The name of this
organization is the Advisory Council on Tennessee Indian Affairs,
hereafter
referred to as the "Advisory Council" or "ACTIA".
The purposes of
the Advisory Council on Tennessee Indian Affairs are:
1. to
research,
study and review issues for consideration by the Commission of Indian
Affairs,
2. to
advise the
Commission of Indian Affairs and Commissioners on future actions, and
3. to
cooperate and
work with the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs and the Tennessee
Native
American Convention for the benefit of the greater Tennessee Native
American
Indian community
4. to
work with
TNCIA Committees on achieving their objectives.
It is the duty
of the Advisory Council on Tennessee Indian Affairs to:
1. Attend
all
Advisory Council and Commission of Indian Affairs meetings.
2. Study,
consider,
accumulate, compile, assemble and disseminate information on Native
American
Indians in the state of
3. Investigate
needs
of Indians of Tennessee and to provide technical assistance in the
preparation
of plans for the alleviation of such needs;
4. Confer
with
appropriate officials of local, state and federal governments and
agencies of
these governments, and with such legislative committees that may be
concerned
with Native American Indian issues in Tennessee;
5. Encourage
and
implement coordination of applicable resources to meet needs of Indians
in
Tennessee;
6. Cooperate
with and
secure the assistance of the local, state and federal governments or
any
agencies thereof in formulating programs;
7. Review
all
proposed or pending state legislation and amendments to existing state
legislation affecting Indians in Tennessee;
8.
Conduct public hearings on
matters relating to political
representation of Indians in Tennessee and to request any information
or
documents deemed necessary by the Advisory Council;
9.
Organize and coordinate the
following committees for the
benefit of the state's Native American Indian community:
10. Organize, direct and participate in the following standing committees of the Advisory Council:
a. The Tribal
Recognition Committee
b. The Education
Committee
c. The Health
Care Committee
d. The Native
History Committee
e. The Legal
Defense Committee
f. The Social
Committee
g. The Native
American Tourism Committee
h. The
Archaeology Advisory Committee
i. The Public
Relations Committee
j. The Staff and
Support Committee.
1. The
Advisory
Council on Tennessee Indian Affairs shall be governed by a board of
directors
that shall consist of no more than thirty-five (35) members as follows:
a. Three (3) members from each of the four (4) largest metropolitan regions in the state, ie, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, selected by each region's caucus as nominees; and
b. Three
(3) members
from each of the three (3) grand divisions of the state: West, Middle
and East,
selected by each division's caucus as nominees to the ACTIA board.
c. Up to fourteen (14) members at-large who are recognized leaders in the Native American Indian community in Tennessee, included but not limited to educators, business owners, professionals, government employees, etc. nominated and elected by ACTIA board members.
2.
a. ACTIA-nominees shall be chosen
through the TNNAC caucus and convention election process.
b. Each
nominee
shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age, and shall have been a
resident of
Tennessee for at least one (1) year, as of the date of the area caucus
at which
they are elected.
c. A
nominee and/or
Advisory Council member who does not maintain his/her domicile and
residence in
the state of Tennessee shall not be a member of the Advisory Council.
Residence
is here defined as living within the state for at least nine (9) months
of the
year.
3. a. Board members who are caucus commissioner-nominees shall serve for four-year terms, beginning upon their election at the TNNAConvention, and ending upon the election four years later.
b. At-large board members shall serve for four-year terms, beginning upon their election by the ACTIA board.
4. Vacancies
in a
caucus' [elected] representation shall not be filled. [except that a
former
member who has resigned may be reinstated to their elected position.]
5. No
Commissioner
of Indian Affairs shall be a member of ACTIA, and no officer of the
Tennessee
Native American Convention shall be an officer of ACTIA.
6. Board
members may
be removed for lack of attendance or unethical behavior upon approval
of
two-thirds (2/3) of the board's membership.
7. Committee
chairs
shall be members of the Advisory Council.
1. The board members of the Advisory Council on Tennessee Indian Affairs shall elect a chairperson of the board, a vice chair, and a secretary-treasurer from among its members.
2. ACTIA
officers
shall serve terms of one (1) year, and may be re-elected.
3. Officers
are
elected by a simple majority of the board of directors at the first
board
meeting after the Convention in Convention years, and at the first
board
meeting after 1 October in non-Convention years, or at such times as
there is a
vacancy.
4. It
shall be the
duty of the chairperson of the ACTIA board to call and preside at all
ACTIA
meetings; however, the chair may, from time to time, delegate his/her
duty to
preside over the ACTIA meeting to other members of the board. The
secretary-treasurer shall take and keep the minutes of all ACTIA
meetings,
including the Convention, and shall keep a record of and keep safe all
ACTIA monies.
5. Any
ACTIA officer
may be removed from his/her position as an officer by two-thirds (2/3)
of the
board members at a regular (not special) meeting:
a. after discussion during which the officer will be given equal time, or at least one-half hour (30 minutes) for his/her defense, and
b. with
notice of
the proposed removal given at a meeting at least one (1) month prior to
the
vote of removal.
