Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Three Affiliated Tribes to Vote on Enrollment Amendment

Deijae Lam Yuen, the lead organizer of ND Polynesian Cultural Club, has been involved with hosting events, like the 2017 Multicultural Festival, to educate and celebrate with others. Photo Courtesy of ND Polynesian Cultural Club

On Election Day next month, members of the Three Affiliated Tribes will vote on whether to change the requirement for tribal enrollment, as reported by The Minot Daily News on Oct. 10.

Specifically, the amendment that will be voted on would prohibit lineal descendency. Only those with at least one-eighth Hidatsa, Mandan and/or Arikara blood would be allowed enrollment.

The Three Affiliated Tribes, based in North Dakota, have around 12,000 enrolled members, but many of them live off the reservation.

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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.