FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Timbisha Shoshone tribal leaders won a small victory this week in a battle to preserve their sovereign government. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) called off a scheduled Nov. 4, 2013, Secretarial Election to vote on a new constitution for the Tribe. The proposed constitution would revoke the existing Constitution adopted by the Tribe in 1986 and establish many non-Timbisha as new tribal members.
On Oct. 11, the Indian Law Resource Center, on behalf of Chairman Joe Kennedy and the other members of the last legitimately elected Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Council filed administrative appeals to stop the vote.
“The BIA is trying to take away the Timbisha Shoshone’s inherent right of self-government,” said Robert T. Coulter, Executive Director of the Indian Law Resource Center. “The BIA is deciding who the members of the Tribe are and forcing the Tribe to accept its decision. This must not be allowed.”
The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, based in Death Valley, Calif., has historically exercised its sovereignty and inherent power of self-government by determining for itself the requirements for tribal membership. These requirements are established in the existing Timbisha Shoshone Constitution.
Under the proposed constitution, a large group of individuals who do not meet the membership requirements (now numbering around 86) would become eligible for membership in the Tribe. After the BIA permitted the non-members to register to vote on the proposed constitution, members of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe formally objected to BIA’s list of registered voters on grounds that, in violation of federal regulations, the publication of the list was untimely. In fact, the voters list was not made public until one day before the deadline for challenges to the eligibility of voters. Objections were also made to the inclusion of individuals who do not meet the membership requirements of the Tribe. Of the 101 individuals the BIA found “eligible” to vote in the referendum, 49 – nearly half – were non-members.
“Simply put, the BIA was preparing to let these non-members vote themselves into the Tribe under BIA supervision,” said Coulter.
Every Native leader needs to take note of this case. “Because of unjustifiable BIA interference in the self-governance of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, a block of voters with no known connection to the tribe may soon control a federally recognized Indian tribe,” said Joe Kennedy, Chairman of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe.
Although the BIA has withdrawn its authorization for the Nov. 4th vote on a new constitution, the issue is not over. The legitimate Timbisha Shoshone tribal leaders are continuing their fight for recognition by the BIA and to protect their Tribe’s right of self-government, including determining for itself, who is a member of the Tribe.
For more information on the Timbisha Shoshone appeals visit www.indianlaw.org/node/1000.