Pala Band Articles of Association and Ordinance No. 1

Someone asked what these documents are all about.  These are Articles of Association and the Original Enrollment Ordinance for the Pala Band.  Currently the validity of the Constitution has come under question.  If the Constitution is not valid then the Pala Band has been under the Articles this entire time. If this is the case then it means then that the BIA should have never allowed the disenrollments to occur and further they have a fiduciary responsibility to each individual to ensure equitable distribution of the assets.  The BIA has instead for 25 years turned a blind eye to the Pala Band and allowed the Executive Committee (mostly Robert Smith) to run amok.

Again these are all big "ifs" and it will need to be determined by the proper authorities.



Pala Band 1961 Jan 23 Articles of Association and Amendments by kupa7 on Scribd

Pala Original Ordinance No1 by kupa7 on Scribd

Pala's Enrollment Committee Violated Their Own Ordinance

Pala's Executive Committee is also Pala's Enrollment Committe.  Pala has an Enrollment Ordinance.  It's had one since the 1960's.  It was changed in 2005 and again in 2009.

What always bothered me is that Pala's Enrollment Committee violated their own ordinance.

The Ordinance States:

"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Executive Committee of the Pala Band, by adoption of this revised Ordinance, does not intend to alter or change the membership status of individuals whose membership has already been approved and who are currently listed on the membership roll of the Pala Band of Mission Indians..."

I think most tribal members read that in 2005 when the Ordinance was revised and took it to mean the rolls were locked in.  No one was getting disenrolled.  In the early 2000's the issue of Margarita Brittain's blood degree would boil to the surface during General Council meetings.  After many years of sitting in General Council meetings listening to people trash Margarita Brittain Robert Smith spoke up one meeting and said the issue was over and would never be brought up again.  A 10 year moratorium was put in place on changing the rolls at all except for new membership.

Thus when the disenrollments started happening it was a pretty big shock to me and I suspect to many.  We have had our political differences but I though we all agreed we were tribal members.  I guess I was wrong.
Pala Enrollment Ordinance No1 Rev 2009