1987-01-09 Char-Koosta News

              VOLUME 15, NUMBER 21 THE SHOOTING MONTH JANUARY 9,1987
Big question at the quarterly: Change the blood quantum rule?
The much-announced chairman change took place as scheduled on Jan. 2 with no special ceremony - just a handshake, a handing over of the gavel, and a swapping of nameplates.
New chairman Mickey Pablo then presided over a meeting that touched on many topics as the audience of 50-60 asked questions about various policies and programs.
Enrollment earned a lot of attention,
with Wade Hendrickson asking about changing the Vi-degree blood quantum with a petition. The resulting discussion hit on some of the points that will no doubt be aired many times, should a petition drive get going.
Sybil Butler said that the V^-degree policy was a federal government invention, designed to save money. Therriault pointed out that the Tribal membership itself bought that policy back in 1960, when it changed the Tribes' enrollment rules to use that definition of Indian. It's up to the people to change that if they want to, he said.
Laurence Kenmille, Elmo-Dayton Council member, said he disagreed with lowering the blood degree requirement. The Tribal people themselves practice genocide to a degree when they marry outside the Tribes, he said. He added that this was his personal opinion; if his district expressed a different belief, he'd represent them first.
Being Indian isn't a matter of blood; it's how you feel in your heart, Hendrickson insisted.
The Tribal Elderly Assistance Program was in the spotlight after Rose Evans, former Council member from Poison, asked a number of questions about its budget.
Bearhead Swaney, Tribal Health director, explained that elders' liaison Pat Pierre wasn't spending the money overly quickly. The winter season has more expenses associated with it than others, he said, such as snow removal, wood-chopping and fuel assistance.
The forest resource was another topic of interest. BIA Forestry's presentation included a slide show on the history of forest-use practices on the Flathead. (Did you know that the first-ever per capita of $3.61 was made after the first commercial timber sale?)
Vic Dupuis told how the federal government's 1900 timber policy could be called "liquidation of the resource for the sake of settlement". Many years later, the concept of a sustained yield was adopted.
Today, multiple-use management is the plan, he said. To ensure that a new, 10-year management plan covered as many bases as possible, he asked for the audience's concerns about the issue.
The lengthy discussion that followed included protection of wildlife, Christmas tree harvesting, wilderness encroachment, water quality, and why sell timber just to create income when the market is depressed.
Other subjects covered during the 6V2-hour meeting included Indian-preference hiring, the budget, the Council minutes being too vague, land leases, the Head Start program, the Pablo Reservoir, coyote hunting by helicopter, and the optional withdrawal petition.
Subjects that might be called "perennials", because they're traditional fare at quarterlies, included the need for a Council code of ethics, Council members holding another job
(Concludes on page two)