Trust Board Proposed Changes

By Trust Board Member John Sumpter
From July 2013 Delaware Indian News

My name is John W. Sumpter, Delaware Tribe of Indians Trust Board Member, Vice Chair Cultural Committee, Chair Reinvestment Committee, and Chair Veterans Committee.

Let me first explain that the Trust Board has nothing to do with the governing of our Tribe whatsoever!

One of the most important duties of the Trust Board is to protect Tribal monies. Reinvesting 10% of the interest back to the principal allowing our Tribal monies to grow; administering the rest of the interest monies among the various programs and committees as stated in the Trust Document and Master Plan. Tribal Operations, Cultural Preservation, Community Services, and Education are just a few of those programs.

Here are a few of the proposed changes:

(1) Increasing Tribal Operations from 10 to 15%.

(2) Doing away with Land Management and Economic Development since those duties were taken over by the Tribal Council and the Delaware Enterprise Authority (DEA).

(3) Revising the budget to include new line items for the Elders Committee and the Veteran’s Committee. The line items will fund both committee programs. We need to recognize the valuable knowledge and contributions that our Elders and Veterans have contributed to the Delaware Tribe.

(4) Another proposed change is to have Trust Board elections coincide with Tribal Council elections to save money on election costs, but in order to do that, the Trust Board would have to hold off the Trust Board election this year and have it with the Tribal Council election next year.
These are but a few of the changes that are necessary to bring our Trust Document and Master Plan up to date

I urge you to study the changes carefully; they will be posted on the Delaware Tribe website (www.delawaretribe.org). Attend the town hall meetings and let us know your thoughts.

Workshops and Town Hall Meetings

The Trust Board workshops have been extensive and the proposed changes have been well thought out, but we still need outside input. To get this input from the tribal members, the Trust Board has scheduled three town hall meetings (Chelsea July 13th, Nowata July 20th and Bartlesville July 27th).
Please know this, the people’s vote created the Trust Board, Trust Document, Master Plan and only the people’s vote can do away with them.

John W. Sumpter
PO Box 45
Copan, OK 74022
(918) 532-4938