Blue Lake Rancheria Ordinances, Enrollment

ORDINANCE No. 91-01

[ENROLLMENT] ORDINANCE OF THE BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA
HUMBOLDT COUNTY, STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SUBJECT:	RULES AND PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENT GOVERNING ENROLLMENT ACTIVITIES OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA
WHEREAS:	The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs has approved the Constitution governing the affairs of the Blue Lake Rancheria; and
WHEREAS:	Article III, Section 4 of the Constitution, empowers the Business Council to regulate the enrollment of tribal members through the adoption of an enrollment ordinance consistent with the constitution.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT KNOWN, that the Blue Lake Rancheria hereby adopts the following requirements and procedures to govern their enrollment activities of members, subject to review and approval by the Secretary of the Interior or his authorized representative.

DEFINITIONS

Wherever used in this Ordinance, the terms defined in this section shall have the following meaning:

ADOPTION: Means granting tribal membership to individuals who meet specific requirement prescribed in this ordinance.

ADOPTED CHILD: A child who is not the biological child of a parent but who has had the parent/child relationship established by court decree who is of Indian Ancestry.

AREA DIRECTOR: The Area Director of the Sacramento Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

BUSINESS COUNCIL: The duly elected Business Council of the Blue Lake Rancheria.

ENROLLMENT COMMITTEE: An appointed group of persons · whose responsibility it is to screen membership applications for the Blue Lake Rancheria.

SUPERINTENDENT: The Superintendent of the Northern California Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR: The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs of the United States Department of the Interior

TRIBAL MEMBER: An enrolled member of the Blue Lake Rancheria.

TRIBE: The Indians of the Blue Lake Rancheria.

SECTION I. ELIGIBILITY

Adopted members in the Blue Lake Rancheria shall consist of persons in the following category:

Indian person's that are permanent residents of the Rancheria that have provided Indian decendancy to the satisfaction of the Business Council and received a 2/3 vote from the Business Council members to become a member of the Tribe.

SECTION II. ENROLLMENT COMMITTEE

As set forth in the Tribe's Enrollment procedures, the Business Council shall appoint a three (3) member Enrollment Committee from the General Council. One member shall be designated as the Chairperson and the remaining two (2) shall serve as committee members. The Committee shall serve for a period of two (2) years, but members may be reappointed upon the expiration of their two (2) year term. The Committee shall be directly responsible to the Business Council and shall dispense information regarding membership eligibility requirements and the enrollment process, distribute and receive application forms, review completed applications and present its recommendations to the Business Council for approval or disapproval.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The Enrollment Committee will protect the privacy of tribal members and of individuals applying for enrollment. Meetings of the Committee or portions of the Committee's meeting during which individual applications are discussed shall be closed. However, the person whose application is under consideration may attend the meeting as may anyone whom they wish to be present to represent them or testify on their behalf. If a minor or incompetent is the person whose application is under consideration, the person making application on their behalf may also be present. The Enrollment Committee shall not provide its enrollment application records or information contained therein to persons other than those involved in the enrollment process without the written authorization from · the applicant authorizing the release of the information.

SECTION III. FILING MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS

All Indian persons desiring membership with the Blue Lake Rancheria, shall file written applications authorized by the Business Council. An application may be filed on behalf of anyone in need of assistance by a sponsor meaning, a parent, guardian, relative, attorney, friend, Tribal or State Social worker, or a member of the Business Council or Enrollment Committee. , Applications shall be filed with the Enrollment Committee within sixty (60) days after May 30th of each year.

SECTION IV. APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS

The Business Council shall approve or disapprove applications for enrollment. Such action shall be based upon the recommendations of the Enrollment Committee and any other information or evidence available. All applicants shall be notified in writing of the Business Council determination. Applicants whose membership applications have been disapproved shall be notified by certified mail-return receipt with information regarding their right to request the reason(s) for such disapproval and the right to appeal the adverse determination.

SECTION V. APPEALS

Adverse determinations on applications for membership may be appealed to the General Council. An appeal shall be in writing and must be received by the Tribal Office within thirty (30) days after receipt of the notice of ineligibility. If the General Council by a majority vote, votes in favor of the applicant for membership, then the applicant shall become a member of the tribe.

SECTION VI. RELINQUISHMENT

Any member may relinquish their membership with the Blue Lake Rancheria by submitting a statement in writing to the Business Council.

