Council Dispatch #193     September 12, 2023

 

Walk-In

 

  • Mike Kenmille informed council have a system that is supposed to help members from the youngest to the oldest. He asked why the council allows their children to be taken off the reservation. His grandchildren were allowed to be taken off the reservation, and Mike wanted an answer on how we are supposed to take care of our people when we allow this to happen. Mike has been taking steps to get his grandchild enrolled in CSKT. The Tribes should develop their own system instead of relying on the Tribal Court. We will not have a future if we keep giving away our children. Chairman McDonald agreed we should do everything we can to keep our children here and amend any policies or regulations we can to make that happen. The more we can define in the policy, the less interpretation there will be by a judge. Len TwoTeeth would like to ask the Tribal Social Services Department when we get into a case where a tribal member children will be taken off the reservation that the tribal council be notified so they can look for other options to prevent that from happening. Once the judge orders a ruling, there is nothing the council can do about it.   This child has a large family that was willing to take her. Len wants to make that change to the policy. Patricia Hibbeler, Director of Tribal Member Services, advised there are some reorganization changes happening at Social Services.  Patti will do a policy review and return with some recommendations. She was not aware of this particular case, so she will follow up.

 

Natural Resources Department

 

  • Council took action to reopen Mission Reservoir to fishing, due to the reservoir recovering to above minimal pool elevation. Gwen Lankford will draft a press release.

 

Tribal Lands Department

 

  • Council approved by resolution the purchase of the 40-acre Revais Drainage parcel and seek DEWR funding for this acquisition.

 

  • Council approved by resolution the purchase of the Evaro parcel.

 

  • Council approved the advertisement of the RFPs for appraisals, surveys, phase one environmental, and title company.

 

  • Mike Dolson wanted to move forward with an environmental assessment of the bathhouse. Mark Couture responded phase one is done. Mark is working with John and Tyson to look at various buildings, and the bathhouse will be included.  Chairman McDonald would like the bathhouse prioritized and either remove it or do the necessary improvements to make it a usable structure.

 

  • Mark Couture gave an update on the Lands Ordinance. It was approved by the council and was forwarded to the superintendent. There is a ten-day window for review, and the superintendent was unable to review it within that timeline so he did not forward it to the Regional Office. There were some sentence structure changes made. Mark will return at a later date to rescind the action to approve that ordinance and approve the revised version.

 

Legal Department

 

  • John Carter presented proposed changes to Ordinance 86B, the Tribal Administrative Procedures Ordinance. John suggested adding language stating the information possessed by the Culture Committees or the Tribal Preservation Department that identifies, describes, or locates areas, sites, objects or activities of cultural or spiritual significance. Council agreed to the proposed change.  John will return to council at a later date to seek approval of the final document.

 

  • Council approved by resolution the referenced opioid settlement and authorized the Tribal Chairman to sign the Tribal Participation Form and any related documents necessary to effectuate this settlement.

 

  • Council approved a resolution regarding the higher education Salish Kootenai College regulations.

 

Department of Human Resources Development

 

  • Patricia Courchane informed council that she had sent a letter out regarding the Foster Care licensing, and she received a response back that it needed to be signed the tribal chairman. Chairman McDonald signed the letter.

 

Tribal Council

 

  • Martin Charlo informed council that the Washington State Indian Education Committee is meeting on October 6 in Pullman, if anyone wants to attend. It is scheduled for the same day as the quarterly council meeting, so he will not be attending.

 

 

 

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..