Northern Cheyenne activists present proposed constitution amendments to Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council on October 30. From left to right: Kristina Red Wing, Jennifer Red Fox, R.D. Bailey and Barbara Clubfoot. Photo by Clara Caufield/A Cheyenne Voice
‘Politics as usual’ on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Correspondent LAME DEER, Mont. –– Local tribal activists were disappointed, but not surprised when the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council took no action on their request to schedule a tribal vote on proposed amendments to the Tribal Constitution. Activists made that request to the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council at the October 30, 2014 meeting held shortly before the November 4 election where five Council seats were open. “It’s politics as usual,” said R.D. Bailey a member of a community based group that has worked on proposed changes to the tribal constitution for the past year. Bailey previously served on the Tribal Council (2008-1012) representing the Busby District which he says gave him great insight into problems with the current tribal constitution. Bailey, Kristy Red Wing, Lame Deer District Chairperson (nonpaid community based position); Jennifer Redfox, Birney and Barbara Clubfoot, Muddy District Chairperson made a presentation to the Tribal Council outlining proposed amendments to the tribal constitution.. The group has been working to draft proposed amendments for over a year, incorporating community comments and recommendations. They report that the proposed amendments fall into three areas: 1) tribal council compensation and accountability 2) absentee ballots and 3) enrollment. Bailey explained that the proposed amendments are currently being reviewed by a lawyer who is assisting the effort. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to constitutional amendment,” said Tracy Robinson, Ashland District and Sargent at Arms for the Tribal Council who serves two more years before facing re-election. Under current tribal council procedures, Robinson is the key official responsible for preparing the Tribal Council agenda. “But I’d like to see the actual language and full context. When that is available, I promise I will put it back on the agenda," Robinson said. Jenny Lafranier, Lame Deer Council member who has since lost her seat on the Tribal Council as a result of the November 4 election echoed concerns about seeing amendment language. Winfield Russell, Tribal Vice-President provided some background on the enrollment issue but other Council members had no comment. Tribal President Llevando “Cowboy” Fisher later said “This group needs to be commended for their hard work. I campaigned on the issue of Constitutional Revision and believe it is what the people want, but the Council, Administration and the community need the opportunity to first examine and discuss the actual language. I hope we can see it very soon. I fully support moving forward and apparently we have to look to the community to make that happen.” In the meantime, the Tribal Council declined to take action, a disappointment to the activists. “When we requested to be on the Agenda, a draft resolution was attached to our request and we asked for a decision,” Redfox noted. “Somewhere along the line, our presentation was changed to only an informational session. We didn’t expect the Council to vote in favor of amending the Constitution knowing they would say “Hova’ahane” (No) but we wanted to give them that option.” The Northern Cheyenne Tribe operates under an Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) constitution first adopted in 1934, amended in the 1960’s and then significantly revised and adopted through a Secretarial election in 1994. As a result of the 1994 tribal vote, key changes were adopted: The size of the Tribal Council was reduced from 22 to 10 members; Council members began to serve full-time receiving salary and benefits serving four year staggered terms, instead of receiving stipend pay for monthly meetings; a Primary and General Election process was established replacing the district level elections; The Vice-President is now elected at large instead of by the Tribal Council; separation of powers between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches was established and Tribal Judges are now elected rather than appointed by the President and confirmed by the Tribal Council. The activists are also addressing the tribal enrollment law, recommending that enrollment criteria be included in the Constitution. Presently, enrollment at Northern Cheyenne is handled by Tribal Ordinance, the most recent adopted in 1990 (3-90) which established lineal descendancy; doing away with the previous requirement of 1/8 Northern Cheyenne blood degree. Since then, the Northern Cheyenne tribal enrollment has swelled to slightly over 10,900 members, while only about 4,500 reside on the Reservation. According to Wallace Bearchum, Tribal enrollment director, enrollment requests from off-reservation applicants take a jump whenever the Tribe expects to receive per capita payments from the Cobell and other settlements. “We don’t even know many of these people,” Jennifer Redfox noted “and they outnumber us.” Redfox clarified that the group does not seek to dis-enroll current tribal members, but is seeking more restrictive requirements, possibly re-establishing a residency requirement to be effective if the provision is adopted through a Secretarial election. Diana Mclean, Tribal Human Resources Director who served as one of seven community members appointed by the Tribal Council to the 1994 Constitution Revision Committee, funded by a grant from the Administration for Native Americans, said: ”Our committee spent more than two years consulting with the community, going out to the districts, etc. to develop those amendments. But, by the time the lawyers and Council got done with the amendments, it didn’t accurately reflect what the people wanted. A specific provision for removal of Council members; preventing felons from seeking office, the rate of Council pay and self-policing of the Council are some examples of what was taken out by the Council,” she explained. “The community never intended for Council members to make more than $25,000 per year. Now, they average about $60,000 per year and the Tribe can’t afford it. This 14 year experiment has not worked and we have to change the constitution again,” she stressed. While the Tribal Council can, by majority vote, call for a Secretarial Election to amend the Tribal Council, the Cheyenne activists do not believe this will happen. Thus, they are relying upon the process for amending tribal constitutions governed by 25 CFR parts 81 and 82 which set out a petition process necessary to trigger a Secretarial Election, managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The community members understand that they can bypass the Tribal Council by completing properly conducted petition drive with at least 10% of the signatures of eligible voters in each district. However, because tribal constitutional elections are so rare, a source within the B.I.A. said the process may not be that clear and that final approval from the Tribal Council may still be necessary. On October 9, 2014 the Department of Interior printed new proposed rules for Secretarial Elections in the Federal Register (pages 61021-61035). Those regulations were first adopted in 1964, finalized through Petitioning Procedures regulation adopted in 1967 and the Department has not updated either of these regulations since 1981. The Federal Register announcement states: The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proposing to amend its regulations governing Secretarial elections and procedures for tribal member to petition for elections. This proposed rule reflects changes in the law and the requirement that regulations be written in plain language. Comments must be received on or before December 17, 2014. “We intend to pursue the petition process,” members of the group promised. “If we wait for the Tribal Council, they will just continue to stall. Under our proposal, Council members would only be paid for attending meetings at a much lower rate than they now earn. We want to take the personal profit out of tribal politics. Of course, they don’t like that.” The group plans to mount a petition drive soon, when the final proposed amendments are cleared by their legal counsel. “I think it will go,” Redfox predicted. “Our people have been forgotten and are disgusted with the way things have been going.” (Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com.) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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