Pursuant to due notice, the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Native American Convention, met in quarterly session at Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Saturday, January 18, 2003. The meeting was called to order at 10:00 A.M.

ATTENDANCE

TNNAC Board Members: tom kunesh, Chairman; Vicky Spits Fire Garland, Vice-Chairman; april weller, Secretary-Treasurer; Dale Mitchell; David Teat; Sally Wells, Alternate for Edna Fay; Floyd Ayers; John Smith; Two Dogs; Cleata Townsend, and Alternate, Cathy Stewart.

Observers: TNCIA Nominees Mike Mangrum and Anita Prevatte; Diane Caldwell; Mark Cantrell and Georgia Dennis, MTSU Pow Wow Coordinator.

Meeting was called to order by Chairman, tom kunesh.

Cathy Stewart was asked to be the interim secretary until april weller could arrive.

Review Board Membership

1st Motion -- Due to three resignations positions on the TNNAC Board needing to be filled. Two Dogs, Onieda and Ojibwa, from the Chattanooga area and Dale Mitchell, Creek, Cherokee and European and a member of the Cherokees of Southeast Alabama would make valuable additions to the Board. Motion was so moved and seconded. Passed without objection.

2nd Motion -- Kelly Henly and Wolf Eyes Robertson, who are from East TN area, should be terminated as members on the TNNAC Board due to no participation and no one has been able to contact them. Motion was so moved, seconded. Motion Amended to say -- All TNNAC Board members, not currently involved, will be notified and given thirty days to respond (February 18, 2003) as to whether or not they will become immediately involved or their position will be terminated and they will be replaced. Seconded. Passed without opposition.

Vicky Spits Fire Garland was asked to speak to Eve Freeman and Joe McCaleb as to their interest in being apart of the TNNAC board.

Officers' Report

april weller, secretary/treasurer, is requested to distribute the minutes from the November meeting.

Treasurer's Report. $164.25. No money has been received or spent since the 2001 Convention.

TNNAC's next meeting will be held March 1, 2003, at the Keathly Univeristy Conference Room, Middle Tennessee University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Review TNNAC's Purposes

3rd Motion -- The wording of Article 3 "Duties" of the By-Laws of the Tennessee Native American Convention should be changed to include sending the list of nominees to the Govenor, as well as the Speaker of the House and Senate. Seconded. Unanimously Passed.

4th Motion -- TNNAC should also propose Indian nominees to the State Archeological, Historical and Arts Commission. Seconded.

Call for Discussion. Floyd Ayers ask if there any other Boards or Commissions that would be applicable; and has there been any effort made to contact the people already on the Board.

Motion Amended -- A proposed list of nominees will be given to the State Archeological, Historical and Art Commissions; and, such other state agencies as is deemed appropriate by the Indian community. Motion was seconded and passed without opposition.

Confirm timeline and collate all nominees rŽsumŽs

Tom opened up the discussion by informing the Board that not all nominees had completed their applications or sent rŽsumŽs. He suggested we set a timeline on when we should have them completed and returned -- all agreed on February 21, 2003.

The list of Chairs, Secretaries, and assistants for the seven (7) caucuses were reviewed, they are as follows:

Chattanooga: Cleata Townsend
Two Dogs (who was newly placed due to two resignations from the area)
Middle Tennessee: Vicky Garland
Floyd Ayers
East Tennessee: Man Many Trees
West Tennessee: Bonnie James -- has been to one meeting
Sarah Cantrell
Nashville: April Weller
Dale Mitchell (newly placed due to the Secretary moving from the state)
Knoxville: John Hedgecoth
Tommy Veal
Memphis: John Smith

It was suggested that because there is a greater population of Native Americans or Mixed Bloods in the Northeast corner of Tennessee that the East Caucus be moved to Johnson City; also, that the Middle Tennessee and Nashville caucus should be moved further than the regulated 75 miles. Moving the caucus to Hendersonville may be better and would possibly draw the heavily populated Montgomery County Indian voters to the Nashville caucus.

Discussion was opened to strike asking for the candidate's social security numbers and their Tennessee Drivers Licenses Number; it was further suggested that there maybe opposition to the having background checks done on candidates. Mike Mangrum stated that Terri Ellenwood had spoken with him about the issue of background checks and that was opposed to the issue. He also declared that he and other Commissioners-elect were opposed to the background checks. Discussion was held as to the benefits, conflicts and reasons why background check may be needed. Two Dogs said the option should be left open to the Commissioners. David Teat suggested we use the old form for the current Commissioners-elect and then tweak the form for the 2003 Caucus. Tom made the point that the old (original) form is not suitable because it did not request proof of Tennessee residency. Tom suggested that he quickly review with the attendees the "suggested new form" and asked that only comments to items of opposition be stated.

