Tribal Council introduces proposed changes to Enrollment Ordinance

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

Tribal Council is introducing proposed amendments to the Tribe’s Enrollment Ordinance, to ensure that if applicants meet with administrative delays, they do not have to wait years to apply for membership again.

The council approved the first reading at its Wednesday, Sept. 30, meeting.

A community input meeting for Tribal members to review the proposed changes was held Wednesday, Oct. 7, in Tribal Council Chambers and via Zoom, with Tribal Council Vice Chair Jon George, Secretary Tonya Gleason-Shepek and council members Valeria Atanacio, Lisa Leno and Toby McClary attending.

The number of questions and comments about the proposal were so many that Tribal Council finally ended the meeting at 7:40 p.m. However, they noted that comments can be submitted to legal@grandronde.org until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16.  Comments can also be mailed to the Tribal Attorney's Office, 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347.

Tribal members can request a redlined copy of the proposed changes by contacting legal@grandronde.org. Details have also been sent out on the Tribe’s Alta app.

On Tuesday, October 27, the Tribe will hold scheduled staff hours from noon to 2 p.m. in Tribal Council Chambers to answer questions. There will also be a hybrid option for those hours, with a zoom link available on the Tribe’s Facebook page.

The new process does not replace existing deadlines or give people longer to start registering their infants, nor is it an appeals process, council members stressed. Rather, it is an internal process for the Tribe to make sure that applicants don’t lose their opportunity to enroll because of administrative delays by the Tribe.

Applicants who are denied enrollment will still be able to appeal their denial. It is a separate process that goes through the Tribal Court.

Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez said the amendment is being proposed because there have been administrative delays in a handful of cases and the Tribe needs a way to address those. The practice of simply moving any delayed infants to the next quarterly meeting of the Enrollment Committee is no longer allowed under the Tribe’s enrollment process.

A new panel will review all application denials, to make sure they were not caused by administrative delays and will send any recommendations to Tribal Council for approval. The panel will consist of Hernandez, the Member Services Department manager, a representative from the Tribal Attorney’s Office and a rotating member of the Enrollment Committee. Several people however, suggested there should be two members from the Enrollment Committee.

Hernandez noted that denials are rare and usually caused by DNA results. The Tribe pays for the required DNA tests in enrollment applications.

Leno urged new parents not to delay applications for their infants.

“It is very, very important that you enroll your child in that (first) six months,” she said. “We are not going to be looking at applications where people just haven’t gotten their applications in on time.”

Hernandez said it’s important to begin early. “The second you get out of the hospital, I would work on ordering Social Security and identification for that child,” she said.

Tribal Council member Kathleen George explained during the Legislative Action Committee meeting Tuesday, Sept. 29, that after the Tribe approved its constitutional amendment changing enrollment to lineal descent in Sept. 2024, the list of applicants for membership became so long that it will take years to get through. Under the current system, that means infant enrollment applications that get hung up in the administrative process and miss the six-month window go to the end of that line, creating a wait of more than a decade. The proposed changes would eliminate that penalty.

Under the proposed changes, infants who are not enrolled by six months due to delays by the Tribe would be included in an additional 50 enrollment slots per year instead of going to the end of the enrollment waiting line. The council would have the ability to add fewer than 50 additional enrollments if it chooses to do so, Hernandez said.

“We just want the membership to know that we’re learning as we live with our new amendments and as we implement them,” George said. “This is a big safety check or a failsafe. In case there could be a mistake, we don’t want the burden of a human mistake that could be possible, even if rare, to negatively impact that infant.”

Tribal Council will hold a meeting Thursday, Nov. 12, to review comments and suggestions, Hernandez said. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, it will hold a combined work session and LAC meeting to review any additional comments received between Nov. 12-Nov. 16. Absent any major changes, Hernandez said, the council hopes to vote on the amendment at its Wednesday, Nov. 18, regular meeting.