79th Annual Tribal Assembly CCTHITA

1. 79th AnnualTribal Assembly CCTHITA “For Our Future Generations”

2. State of the Tribe Address Presented by Edward K. Thomas President

3. Content of Address • Update on Tribal Trust Fund • Tribal Leadership • Indirect Cost Problems • Political Issues • National Financial/Programmatic Climate • DOI FY 2014 Budget / DOI FY 2015 Budget • State/Tribal Relationships • Administrative Cost Reductions

4. Content of Address (cont.) • Ruling on Delegate Count • Regional Presence • Future Considerations • Food for Thought • Recap of My Moment in Time • Handouts • Chief Operating Officer Report • Questions & Answers

5. $11,553,000

6. Tribal Trust Fund • $11,728,729.60 at end of March • Earnings erratic, modest • Stock market volatile, unpredictable • Used $1,691,894 of earnings to pay for shortfall and under-recovery of indirect costs • Expect future earnings to be modest

7. Tribal Leadership

8. Thank You Executive Council • Over the years I have had the honor and privilege of working with some excellent Executive Councils • Our current Executive Council is the best I have ever worked with • They have skillfully represented you in a variety of different forums

9. Thank You Konrad • It has truly been a pleasure to have Konrad Frank as our Youth Rep this past year • He has been very attentive in his attendance to statewide and national conferences • People like Konrad give me confidence that our future is in good hands!

10. Indirect Cost Problems

11. Indirect Cost Funding • One of the most serious undermining of tribal self-determination has been the under-funding of indirect cost • DOI appealed to the Supreme Court • The United States Supreme Court has ruled favorably to tribes in contract support case • White House OMB requested caps be put on contract support • Congress rejected request

12. Indirect Cost Funding (cont.) • The Obama Administration is now budgeting 100% contract support • BIA and IHS budgets have not increased to pay for this entirely • Therefore, we are partially paying for indirect cost shortfalls out of our own program money • Increases to tribal programs continue to lag the rest of government growth

13. Political Issues

14. Congressional Relations • Tribes have reasonably good relations with members of Congress • They meet with us regularly • Money talks in government these days • The Supreme Court opened the floodgates for the rich to influence Congress • They all say they love us but not enough to increase Indian budgets commensurate to other agencies!

15. President Obama • An admirable record of meeting five (5) times with tribal leaders • He is sincere but his people undermine his promises to us: • Contract support to Supreme Court • Flat budgets: contract support out of program funding • Not upholding Akiachak Trust Lands Decision

16. Indian Legislation • Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) • Left out Alaska • Safe Villages Legislation • Repeal section in VAWA that excludes Alaska • Strengthens tribal/state relations on law enforcement • Clean Carcieri Fix (land into trust) • Good for Alaska tribes • State of Alaska Attorney General objects

17. State Objection to Land into Trust • Fear that tribes with land in trust will undermine state sovereignty • Three tribes in Southeast Alaska (Klawock, Kake, Angoon) already have land held in trust • Argue that ANCSA extinguish Native land rights • Was a settlement not a prohibition • Native Allotments, Village Townsites, and tribal lands were not abrogated

18. National Financial/Programmatic Climate

19. Federal Funding • Unnecessary government growth has sparked intense debate • The President and Congress continue to spar on whether to cut funding for the poor or increase taxes to the wealthy • The House is controlled by the cutters • Democrats are overly concerned about re-election and not willing to dump tax breaks

20. Federal Funding (cont.) • While the President has pledged to not allow this nation’s budget to be balanced on the back of the most vulnerable, politics rule the day • Extending the Bush tax breaks to the wealthy puts unbearable pressure on federal budgets • United States has always paid for wars, until now!

21. Programs for the Needy • Human service programs were flat and/or declining in funding even before the national budget debates • With the relatively high unemployment rate across the country the need for services is greater • This Congress is not really sympathetic to the needy and unemployed! • Good talk from most!

22. GAO & CRC Reports on Federal Spending In Indian Country

23. More Trends 1976

24. DOI Funding Disparities • Focus on Department of the Interior (DOI) funding disparities for the past three years. • BIA officials tell us we must accept cuts like every other government agency, and yet… • Within the DOI every agency received increases much greater than increases to the BIA budget

25. Budget Increases: 6 Largest Interior Agencies FY 2004 to FY 2012

26. Budget Increases (Decreases): 6 Largest Interior Agencies FY 2012 President’s Request vs. FY 2010 Enacted Level + $140 million - $120 million

27. Department of the Interior FY 2014 Budget

28. Total DOI = 4% Increase • 5.11% all non-BIA Agencies in DOI • BIA - 1.2% increase ($31 million) • .8% less Indirect Cost ($10 million) • If funded equitably to other DOI Bureaus BIA funding increases should be $134 million instead of $31 million

29. I shared this information with Secretary Jewell when I met with her & she said, “I can’t do anything about the 2014 budget but we will certainly address the disparities in the 2015 budget.”

