Some Tribal members left uncertain with constitutional amendment election rollout

By Kamiah Koch

Social media/digital journalist

Some Tribal members have taken to social media and spent several hours during a Thursday, May 22, constitutional amendment educational meeting to express their confusion regarding the upcoming election Wednesday, July 9, to remove the Bureau of Indian Affairs from the Grand Ronde Tribe’s constitutional amendment process.

During the meeting, Tribal Senior Staff Attorney Holly Partridge gave a short presentation to the roughly 50 Tribal members attending the hybrid format held in the Tribal Council Chambers and Zoom.

“In summary, the language being changed is any reference of the BIA conducting the constitutional election,” Partridge said. “This is being replaced with our Tribal language so the Tribe can conduct these elections.”

Tribal Council attributed wanting to remove the BIA from constitutional elections because of concerns with Tribal members’ accessibility to vote.

A “Constitutional Amendment FAQ” states that the Tribe is considering removing the BIA due to timelines being set by federal regulations, resulting in the Tribe being unable to provide enough time for all Tribal members to participate and having a varied process from election to election. Additionally, it cites a lack of BIA resources and staffing cuts, as well as agency employees who are unfamiliar with constitutional amendment elections adding “additional challenges in recent years.”

“Having a Tribal-led process will result in more efficient and timely communication with Tribal members regarding these important elections, and the dates associated with the election,” the FAQ states.  ­­

Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George announced that due to the voter registration process already underway, this was likely the only educational meeting the Tribe would be holding for this constitutional amendment vote. 

Tribal Council approved moving forward with the constitutional election process of removing the BIA from its elections during the Wednesday, April 2, Tribal Council meeting. The vote was 5-2, with Vice Chair Chris Mercier and council member Denise Harvey dissenting.

It has been stated that the Tribe is moving forward with the amendment process now in order to avoid having it conflict with Tribal Council elections in September.

Lack of communication cited as issue

A theme among some of the Tribal membership’s grievances is a perceived lack of communication from Tribal Council and staff before BIA voter registration packets were sent out.

Voter registration packets started appearing in Tribal members’ mailboxes in early May. Since this election is still run by the BIA, Tribal members must register to vote, even if they are already registered to vote in Tribal elections or have registered to vote in a prior BIA election.

 More details on this election can be found in the Smoke Signals story, “BIA election set for July 9.”

During the May 22 meeting, some members said the first time they heard of the proposed constitutional amendment was when they received their voter registration in the mail.

The last time the Tribal membership voted on this matter was in March 2015.

In April 2014, three educational meetings were held in Portland, Eugene and Grand Ronde to allow Tribal members to discuss removing the BIA from constitutional elections before the June 6, 2014 vote.

However, that election was canceled due to procedural errors on behalf of the BIA's Siletz Agency Office. Another election was set for March 14, 2015, with an additional educational session held after the March 1, 2015, General Council meeting in Grand Ronde.

However, the constitution remained unchanged as 381 voted against removing the BIA oversight (62% of the total votes) compared to the 230 votes in favor.

Some have questioned the timing of the latest constitutional amendment election rollout coming on the heels of the constitutional amendment changing enrollment requirements to lineal descent, which was certified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in January.

The Tribe will begin accepting applications for non-infant/non-emergency enrollments under the new requirements from Tuesday, June 3 until Friday, July 18.

 “This is a good time to (hold this election) while it’s still a conversation in the community,” Tribal Council member Tonya Gleason-Shepek said. “There is no conflict with the lineal descent election. This election will not impact that election (result) in any way. We as a council can’t do that, only our members can do that.”

With the lineal descent constitutional amendment still in the proverbial rearview mirror, various Tribal members have said they recall several educational meetings and workshops being held leading up to the Tribe voting in prior constitutional elections.

According to Smoke Signals coverage and its online calendar, the Tribe held a handful of meetings since 2021 on potential solutions to enrollment issues, conducted an advisory vote in 2023 and offered online surveys. In preparation for the 2024 lineal descent vote that occurred in December, there were two lineal descent workshops on Feb. 21 and April 17, three language input meetings on Aug. 21, Nov. 7 and Nov. 21, a Facebook Live meeting on Sept. 25 and a BIA election process meeting Oct. 16. Additionally, the Tribe’s Election Board and executive staff opened their doors to office hours throughout November and December.

Comparatively, the November 2022 constitutional amendment election to limit disenrollment began with a Facebook Live educational meeting on Sept. 21, two election process meetings  Sept. 27 and Sept 29; and educational meetings Oct. 13 in Portland, Oct. 18 and Oct. 26 in Tribal Council Chambers/Zoom, and Oct. 20 in Salem.

The Election Board is holding office hours for the upcoming constitutional amendment election from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through the end of June at the Tribal Community Center. Office hours will also be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, June 3-5, for any challenges to the voter list.

The board may be reached at 503-879-2271 or by emailing election.board@grandronde.org.

Several Tribal members in attendance at the May 22 meeting spent more than two hours questioning why an advisory vote and educational meetings were not held before the Tribe initiated the BIA vote.

Tribal member Valeria Atanacio said during the educational meeting that she felt the Tribe could have used better communication when rolling out the proposed constitutional amendment.

“I do think it is concerning that from April 2 to May 14, this matter was not discussed publicly by council,” Atanacio said. “Why now?”

Atanacio asked each Tribal Council member to explain why they support moving forward with the amendment.

“Every time we have an election there have been some things that are really concerning,” Tribal Council member Lisa Leno said in her response to Atanacio. “There have been limitations to Tribal members’ ability to participate. People might feel like this election is rushed but we have been talking about this for so long it feels like we have been talking about it forever.”

Some Tribal members stepped up to the microphone to announce their support for removing the BIA from Tribal elections.

“Removing the federal government from our elections is one of the biggest flags that is related to sovereignty that we can plant in our ground,” Tribal member Toby McClary said in the meeting.

Tribal Council member Kathleen George said she has wanted to remove the BIA from the constitutional amendment process for a long time but understands some of the membership’s concerns with the upcoming election.

“I at first thought I was going to support this but at this time I have concerns,” George said. “… I am not sure we have done all the work with the community yet to make them confident in this election.”