Letter to the Editor

Once again I had the opportunity to watch the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Council perform an injustice to its membership. At the monthly tribal meeting held on 11/5/16, I placed a motion on the floor that the legal fees of Hattie Renee Hart incurred due to her lawsuit against Tribal Council for illegally taking 3.5 million dollars to invest in the soybean project without benefit of an referendum as required by the 94 Procedure Act, be paid by Tribal Council. The motion was seconded and a short discussion followed. A vote was then taken. It is my understanding that the result of the vote was 16 in favor, 16 against and 12 abstentions for a total of 44.

After the meeting, I was approached by several people who wished to let me know their feelings regarding the vote. The first person said the vote couldn't be right because they didn't believe that there were 40 people there much less 44. The second said that the vote was not legal because Shelley Jacobs, Sub-Chief, had a nephew there and they saw him vote and they know he was not of age. Thirdly, people felt that council should not have voted. I personally agreed with them because having placed other motions at other tribal meetings, I don't recall tribal council ever voting on those motions. Since Tribal Council does NOT have to listen to the people no matter what the vote. Motions are only suggestions that Tribal Council have to review but are NOT required to follow even if the vote was to favor the motion. I can attest to that because that has been the answer I have received on my other motions that won favor. The same applies to referendum votes. No matter if the votes are in favor, IF Tribal Council is not in favor and therefore do not sign a TCR to enact IT DOES NOT HAPPEN! I wonder if the community is aware that we really have no say in how Tribal Council spends OUR money?

Ruth Bell