1.
The board of the
Advisory Council on Tennessee Indian Affairs shall meet quarterly. All
members
of the Advisory Council are expected to attend Advisory Council
meetings.
2.
Notice of all
regular ACTIA meetings shall be given to all members by email,
telephone or US
Postal Service, according to their individual preference, and posted on
the
Tennessee Indian Affairs email list and the ACTIA website (actia.org),
at least
fourteen (14) days in advance of the meeting, and include date, time,
location,
and agenda.
3.
Special meetings
may be called by two (2) officers or four (4) members, and may be
conducted by
telephone conference or email. Any business conducted by email must be
sent to
every board member.
4.
Notice of all
special ACTIA meetings must be given to all members by email, telephone
or US
Postal Service, according to their individual preference, and posted on
the
Tennessee Indian Affairs email list and the actia.org website, at least
seven
(7) days in advance of the meeting, and include date, time, location,
and
agenda.
5.
Quorum consists
of one (1) officers and two (2) other ACTIA board members.
6.
The standard
order of business shall be:
a. minutes
b. financial
report
c. check-in by
areas
d. committee
reports
e. old business
f. new business
7.
All ACTIA
meeting minutes shall be posted and maintained for public access on the
ACTIA
website (actia.org) after prior approval by two (2) officers and within
twenty-one (21) days of the meeting.
1. Proposed amendments and/or additions to these by-laws must be submitted in writing and in final form to the three (3) board officers in advance of its first reading.
2. Amendments
or additions
must be proposed at least one (1) meeting and at least thirty (30) days
in
advance of any vote on the amendment, thereby requiring a reading of
the
proposed amendment or addition at two (2) different meetings.
3. Any
substantive
changes to the original wording of an amendment or addition shall be
considered as a new proposed amendment.
4. Amendments
or additions
may be approved only at regular meetings.
5. A
quorum must be
present for any vote on an amendment or addition to the bylaws. Approval
requires a two-thirds majority (2/3) of all members of the board
whether
present at the time of the vote or not. Those not present in person may
vote by
electronic mail or U.S. Mail received by the chairperson and
secretary-treasurer within three (3) days of the scheduled meeting to
vote.
[This article is
deleted in its entirety as now unnecessary]
ByLaws amended
18 February 2007
STANDING RULES
SECTION 1.
Attendance
A member who
fails to attend two (2) regularly scheduled meetings without an
acceptable
reason shall be considered as resigned and his/her position and
nomination
declared vacant.
SECTION 2.
Amendments
These standing
rules may be amended by a simple majority of the board members present,
provided that a quorum is called and that a quorum exists.
SECTION 3.
Conduct (added 15 November 2003)
a. Board members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner at all times during their term on the board of the ACTIA. Such conduct is expected of any board member while participating in and attending to ACTIA business; representing the ACTIA in public events and functions; and in their personal lives.
b. Board
members
shall refrain from making or issuing derogatory, inflammatory, and/or
untrue
statements to, about, or against any individuals and/or organizations
during
his/her term as a member of the board of the ACTIA. Violation of this
rule
shall be grounds for removal from the board of the ACTIA in the manner
provided
in Article 4.6 unless the member is an officer, and in that case, in
the manner
provided by Article 5.5 of these bylaws. (Amended 18 February 2007)
c. Board
members are
expressly prohibited from making and or issuing statements of any kind
in any
media on behalf of the ACTIA without prior written approval of the
ACTIA board
of directors. Written approval may be given electronically via email
when
necessary. ACTIA officers shall be limited to making statements of
facts only
concerning and on behalf of the ACTIA to the media or other interested
parties
without the prior written approval provided the content of such
statement/s
does/do not cause harm to or reflect poorly on the ACTIA and its
members. Violation
of this rule shall be grounds for removal from the ACTIA board in the
manner
provided in Article 4.6 unless the member is an officer, and in that
case, in
the manner provided by Article 5.5, as the case may be. (Amended 18
February
2007)
d. Deliberate
and/or
careless misuse and/or misappropriation of ACTIA funds will be grounds
for
dismissal from the ACTIA board.
e. Resignations
shall be submitted directly to the ACTIA board chairperson for review
and shall
be reviewed by the ACTIA board prior to any action.
f.
Website
administrator and officers shall be permitted to post the following to
the
ACTIA website without prior approval of the entire board:
time and place of meetings; a calendar and
meeting dates for ACTIA, TNNAC and TCIA; minutes (after distribution
and
approval); dates and times of any committee meetings and sponsored
classes;
changes in officers and committee chairpersons or personal information
such as
email or snail mail addresses and phone numbers of board members. Any other changes to the website must be
brought before the entire board for approval at the next quarterly
meeting.
(added 27 November 2004)