Delaware Constitution and Secretary Position

We have a Delaware Tribe of Indians' Constitution and Bylaws, albeit a dated set from 1982.  Many tribal members and leaders wish to revise our constitution due to the numerous illusive meanings and the time period it was developed.  1982 hardly reflects our current trends and needs.  However, to do this right, a revision process will take some serious time and energy.  I have been in touch with the Honoring Nations program at Harvard University and they have advised me of the processes to attain the best help in the country for tribal constitution revision.  Despite the needs for revision, the current Constitution states the "Secretary shall have charge of all tribal correspondence."

There are two schools of thought to this meaning. The opposition seems to argue that this means after the fact--that the Secretary is basically a record keeper.  My argument is that correspondence means the Secretary is charged at the forefront with communications, including the minutes of the meetings, agenda, outgoing and incoming important correspondence (electronic and postal services).  This does not necessarily mean the Secretary has to perform each and every act, merely that the Secretary should see the product before it goes to the audience.  In recent months the Tribal Council has passed a series of resolutions hampering the Secretary’s ability to perform these duties.

1.  "Line of Authority," which declares that the Secretary must go through Chief, Assistant Chief, and/or Tribal manager.  This limits the Secretary from filing any petition members may bring to the Secretary in confidence.  It also directly violates the Secretary’s ability to speak directly with our IT regarding meeting videos, enrollment, and other important communication and confidential secretarial matters.

 2.  Assigning a "Public Relations Person" to our social media without the Secretary’s inclusion or powers to control as deemed by the Delaware Constitution.

3.  Declaring that minutes can only be written a specific way and in person rather than from a recording.  While this issue is a little looser violation I feel, in that we have a standard practice for which we have written our minutes for over forty years.  Our tribal members count on being able to read the minutes.

4.  Another concerns is that we have a policy that the resolutions should be turned in by a certain date and all of these previous resolutions were not submitted by this date.  Early in 2015, each Tribal Council member agreed that proposed resolutions would be turned in to the Secretary the Thursday before the Tuesday Tribal Council meeting.

Moreover, the Tribal Council is holding executive sessions and conducting business that should be in open session regarding the Secretary position.  On more than one occasion one of them has threatened to charge me with code of conduct violations for speaking out on my email, facebook, twitter, and other social media regarding what was occurring.

Previous to the Tribal Council removing me as Secretary, on Tuesday, December 15, 2015, I was seeking to obtain injunctive relief from implementing these resolutions or removing me as Secretary until the Tribal Court could decipher the meaning of the Secretarial charge in the constitution.  In this regard, a Tribal Council member texted me late November asking when I set up the Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.  My reply was that she/he “could speak with my attorney about these matters.”  Certain Tribal Council members are now conveying that the statement to speak with my attorney was a threat of some sort.  I am an open book.  There is nothing that I have done or said that I would not say at the Tribal Council table or to our tribal members. I do not feel that I am completely right or wrong in the Secretarial duties, just that the constitutional meaning can be argued both ways and the judges need to make this decision rather than a few dominating Tribal Council members.  Moreover, Chief Brooks told me he would remain neutral on this point of contention.   He did not remain neutral.  

When I was removed as Secretary, Councilwoman Ketchum accepted the position.  I wish her well and know she is committed to serve the tribal members.  I will continue to fight for her in this position because regardless of who holds the title, the meaning in the Delaware Constitution should be deciphered by the judges.  Wanishi


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