Tribal Council approves first reading of Enrollment Ordinance amendments

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved a first reading of proposed Enrollment Ordinance amendments at its Wednesday, March 19, meeting.

The Enrollment Ordinance is being amended to align with the lineal descent constitutional amendment, which was certified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Currently, enrollment for those older than six months and all non-emergency enrollments is on pause until Tuesday, June 3. At that time, open enrollment will begin for non-infant/non-emergency applications. It will close at 5 p.m. Friday, July 18.

Staff will publish a list on Monday, July 21, of completed applications that are eligible for a random drawing. The Tribal Constitution sets a limit of 150 to 200 applications per year. That limit doesn’t apply to infants younger than six months or minors who are the subject of pending juvenile dependency proceedings.

Before the first reading was approved, Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier read a statement.

“The Tribe’s path to lineal descent has been a long one. We appreciate the time everyone has taken to participate in this process and be part of the discussion. The community meetings, surveys, and on-going conversations have all been an important part of where we are now. We’ve heard your comments and are happy to be rolling out the proposed changes to the enrollment ordinance for its first reading.

He continued, “We have decided to move forward with an open enrollment period for first-year applicants and a drawing to create the waitlist. While we realize that this approach may not be the preferred path for some, it was important that we come from a place of fairness and equity. This process will not discriminate against individuals with different application factors. We believe that this process will also alleviate concerns members have shared with us around other types of processes…We will be providing additional updates as we move forward.”

Tribal members will have until Thursday, May 1, to comment on the proposed changes. Those can be sent to the Tribal Attorney’s Office, 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347, or by email to legal@grandronde.org. The proposed changes will run in Smoke Signals in the Tuesday, April 1 and Tuesday, April 15 editions.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved appointing Pamala Warren-Chase to the Tribal Member Review Board;
• Approved the Tribal Transportation Program funding agreement between the Tribe and U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs;
• Approved amending a contract with Maul Foster & Alongi for a maximum amount of $196,350 for demolition permits and oversight related to the latest round of demolition at tumwata village in Oregon City;
• Approved amending a contract with Elder Demolition Inc. for a maximum of $1.89 million to demolish 40 structures at the tumwata village site, including all fire damaged buildings and warehouse buildings;
• Approved an application to Philanthropy Northwest for its EPA Region 10 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grant for up to $250,000;
• Approved an application to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grant for up to $10 million;
• And approved the enrollment of three infants into the Tribe because they meet the requirements under the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

To watch the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.