January 17, 2005
Monday

My name is Elmer Makua, my Grandmother Martha Harris Samuel (Sha'Clan) sends her seasons greetings and best wishes to everyone, I hoped this holiday season has been safe for you and your family. My family and I would like to send prayers to those less fortunate and stand close to you at this time.

I have submitted an application, as a 2005 KIC Presidential Candidate and these are the things I can offer you, the membership, as you're President: Continuing the efforts to encourage a greater continuity and stability in governance, by incorporating the foundational concepts by which the membership of the greater Ketchikan Indian Community, "YOU" agree to govern yourselves.

I believe I have the multi-fold skills needed for the office as your president:

(1) Well versed in parliamentary procedures.
(2) Knowledgeable in the use of Tribal Sovereignty to be effective at government-to-government Consultation.
(3) Able to continue the negotiations at the HIS Self-Governance and DOI Self Governance level, as a possible delegate.
(4) Able to Present, KIC Tribal Council position/resolutions at the Local (RAC, ANHB), State (AFN), and National (NCAI) levels.
(5) Understanding Council/Policy Maker vs. Administrative/Staff relations.
(6) Tenacity, yet Patience.
(7) Remembering that the people come first.

I am confident I can represent KIC as your President, I am asking for your support, to insure a brighter future and to secure your Constitutional rights as a tribal member.
Remember to Vote for Elmer Makua - X Marks Your Vote January 17, 2005.

I have filed to be a Candidate, to represent KIC and as your President, my position would be to insure that the procedures outlined in Article IX-Amendments of the Constitution and By-Laws of KIC that had been ordained and established by those tribal members on the 27th. Day of January 1940 and that these documents Remain in accordance with, and by the authority of, the Acts of Congress of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), and May 1, 1936 (49 Stat. 1250).

I have learned in my first two-year term as a council member, that (1) It's not easy, there's a lot of responsibility (2) Remain fair and impartial (3) promote and protect the interest of the organization, in accordance with it's Constitution and By-Laws.

I accept, that I'm new to the processes and that the first year there was a learning curve, but it was by those three guidelines that I was able to learn. I would stay up late and read the Constitution and by-laws, also all the Ordinances, just going over and over, trying to memorize every article, every section, after awhile I started noticing that there were a number of contradictions between them. This would make it hard to memorize something in an Ordinance to have it say something different in the By-Laws. (Reference: Article I- Duties of Officers, section 1, in the By-Laws and than see Ordinance 7, Section 3 Voting).

It took some studying and asking questions, but those 6 Ordinances, I, II, III, IV, V, VII, that were adopted by referendum vote in 1994, which may have been a good thing, but because there were so many contradictions and/or additions made for clarity to the intent of the ordinance, there needed to be a Constitutional Amendment Review applied for to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this never happened, how could that be? Well I could make some assumptions, but I won't.

In 1940 there were a lot of people who did a lot of work and gave a lot of their time generously to establish an organization that would ordain a Constitution and By-Laws in accordance with, and by authority of, the Acts of Congress of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), and May 1, 1936 (49 Stat. 1250).
We should not stand by and watch all that work be out of compliance with the procedures of Article IX-Amendments of the Constitution and By-Laws of KIC.
As your Tribal President I will promote the tribal council as the general legislative and governing body of the tribe, I will encourage its functions to secure, preserve and exercise the sovereign rights, powers, privileges and immunities of the tribe, to maintain a roll of and promote the welfare of its citizens, and to legislate for and govern the tribe, its programmatic and revenue raising operations and its people.

I will continue to enhance the security of conformity in accordance to Article IX-Amendments of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Ketchikan Indian Community.

Most importantly, I will ask for your assistance to hold a Secretarial Election on the Constitutional Amendments to receive the approval from the Secretary of the Interior.

Elmer Makua
Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

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