I know the title produces a collective moan from about half of the population (and I like to believe no more than that). Bear with me you folks who are morning challenged. For me every morning is a new day. A day that I woke to and have the privilege of participating in the collective action of the inhabitants of this planet. That means you and your family, too. Each day begins with new opportunity so I don’t understand why people aren’t excited. Waking up to begin a new day is better than the alternative as it is often said. Some mornings are even more optimistic and happy. Let’s call them sunshiny, enthusiastic, and promising mornings.
Yet, I must admit that I enjoy my morning routine even if much less than one of those special mornings. That puts me in the eternal optimist grouping. I believe in the better nature of people to ultimately lead us forward on the right path. I see evidence both nationally and tribally of that progressive nature. This can be seen both in history and modern times. It’s the progress through time of things as diverse as slavery, voting rights, labor laws, and environmental protections for our rivers and salmon as national examples. Our own confederated tribal examples include the beginning of the reservation era, through termination era, and to what has lead us here after 35 years of Restoration.
I know my dad wonders in awe at how the reservation he grew up in with no running water, outhouses, and a dirt floor now has so, so much to offer. He is amazed when I describe how much is in our endowments and the protections and policy we are working on to ensure they serve many generations not merely the current three generations or so. We are moving forward with amazing progress even though it is harder to see when looking at shorter timeframes with shorter memories.
So, yes. I am very optimistic about our future as a Tribe and I enjoy and look forward to every morning.
One of the things that was much discussed in the years of my two campaigns including a morning video was the idea of a grandfather clause for the families impacted by the 1999 Enrollment Amendment. The members I talked to were very supportive. Listening to the members during last year’s Advisory Vote process, the members asked for an Advisory Vote that identified whether or not Tribal Members wanted to address the split-siblings as part of that grandfather clause effort. That Advisory Vote passed overwhelmingly and had the support of every single candidate in the Tribal Council field last summer. Unanimously, across the board, all of them were for it.
Webster’s Dictionary has some good examples in their definitions so I will just borrow them here:
A grandfather clause is a clause that is included as part of a new law that exempts specific parties from the law due to practices that were in place prior to the law’s implementation.
How It Works
For example, consider a law that is passed stating that all buildings with three or more stories must be equipped with two elevators. There may be buildings that were built before the passing of that law that are structurally unable to accommodate this law. Consequently, the law’s grandfather clause might state that all such buildings completed before a certain year are exempt and require no alterations.
Why It Matters
When planning a new law, lawmakers often find that it is generally beneficial for certain entities and individuals to be exempt from the new law. This is often due to the fact that such parties have pre-existing conditions or practices concerning which the new law would prove to be unfair or cumbersome. A grandfather clause is therefore a way to minimize the harmful effects of a new law by limiting its application in cases where it would do more harm than good. (Italics added.)
The current Split-Sibling Constitutional Amendment does just that. It takes members that are currently enrolled under the previous enrollment rules that existed before the 1999 Constitutional Amendment and applies a grandfather clause to their siblings with the same qualifications. It doesn’t do anything more than that. It doesn’t create anything new since it uses conditions that still apply to their enrolled sibling. It minimizes “the harmful effects of a new law by limiting its application in cases where it would do more harm than good”.
It’s up to you the voting members to see that this grandfather clause, which could have been part of the original law as mentioned above by Webster’s Dictionary, passes. It wasn’t and now it is your opportunity to include that language. Whether or not we have the 67% supermajority can only be decided by those registered to vote. Tribal Council is asking for your support in getting over that threshold.
I am looking forward to the morning when the results are announced and the day these families are made whole. That morning is coming and I can see what it will look like to those families. I see their smiles. I can even feel their hugs. I see the end of a practice within some of these families. The practice where some of our enrolled siblings shared their benefits where they could with their brothers/sisters in their own effort to heal within their families. I see our annual powwow being attended without the cloud of enrollment differences overhanging these siblings. I can see it showing on their faces when we greet them.
These are our currently enrolled families. I know them and so do you. To see them finally made whole now twenty years later is a vision we should share with them. Please imagine that morning today and when you cast your vote of YES for the Split-Sibling Amendment. It will be one of those sunshiny, enthusiastic, and promising mornings actually realized for them and for us as a Tribe.
Michael A. Langley 