Add to the form the questions,
- how long have you been a resident of Tennessee?
- Are you a United States Citizen?
Add to the "Education Section"
- Do you have a high school education or a GED equivalent?
In Section No. 7 ("Background Check") add the question Have you ever been convicted of a felony? Change the Section name to Background Information. Remove the question of "Will you allow TNNAC to perform a background check?" In its place add the statement that a Background check maybe done at the discretion of the Governor, Speaker of the House or Senate by the TBI.

5th Motion -- Add the aforementioned questions to the form and delete the portion of TNNAC performing a background check. Seconded. Motion carried without opposition.

Under the "Genealogy Section" put a section for Mother, Father, and Natural Parents.

Mark Cantrell said information on the form should be open to the public. Everyone else agreed with the exception to the Genealogical section.

Areas of the form that will be open to the public will be as follows: Residential Address, e-mail address; Current marital status and spouses name; education and background information.

Areas of the form that would remain private are as follows: Proof of residency; home and work telephone number; Names of minor children and the genealogy portion, with the exception of Tribe or Tribal Affiliation.

Everyone on the TNNAC Board and any TNNAC Board member in the future will be sworn to secrecy regarding an individual's Genealogical background. TNNAC Board members will only be allowed to confirm a persons "Indianess".

April Weller stated that she would have her employer Scott Weiss, who is an attorney, assist TNNAC in drawing up a statement for all TNNAC Board members to sign regarding keeping Genealogical information confidential. All TNNAC Board members will be required to sign the Confidentiality Affidavit prior to election.

6th Motion -- That we accept all changes to the form as well as accepting to hold all individuals Genealogy in confidence. Seconded. Unanimously passed.

[ 10 minute Break ]

7th Motion -- That TNNAC request the Advisory Council and the proposed Commission establish individual recognition for Indians in Tennessee. Motion was seconded. Discussion.

Floyd Ayers strongly suggested that this might be a "red flag" to some of "foes".

8th Motion -- Move to table the discussion.

9th Motion -- Withdraw the aforesaid motion entirely. Seconded. Passed without opposition.

Tom asked who on the Board, that was not a Commissioner nominee, felt they were knowledgeable enough to be a professional genealogist. April Weller and Cleta Townsend acknowledged such. Tom asked each of them if they would serve on the Genealogy Committee.
The Committee is to review each genealogical batch of papers submitted by the Candidates and verify their Indian ancestry; as well as to verify through those Federal and State Tribes that such Candidates list as their Tribe. If there is a concern by the Committee of the information submitted by the Candidate(s) the Committee might approach the Candidate(s) for additional clarification. Furthermore, if the Candidate(s) is non-responsive to the request of the Committee or additional help is needed on behalf of the Committee, and then the Committee should approach the Board with the concerns over the Candidate(s) genealogy. If the aforesaid two steps cannot verify the Candidate(s) Indian Ancestry then the Committee may at such time suggest the information be forwarded to a Professional Genealogist.

10th Motion -- The aforesaid was made into a motion and seconded. Motion passed without opposition.

Tom also asked if the Board would approve of him approaching a Professional Genealogist to assist the Genealogy Committee in certifying any genealogy information with the Committee may hold in question. He stated that he would ask that the work be traded out. Everyone agreed that Tom should speak to a Professional Genealogist. Also a letter will be drawn up to send to those Federal and State tribes to verify the claims of those Commissioners stating that a Federal or State Tribe recognizes them.

The suggestion was made that future nominees for 2003 submit their genealogy early but said Individuals will not be allowed to submit their nomination application early.

11th Motion -- The above suggestion was made into a motion. Seconded. Passed without opposition.

All Nomination Forms will be available March 1 for the 2003 Convention but none will be accepted by TNNAC prior to May.

It was suggested from the floor that TNNAC submit a report to the State regarding participation of the Commissioner nominees.

12th Motion. TNNAC will submit the aforementioned report to the Speaker of the House and Senate, as well as the Governor. Seconded. Unanimously Passed.

TNNAC will need to supply each Chair and Secretary of each Caucus with copies of the submitted applications/nominations prior to the Caucus date. Write-ins will no longer be acceptable.

13th Motion. Elect Joe McCaleb as a member-at-large to the TNNAC Board. Seconded. Passed.