By DORREEN YELLOW BIRD Grand Forks Herald http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforksherald/news/local/2782249.htm
Mar. 03, 2002
BELCOURT, N.D. - "Members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa are seeking drastic changes in their current tribal constitution. They want a balance of power in their tribal government.
After more than eight months and 12 drafts, members of the ad hoc constitutional revision committee hope they will get the final document to the people in April.
Why do the Turtle Mountain people want to change their constitution?
Virg Bercier, a single mother, wants change because she is concerned about the future for her children.
An elder committee member said they want to keep dishonest tribal government officials from taking their money.
Another member said they were tired of secret meetings in which spending is decided.
Power struggles
Les LaFountain, former state legislator, said the current government causes turmoil and power struggles. The people don't want that. "We need to clean up our constitution, which we found almost impossible to fix," he said.
It is difficult to find anyone who wants to keep the old constitution. Although many find sections and parts of the revisions troubling, most are optimistic that the change will bring about a better government.
"It is high time and well overdue," said Richard Monette, tribal chairman, who stayed away from the hearings. He said he wanted the change to be a grass-roots effort without the influence of the government. But he made his position clear. "I campaigned on changing the constitution, and I believe the people want it. I know that the people aren't going to agree with everything, and it will be full of compromise also," he said.
As the proposed constitution stands, it will eliminate full-time positions for the current tribal government and develop a legislative branch. This branch of 16 members (each district will have four), will convene six regular sessions of five days. Special sessions may be called. Compensation for these meetings hasn't been decided.
The executive branch will consist of the chairman and vice-chairman and the departments of education, commerce, labor, treasury, human services, enrollment and justice. The judicial branch will also undergo changes to strengthen and distance it from the tribal government body.
Job shakeup
Some of the current council members would be the losers. Their terms would be curtailed from full-time jobs to those six or more sessions.
Currently, the tribal government annual salaries range from $49,000 to $69,000. Council members would need to supplement their salaries with another job.
Monette said this is true, but it would also allow some of the leaders in the community, who may have businesses or hold executive positions, to run for the council. That would mean more expertise on the council.
When asked how similar the proposed constitution is to the state and federal constitutions, Monette responded adamantly, the state and federal governments are fashioned after tribal constitution. Those who came to this country had a kingship system of government, he said, and they could only change it by cutting off the king's head.
The constitution revision is part of Project Peacemaker which is a collaborative initiative that brings tribal legal studies degrees to more than 30 tribally-controlled community colleges. For Turtle Mountain Community College, it means strengthening the tribal constitution and codes.
Lyttle praised
After interviewing Robert Lyttle, a Cheyenne Arapaho lawyer who has made his career helping tribes revise their constitutions (Turtle Mountain is the eighth tribe he has helped), Gerald "Carty" Monette, president of the Turtle Mountain Community College, and his brother, the tribal chairman, found that Lyttle is not only ideal but has a good way of working with Indian people.
Lyttle said, the Turtle Mountain band is not an Indian Reorganization Tribe, they still have to follow the Bureau of Indian Affairs policies. The Indian Reorganization of 1934 (also called the Wheeler-Howard Act) allowed tribes to develop Indian lands and resources, form businesses and organizations, establish a credit system and granted certain rights of home rule.
The IRA constitutions are flawed, Lyttle said. The flaws cause many of the problems with tribal governments. One of the basic flaws is there is no separation of powers. The IRA created a one-branch system that consolidates all governmental power into one body, usually called a tribal council. He said there are membership and election disputes, civil rights violations, limited sovereignty and jurisdiction, and other outdated provisions that are conflicting and poorly written.
Turtle Mountain is not an IRA tribe. The members voted against accepting it but have essentially functioned as one. The new constitution, Lyttle said, would take the tribe out from under the Bureau of Indian Affairs authority and let it function with a constitution that has been carved out of the best of all the constitutions."