Tribal Council wrong to choose partial payout
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Editor,
I am outraged at our Tribal Council for voting to pay out only $10,000 of the Salazar judgment (which is a settlement) to our enrolled members. The majority of all tribal members want the judgment to be paid out in full. The money belongs to each and every one of the enrollees, not to the Tribal Council as a whole.
To ignore the wishes of the majority, especially after hearing personal testimonials in various reservation towns for 100-percent payout, is a gross wrongdoing on behalf of the council. You do not have the right to judge your constituents in thinking that they would not spend the entire amount wisely.
We are in the worst recession that this generation has known. Our people are poor and needy. Our food banks all over the reservation are in great need. Some of our families go to bed hungry. Strangers and non-Indians are trespassing on our lands and roads without a permit to do so (which could mean a source of revenue for the tribes) and nobody questions it.
The council has the “what, me worry?” attitude, as they are paid very generously. They can pay themselves whatever they wish. However, senior citizens are on fixed incomes. A lot of the jobs here are seasonal, and when work is available, the wages are slim. We do not make the salaries that the council does, and a lot of the tribal employees that have been “put out to pasture,” if you will, are still being paid their large salaries. Why? Couldn’t this money be used in the most needed areas?
I am not alone in requesting that the Charkoosta News publish the salaries of all Tribal Council members, tribal department heads, and the names, titles and salaries of all tribal employees, including all attorneys. This is not an unreasonable request, and we, as enrolled members, are the ones who voted you in to the council. We have the right to know. We voted you in, and we can take you out through the democratic process and put people in who will act in our best interest, which we clearly showed you during the recent town meetings.
Geraldine A. Roullier
St. Ignatius