SECTION VII. DISENROLLMENT

The following shall be grounds for disenrollment of any member:

A person obtained membership through error or on the basis of false information.

Written notice by certified mail-return receipt shall be given to, the person being disenrolled. The notice shall inform the person of the right to explain in a hearing on a date of his or her choice why they should not be disenrolled. If after the hearing it is the decision of the Business Council to disenroll a member, the Business Council shall pass a resolution of the official disenrollment. The person shall be notified by certified mail- return receipt of the action taken and of the right to appeal the decision within thirty (30) days to the General Council. The appeal shall be filed with the Tribal Office for forwarding to the General Council for a General Council vote.

SECTION VIII. KEEPING MEMBERSHIP ROLL CURRENT

The Tribal roll shall be updated as of May 30th of each year by:

1. Adding the names to the roll of applicants who were enrolled in accordance with the requirements of this Ordinance.

2. Striking the names of persons who relinquished their membership, were disenrolled or of deceased persons upon receipt of documentation of death.

SECTION IX. USE OF MEMBERSHIP ROLL

The membership roll, when duly certified and approved, shall be used for all official purposes, except that when used for the distribution of tribal assets, it shall first require the approval of the secretary of the Interior or his authorized representative.

SECTION X. AMENDMENTS

This ordinance, or any section herein, may be amended by a majority vote of the General Council at a duly called regular or special meeting, and the amendment will become effective on review and approval of the Secretary of the Interior or his authorized representative.

[Digitizer's Note: Accompanying correspondence is not digitized. For assistance accessing this document, contact the National Indian Law Library (http://www.narf.org/nill/index.htm).]

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, THAT The Tribal Council of the Blue Lake Rancheria hereby decrees that Alice Ramsey, not Chuck Winton, was the original allotee of the property currently occupied by Alice Ramsey.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, THAT Alice Ramsey is therefore recognized as a base roll member of the Blue Lake Rancheria.

CERTIFICATION
As the Chairperson of the Business Council for the Blue Lake Rancheria, I hereby certify that the Business Council adopted this resolution by a vote of 5 for, with 0 against, with 0 abstaining, with 0 absent on this 27th of May, 1999.

__________/s/___________
Claudia Brundin, Chairperson

__May 27, 1999__
Date of Approval

ATTEST:

_____________/s/_____________
Melanie Shelanskey, Tribal Secretary

__May 27, 1999__
Date of Approval

RESOLUTION OF THE BLUE LAKE RANCHERIA
NO. 99-19

SUBJECT:	Base Enrollment.
WHEREAS:	The Rancheria Constitution has been approved by the Assistant Secretary of the Indian Affairs on March 22, 1989, authorizing full governmental powers to the duly elected Business Council; and
WHEREAS:	The Blue Lake Rancheria's Business Council represents the Blue Lake Indian Tribe located in the State of California and as per Article V Sections 4 and 5 of the Blue Lake Rancheria's Constitution, the Tribal Business Council has the authority to create laws, regulations and control enrollment of American Indians residing on the Blue Lake Rancheria; and
WHEREAS:	the error perpetrated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs with regards to the allotment of land currently occupied by Alice Ramsey has yet to be resolved; and,
WHEREAS:	Alice Ramsey, not Chuck Winton, was living on the land allotted to Chuck Winton prior to the completion of the illegal termination of the Tribe; and,
WHEREAS:	prior to termination the Tribe voted to allow Chuck Winton's land interest to be purchased by Alice Ramsey, and notified the BIA of this Tribal decision, yet the paperwork for the allotment to be placed in Chuck Winton's name was already being processed by the BIA; and,
WHEREAS:	since this was the beginning of the termination period, the BIA neglected to uphold their responsibility to accurately allot the land in compliance with the Tribe's vote; and,
WHEREAS:	to rectify this error, as soon as the deed with Chuck Winton' name was sent to him, he immediately sold his interest in the allotment to Alice Ramsey and had it recorded by the County to comply with the Tribal decision; and,

ADOPTED THIS 27th DAY OF October, 1991
/s/ Chairperson Blue Lake Rancheria	October 27, 1991 Date
/s/ ATTESTED: Signature and Title	October 27, 1991 Date
ACKNOWLEDGED: Superintendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs Northern California Agency
APPROVED: Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs Sacramento Area Office