Mission, SD – Several folks voiced concerns regarding need for amending our constitution to serve the people better at the second meeting of the Lakȟóta Oyáte for Change.
26 tribal citizens attended from 9 communities. An opening prayer and burning of sage was offered by Chris Eagle Bear. The meeting minutes from the September 12 session of the Lakȟóta Oyáte for Change Omníčiye were distributed for the people to review.
Ronald Valandra commented that many tribal members don’t understand the constitution, he’d like to see other tribal members knowledgeable about the constitution to follow up and explain section by section what exactly the constitution means. Printed paper copies of the RST Constitution were distributed to the public at this meeting, courtesy of Marian Little Thunder and the Tribal Secretary’s office.
Tree Bordeaux commented that we need to come up with goals and objectives for the group and will use the goals established by the Lakota Women For Change. She would also be willing to create a flow chart or bullet points to explain the process leading up to a constitutional convention.
The group would like to see the council downsize to 11 and turned into a business council and have each representative voted in from their respective community instead of the at-large system that we have now.
In days past, the Community was the body who gave permission for the council members to travel and how to vote on issues concerning the well-being of the people. Today, council representatives do not fully report to their communities anymore, and it was alleged the group chats are used by the cliques to influence on how to vote. In addition, we also see many council members on their phones during the meetings, which means they aren’t listening to the speaker.
Once a valid petition is submitted, the tribal council has 30 days to appoint a 7-member task force to facilitate a convention. We should find out if they can get an extension on this. We’d also like to see a lawsuit on violations of due process. Bonnie Hairy Shirt stated that Tribal government is not working for the people. Many at the meeting would like to see the council reduced to an 11-member business council.
In earlier times, the council members would go door-to-door in their communities to ask the people what their needs are, but this isn’t happening anymore. Children are hungry at the end of the month and other families step forward to help them have enough to eat.
A valid petition must be signed by 30% of tribal voters who voted in the last election held in August 2026. We’d like to see it happen before winter by working with the Government Affairs Committee to streamline a Constitutional Convention.
Information sheets with bullet points would be a great way to educate the people. Marcida Eagle Bear stated she’s witnessed big changes that have happened in the last five years. She’s seen a lot of things going on in Tribal council and some Tribal programs. For instance, people seem to believe they don’t have to follow our laws, along with the policies and procedures. When tribal council and programs don’t follow the rules, policies and laws – it’s very frustrating.
Most people who feel like if they can’t change what’s going on, they just look away. Today, the Council Room seems very toxic and dangerous. The behavior of tribal leadership is embarrassing and shameful to our ancestors. People need to be accountable right now, as we are practically in a dictatorship.
Also, child welfare policies are written to break up our families. At one point there was a children’s committee created, but it was never implemented by tribal council, according to Marcida Eagle Bear. The Piya Mani Otipi (PMO) out to Bristol Ranch was created for sober living for children on the reservation back in late 1990’s. The PMO center had events every weekend for the youth, but for some reason, most of the programs were moved out of there and displaced all those children and the services offered to them.
Right now, the tribal council is trying to create an exact model of an existing program serving the youth. The biggest downfall is many of our council members are not educated on the tribe’s constitution, ordinances and resolutions.
Tribal council members are not leadership. They are politically appointed people according to how popular they are. It was suggested that tribal government classes at the local high schools and Sinte Gleska university be invited to these educational meetings. However, it was also suggested that we meet them at their school and explain this process to them as they are our upcoming leaders, we can also form small groups to educate the people on what writing an amendment takes and educating the people on what the constitution means.
Beanie suggested a resolution to put the council members on notice by having the treasurer prorate tribal council’s salary and when they miss the meeting, give that money back to the community. Communities are not treated with the respect they deserve. Community members would like to see people who sign up for office to prove their education, degrees earned along with experience qualifying them to run for office.
Another suggestion was that the tribal council needs to be at work every day just like the Tribal employees because the majority of Tribal employees aren’t being paid as much as tribal council is. Currently, the council members receive a salary of $69,500, even though they’re not there full-time 8-5 five days a week. Community members believe council representatives are afraid of the people standing up and speaking up against the wrongdoing.
Everyone in attendance was encouraged to speak to their Community President’s and invite them to these meetings, also to attend their community meetings and obtain a resolution from the community to ask for the community voters list of who voted in the last election as it wasn’t provided to the group, Election Board member Esther Moore will ask for the list from the Election Board. Nancy Keller stated we are not trying to hurt anyone we’re trying to help our people.
There were 9 communities represented at this meeting. Join us for the 3rd Lakȟóta Oyáte for Change Omníčiye on Saturday, September 26, from 2-5 PM at Bishop Harold Jones Building in Mission. A special invite goes out to the recently elected Community Presidents
We will also have community potlucks at our meetings, so please bring a dish to share if you are able to. We also appreciate any monetary donations for renting the meeting space. We could also always use bottles of water, coffee cups, bowls, plates, napkins, paper towels, etc. This is a grassroots effort and everyone’s effort is important as we move toward petitioning for constitutional reform.
Tree Bordeaux will also be sharing videos on the group’s Facebook page Lakȟóta Oyáte for Change explaining where we are in the process, what a Constitutional Convention is, how amendments work, and recaps of our meetings so everyone can stay informed and involved. A translator will also share videos in Lakota. We welcome anyone to share videos or information related to this process to educate the public!
We are also creating a document that explains the Constitutional Convention process and related information in everyday language, along with an infographic that visually outlines the process. We plan to distribute these educational materials throughout our communities on social media, on the radio, at community meetings, in local businesses, and door-to-door to help everyone better understand the process and how to participate.
In the meantime, we appreciate everyone sharing what we’ve discussed at our meetings with relatives, neighbors and other community members. Word of mouth is just as important in helping us reach more people and encouraging them to get involved. We can all move a mountain together!
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