The Tribal Council is composed of 7 tribal members elected by the Tribe’s General Council The General Council is composed of all adult members 18 years of age and above. Each General Council member has one vote. Tribal Council members must be 25 years old or older and in good standing with the Tribe, Members are elected to 4-year terms. Elections are held annually with one or two positions on the ballot. A candidate must receive the signature of 10 General Council members to be placed on the ballot.

The role of the Tribal Council is to provide oversight and guidance to the Tribal Administrator on all matters affecting the Tribe’s members and the Tribe’s administrative functions. This occurs through the adoption of policies that are applied to all functions or a specific function. An example of a general policy would be the adoption of a Personnel Handbook. An example of a specific policy would be approving stipends to students achieving educational milestones. Many of these general policies are organized into the Tribe’s Tribal Code. Decisions of the Council that affect other organizations or agencies are embodied in a resolution.

Tribal Code

The Constitution directs the Tribal Council to adopt a Tribal Code as a means to organize general policies and regulations. The Code is separate from and resides under the Constitution The current code has 12 Titles. Each title may have sections referred to as Ordinances. For example, the Election Ordinance is found in Title 2 of the Tribal Code. The Tribal Council is authorized by the Constitution to adopt, amend or repeal sections of the Tribal Code as current conditions dictate. For example, the Election Ordinance has been amended to allow for all General Council members to vote by absentee ballot. This amendment came about to encourage greater participation in elections and to reflect current practices used in other elections outside of the Tribe.