Who's in and who's out: Tribal courts and boards feud over membership

It’s a long walk for Debi Anderson to the podium. She’s come to the Grand Ronde tribal council meeting to address her tribe, and the sound of her cane keeps the beat of her journey to the front of the chamber.

Every member of the tribe is granted five minutes to speak, but Anderson — who was cast out of the tribe after almost 30 years — will now have to ask permission of the tribal vice chairman before she delivers a speech the packed room has been waiting months to hear.

Anderson and her family were part of an enrollment purge that removed 86 people from the official tribe rolls. She and all descendants of Chief Tumulth had been ruled ineligible for tribal membership in 1983, but a recent tribal appeals court overturned that decision. Anderson and her kin were back in the fold.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2016/09/19/whos-and-whos-out-tribal-courts-and-boards-feud-over-membership/89971756/