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November 22, 2024
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Tribal government free of political interference? No conflict of interest?

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
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jodi@imfreedomalliance.org https://twitter.com/JodiRave
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JT Shining Oneside shared stories about her Ojibwe and Anishinaabe inheritance during the Native American Heritage Month Celebration on Nov. 15. She spoke about the coming-of-age and traditional birth ceremonies. (Photo credit/ Adrianna Adame)

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The Blackfeet Nation has created a constitutional reform committee to write a much-needed amendment to the tribal constitution. The order:  To create a Blackfeet Constitution that best fits the Blackfeet culture and traditions, but at the same time has separation of powers, which actually means, “a government free from political interference and conflicts of interests to allow for the development of fair administration of that government in order to foster success and prosperity of the people in which the government has been entrusted.”

The tribe has extended the deadline for reform to June 2010.

If anyone has any thoughts on tribal government, conflict of interest and constitutional reform in Indian Country, give me a holler at jodi.rave@buffalosfire.com. We can discuss this online.

Moreover, if you are Blackfeet, contact one of the reform committee members, including GG Kipp (ggkipp@bfcc.org) Greg Gilham (gregvike@yahoo.com) or Virgil “Puggy” Edwards (puggy@3rivers.net).

Or contact Lona Burns who is overseeing the Blackfeet Constitution Reform Committee. Check out their Web site.

Jodi Rave

Posted in CommunityTagged
Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
jodi@imfreedomalliance.org https://twitter.com/JodiRave

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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1 Comment

  • Max Bet
    August 22, 2009 at 7:36 pm

    The problems with the old constitutions are they are unenforcable. The reason for the separation of powers is to hold elected officials accountable to the people. If there is no separation of powers the Tribal Councils have full authority over everything and anything. The idea behind sovereignty is that tribes are allowed to make their own laws and to be governed by those laws. The constitution document is the governing body not the Tribal Council members. The Tribal Councils are not supposed to act as supreme authority over their people they are to enforce the constitution. The average person has no where to take their issues to get a fair hearing. There is no one looking out for the best interest of the Tribes, people get eleccted and look out for number one and use their position to exploit the resources. Most council persons who get elected don’t have a clue what to do to better their people so they control them. Without Vision the people will perish. There is not one councillman who has an original idea to better their communities. They don’t know how and why should they the people might not need them next election.

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