Rocky Boy expands discussion of amending constitution

ROCKY BOY'S INDIAN RESERVATION - A potential constitutional amendment was among a number of items fielded by the Chippewa Cree Business Committee at its monthly council meeting Thursday morning.

Tribal Enrollment Assistant Lisa Stump presented a brief overview of her findings from a public meeting Tuesday regarding amendments to the Chippewa Cree Constitution and Bylaws.

"There was really good feedback," she said. "It got a little heated here and there, but we tried to remain focused on the enrollment portion (of the constitution) because we all know that the constitution needs revision."

Stump said one of the main concerns with changing Article II of the constitution, which lays out pathways to tribal membership, was that current members of the tribe are concerned about their descendants suffering from the effects of over-enrollment. She also said that the general consensus on changing Article X, which describes the process for creating constitutional amendments, was that the public wants to do what it can to "keep the power with the people."

Enrollment Clerk Jeanette Demontiney then made a recommendation to the full council on how the tribe ought to proceed with the amendment process.

"What my recommendation is, I guess, is to not delete entirely but to repeal and replace Article X. ... We need to get rid of the portion where we have to get approval from the government to amend the tribe's own constitution. We could repeal that and replace it with wording where it could be amended, but we also need to put some controls there where we won't be having a constitutional amendment election every other month."

Demontiney said with Article X altered, future constitutional elections would not need to be approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior, making the election process easier for members of the tribe and taking back a semblance of sovereignty.

Members of the Business Committee agreed that the process for making constitutional amendments ought to be changed.

"I think it's a good idea that we be able to control our constitution, not just we as a council but we as voters and as residents in Rocky Boy," council member Calvin Jilot said.

Jilot proposed lowering the number of required signatures to begin the amendment process. With fewer required signatures, petitioners wouldn't have to go through the difficult process of finding as many tribal members living off the reservation, or even out of state.

He said all tribal members - on the reservation and across the country - would be encouraged to sign petitions, but it would make more sense to lower the necessary number of signatures in order to make constitutional amendments more feasible.

"That's a good idea, Calvin, but you still have to change the constitution before you can do that," said Vice Chairman Ted Whitford.

Whitford said he wants to explore the idea of permitting digital signatures and other methods to make petitioning an easier process for tribal members.

"It's a lot easier for people to do it that way than to actually physically show up as we learned. If they live out of state, it's a burden on them to come out here just for that," he said.

Members of the Business Committee agreed Article X is a major hurdle for the tribe to make any amendments, but the plan moving forward was not yet clear.

Jilot proposed amending Article X first, then revisiting the constitution to make more amendments - such as an amendment to Article II changing the requirements for tribal enrollment - once the process is easier.

"Would it be a lot faster if we moved forward with trying to amend (Article) X and make changing our constitution a lot easier first and go for that route first? If we change that ... then we'll have a lot faster opportunity or chance to move forward with changing the whole constitution," he said.

Whitford came from a different angle, saying one big election with multiple proposed amendments - to Articles II, X and others - would allow the tribe to make sweeping changes to a constitution he believes is outdated.

"Wouldn't it make more sense, though, to incorporate all the changes in this first go-around?" he asked. "Because the constitution is way out of date. I don't think it's ever been updated, so not only the enrollment portion, but there are other areas that I feel need to be updated as well."

The council made no official decisions on changing enrollment requirements or amending Article X, but they agreed to hold more discussions at an enrollment meeting Wednesday, July 17.

Parker Canyon water project called to question

Lloyd Billy, a longtime resident of Parker Canyon on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, spoke during the Business Committee meeting to express his opposition to a water project that would connect his neighborhood to the reservation's main water system.

"I talked to a lot of our people up the canyon and they don't want it. And neither do I," he said. "We've all got good water. ... Right now we don't have to, but I know the rest of the reservation has to boil their water and drink it. We don't have to up the canyon because each guy has a good well."

Billy said residents of the canyon plan to sign a petition to try to keep the water project from reaching their neighborhood.

Whitford said the reservation will not force anybody in Parker Canyon to connect to the main water system, and that the project to install a water line in the area has been in the works for years.

"We kind of anticipated that there would be some folks who would not want to be on that water system," he said, "so I believe this first phase will just put a water line along the road. Nobody is going to be connected to it until the second phase and it'll be at their discretion if they want to be connected or not."

Billy said that even if residents in Parker Canyon choose not to connect to the water line, he is concerned the mere existence of a line in the neighborhood could lead to contamination of the residents' wells.

"I've been there all my life and had the same well forever," he said, adding that he has never had an issue with his water and that he and his neighbors have no need for the water line to be installed.

Jessica Windy Boy, CEO of Rocky Boy Health Center, said the wells in Parker Canyon have historically been clean and that current testing has shown they remain free of E. coli and other harmful bacteria.

"We are doing water testing right now for all the wells and thankfully ... none of the wells have tested for E. coli, so that's a really great thing," she said.

"If anything, I don't know if these folks need water, they need sewer lines coming out," she said.

Billy said he plans to attend future meetings to fight the creation of a water line in Parker Canyon.

"There could be some problems here," he told the council. "You guys got to be aware of it because you guys are the bosses around here. There could be some problems, you know that."