Council Dispatch #140   January 26, 2023

 

Nkwusm

 

  • Stephen Smallsalmon informed council there is going to be a coyote story tomorrow and the council was invited to attend. Nkwusm has been in existence for 21 years and Stephen has been a teacher there for 20 years. Nkwusm needs to have more room and money. There are enough teachers that know how to teach the language and there was talk about having a second Nkwusm in Ronan. Stephen asked about the fence at Nkwusm. Council told him the paperwork was completed so it should be getting installed in the near future.

 

Mission Valley Honor Guard

 

  • Council received a report about what the Mission Valley Honor Guard has been doing this past year. The report will be sent to the national office so they can hopefully get some funding. It shows the memorials they attended for veterans, members of the Honor Guard that were lost, what their expenditures were spent on, and the donations they received. Len TwoTeeth talked about the Honor Guard being an intricate part of what we do here and posting the colors is one of the most important ceremonies. Len would like to establish an annual donation of $10,000 to be included in the Tribes’ annual budget to help support the Honor Guard.

 

Tribal Council

 

  • Chairman McDonald gave a report on the governor’s state of address. Tom was able to meet the cabinet folks. Troy Downing, Auditor, wants to give a presentation to the council. Tom had a discussion with the Department of Livestock regarding Yellowstone bison management.  Tom met with Joe Read about his hunting bill, and he spent some time with the governor. The governor received a standing ovation on his comments about getting the debt paid being meaningful for future legislative sessions and taxpayers. There was also a section on MMIP, which was well received. The governor talked about the community college in Miles City and the educational opportunities they are engaged in. It does many of the things the council has spoken to the Salish Kootenai College Board of Directors about. They focus on training, online learning, and getting high school students credit for working in vocational trades.  Tom would like to encourage SKC to expand into those areas. Miles City has a meat-cutting program for certified meat cutting as part of the curriculum.  Tom encouraged the council to look at their website.

 

  • Terry Pitts thanked Ellie Bundy for setting up the meeting with the Law & Order Task Force and he thought it was a good discussion. Ellie does a good job keeping council updated and involved. Terry thanked the task force for all they do.

 

Tribal Education Department

 

  • Council received a presentation on the annual Indian Education Report for the St. Ignatius School District and took action to accept the report.

 

  • Council received a presentation on the annual Indian Education Report for the Polson School District and took action to accept the report.

 

Natural Resources Department

 

  • Council approved the advertisement for a 30-day public comment period for the proposed changes to the Tribal Member Regulations.

 

Personnel Department

 

  • Council approved Amendment 1 to Tribal Personnel Ordinance 69D. The changes included changing the language regarding personnel action forms to be initiated by departments, the addition of holidays for Juneteenth and Indigenous People’s Day, paid leave due to any emergency leave applies to all employees within the organization, the leave sharing policy was changed to 360 work hours allowed per calendar year, the market based increases language changed from “shall receive” to “may receive”, and changed the steps in the old pay plan when employees are placed in an acting capacity to line up with the minimum, mid, and maximum points of classification and cannot exceed the mid-point when placed in a position in an acting capacity.

 

Financial Management

 

  • Council took action to adopt the recommendation from Administration for the employee cost index and the longevity schedule as presented.

 

NOTE:  The official Council Minutes will contain more complete details about lengthy discussions and should be considered the official record of Council. Dispatches are written from notes taken live and may occasionally contain partial information, over-simplified characterizations or an occasional error. Council reviews and corrects the draft minutes before approving as the official record.  Comments (both affirmations and concerns) are part of change and are expected and encouraged. Along with any specific comments, please also share what you would like to hear more about in upcoming communications. The email address for comments is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..