Tribal members Sal Sahme and Mike Clements had proposed amendments to the Warm Springs Constitution that would have changed how tribal leaders are elected. Voters rejected those amendments.
Amanda Peacher / OPB
Several members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs want to fundamentally
the way their tribal government works.
Mike Clements is spokesman for the initiators of the petition to amend the constitution. He said the tribes are suffering economically, with high unemployment and poverty rates. He blames tribal leadership — including the chiefs that sit on the council — for the reservation's problems.
“(The chiefs') role on our council was to speak for the people and to protect (treaty) rights,” Clements said.
He claims they aren’t doing that.
“Those chieftains now enter those roles pretty much looking for the power base on the council — to watch out for their selves or their family and not so much for the general membership of their tribes.”
OPB reached out to tribal council members for comment, but they did not make anyone available by deadline.
Clements said the tribes can still have chiefs, but he believes they should be removed from the governing body.
Currently, there are three chiefs serving life terms on the tribal council, and eight members that are elected from different districts on the reservation. The group proposes there should be nine at-large members on the council, elected for three-year terms.
Many of the petitioners pushing for the amendment are retired from jobs working for the tribes, which gives them the independence to challenge the sitting government. But some of the people signing the petition aren’t quite so secure.
“Many do fear backlash of government for their jobs and their daily lives and the security that they have within their everyday tribal life,” Clements said.
He pointed out that some tribal members say people have been fired from their jobs without explanation.
“Some people feel that those (firings) have been directed by members from our governing body," Clements explained.
The petitioners gathered 1,290 signatures for their effort, which must be verified. A recent change to federal regulations has thrown the petition into question, however.
The day after supporters submitted their petition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs released new regulations governing elections for tribes. The revised rules include new standards for petitions.
That could potentially invalidate the ballot effort in Warm Springs.
Clements said the new rules should not apply to the amendment effort.
"You're telling us you're going to judge our effort based on a revised law that was implemented after," he said. "We're just telling the secretary of interior that's not fair."
The new rules also require each proposed amendment to be voted on individually, instead of through one question on the ballot. Sahme, one of the backers of the petition doesn't agree with that aspect of the rules.
"It would institute on our part a complete change in how we approach the amendment proposal. We wanted to have a slate of issues that would be addressed in one question," said Sahme.
Clements and the other petitioners are seeking a Department of the Interior waiver from the new rules.
If the waiver is granted and the signatures aren't challenged, an election would likely be held in the beginning of 2016.