30. Department of the Interior FY 2015 Budget

31. DOI FY 2015 Budget

32. State / Tribal Relations

33. Tribes & the State of Alaska • Federal Tribal Law & Order Act Commission Report on Alaska • Katie John case Supreme Court victory • Tlingit Haida child support suit • Land into Trust • Alaska Governor’s “Choose Respect” campaign – I wholeheartedly support! • Respect Tribal Governments!

34. Administrative Cost Reductions

35. Administrative Costs • Manage tribal affairs & programs for our needy • In 2011 we had an Administrative deficit of $590,000 • I pledged to cut that in half by this year. • Last year’s audit of 2012 (p. 56): -$552,355 • This year’s audit of 2013 (p. 55): -$1,867

36. Administrative Costs (cont.) • Federal & state spending on problems and needs of the needy continues to decline • Local tribes are managing more of their own federal programs • Tlingit Haida Central Council must look seriously at dramatically reducing rented office space within the next 2 to 3 years.

37. Ruling on Delegate Count

38. Delegate Count Distorted • Reasonable growth is normal as our population is growing • Growth utilizing invalid citizen addresses compounds growth in large communities • Rules of Election emphasize residence • Federal & state governments do a reapportionment of representation based on where people reside

39. Rule 3, Section 1 Each community shall elect one Delegate to the Central Council for each one hundred (150) persons or fraction thereof registered on the Official Voting List of that Community. Tribal citizen names on T&H Community lists are not registered; they are lists of enrolled citizens!

40. Official Voting List What is intended by naming a list the “Official Voting List” of that Community? • Give tribal citizens the right and opportunity to vote in tribal elections. • Not possible to do without a valid address.

41. Delegate Count (cont.) • In January 2014 I ruled that the utilization of invalid addresses is in violation of THCC Constitution and Rules of Election • Ruling does not: • Change any rule; simply interprets existing rules • Remove citizens from community lists; simply utilizes valid addresses to verify that a citizen is in a community for a delegate to represent him/her. • Negate Tribal Assembly right & authority to address this issue

42. Delegate Count (cont.) • Ruling effective after 2014 Tribal Assembly • Take up in sincerity in 2015 • President has authority/responsibility to interpret tribal rules to the best interest of Tribe • Tribal Attorney advised that my ruling is consistent with our Constitution • Continuing compounded growth of delegates will eventually kill the Tribe

43. Good and Bad Addresses by Community

44. Communities with the largest and the smallest number of bad addresses.

45. Delegate Growth 1981-2012 This page shows the differences in delegates and delegate growth by community from 1981 to 2012. Note on the bottom highlighted boxes that the 4 communities whose delegate numbers have increased the most have gone from comprising 33% of our delegation to nearly 60%. This means that unless these 4 communities are convinced that this proposal is in the best interest of the long-term survival of the tribe, change will not happen.

46. Delegate Allocation After Change The first 2 columns of numbers show the growth (or reduction) of delegates for each T&H Community from 1981 to 2012. The third column of numbers is what the delegate count per community would be if we only counted citizens with valid addresses for determining delegate count. Note that there is still an 8.1% increase in the total number of delegates from 1981 with counting only those with valid addresses. Anchorage would see a 33% increase; Juneau a 78.6% increase; Klawock a 50% increase; San Francisco a 66.7% increase; and Seattle an 80% increase.

47. What decisions are we making today that require so many more delegates? The decisions of today are very much similar to those made in the 1980s with fewer delegates!

48. Traditional Topics of Focus 2013 Resolutions • Fifty-five (55) Resolutions on 20 different topics • Forty (40) adopted: • Thirty-seven (37) on topics of importance to our Southeast Alaska tribal homelands • Two (2) could be interpreted to be applicable to citizens living outside of our homelands

49. Compare to ANB / ANS • Address many of the same resolutions that we do. • 2 ANB & 2 ANS delegates plus Camp President per community • All pay their own expenses to attend conventions

50. Delegate Oath of Office “I, [name of delegate] , do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and its member citizens, that I will support the Constitution of the Central Council, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.”