department of the Interior staff members were not sure they could add names. The department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs then developed a process for its approval of corrections and additions to the Restoration Roll, which requires specific representations be made by the Tribe in a Tribal Council resolution.

“Because they were not sure they had the authority to do this, they had to do a lot of work with their D.C. office. Then we had to develop a process for them to actually do it. We worked closely with them to develop that process. Now we have a process in place, and so with that process in place, these things should run very smoothly,” Greene said.

In response to questions during the Tribal Council meeting, DeLoe said that for the 16 individuals being added to the Restoration Roll that the action will not affect a split family situation created by passage of the 1999 enrollment amendment.

Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno said being added to the Restoration Roll is an individual choice made by Tribal members, but that he would recommend Tribal members be added if they qualify because one never knows what Tribal enrollment requirements will be in the future.

“I would tell anybody if you had an opportunity to be on the Restoration Roll and you’re not on the Restoration Roll but you qualify, I would tell anybody to go through that process because you don’t know what the enrollment criteria are going to be 10 years from now, 20 years from now,” Leno said. “I would make sure that I had every ‘T’ crossed and every ‘I’ dotted for the potential of how it might affect your family down the line. That would be my recommendation, but it’s solely a person’s choice.”

Tribal Council member Chris Mercier added that having your name on the Restoration Roll allows members to count all of their Indian blood as Grand Ronde blood.

“If you’re someone who wants to extend their bloodline, this is a useful way to do it,” Mercier said.

In other action, Tribal Council approved the 2016 Tribal budget. Changes to the proposed budget that was released in November will be compiled and distributed to the membership in an upcoming Tilixam Wawa.

Other actions included:

• Setting the agenda for the Sunday, Jan. 3, General Council meeting, which will feature a program report from the Natural Resources Department and Elders Committee election results;
• Naming Ceded Lands Coordinator Brandy Humphreys as the Tribe’s representative to the Portland Harbor Nature Resource Trustee Council and Tribal Honors Attorney Holly Partridge as the alternate;
• Signing an agreement with Industrial Economics for Portland Harbor environmental services;
• Establishing a Youth Council and adopting bylaws for the new council;
• Changing the Governmental Operations Trust Fund Policy so that “communication with our members” is listed as an essential governmental service so that interest earned also can be used to fund Tribal publications;
• Approving a lease/operational agreement with the Lighthouse Group to use a community building being constructed on the Risseeuw property;
• And approving the enrollment of four adults and three infants into the Tribe because they meet the requirements outlined in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

Culture Department employees Bobby Mercier, Jordan Mercier, Brian Krehbiel and Travis Stewart joined Tribal Council member Jon A. George, Ceded Lands Manager Michael Karnosh and Public Affairs Administrative Assistant Chelsea Clark in performing the cultural drumming and singing to open the meeting.

The meeting, in its entirety, can be viewed on the Tribal website, www.grandronde.org, by clicking on the News tab and then Video.