There was no report available from TCIA.

An "unofficial" report was given on behalf of TNNAC. It was statedthat the results of this year’s caucus are now available on line.One correction that will be made is that Paul Vaughn did not obtain thenecessary 4 caucuses to be on the September ballot. A list of thosecandidates who would be considered on the September ballot was read.There was a reminder that each candidate has to be passed by a majorityat the convention for that person to be considered as a CommissionerNominee or runner-up. The average attendance at the TNNAC caucuses was17 people.

Donna Bivens presented the financial report. No change since lastmeeting. There is $781.07 in checking and $15 cash. A donation of $5was received at this meeting. She reminded the Board that filing of the501(c)3 will deplete some of the funds. A motion was made and secondedto approve the financial report. Motion carried.

Notes from the meeting of 17 April 2005 were read. They weretentatively approved pending transcription and on-line review.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

A report from the ACTIA Chair was given. The Chair informed everyonethat all Commissions had been approved for another year. The Chairstated that the Advisory Council will be in a transition period overthe next six months with new appointments being made and some changesin the By-Laws and Standing Rules. It is time to set a time frame forthe changes that need to be made. The Commission is looking to theAdvisory Council to come up with the wording for several of theresolutions that have been presented. A meeting has been scheduled withTDOT for Monday. David Teat, Joe McCaleb, Tommy Veal and several otherpeople from NA organizations will be meeting with Gerald Kline,Commissioner for TDOT.

There was no report available from the Tribal Recognition/NativeHistory Committee. It was stated that Melba was presently working on an"apology to Native Americans".

Donna Bivens reported that there had been no formal meeting of theEducation Committee but several members had expressed an interest inmeeting soon. There is another genealogy class tentatively planned for2006 in Nashville. It was stated that a class needed to be done inChattanooga due to the fact that the CNO is coming to present aCherokee history class through Chattanooga State. It was suggested thatACTIA spread the word about this class also.

There was no report from the Health Committee at this time.

There was no report from the Legal Defense Committee at this time.

Dale Mitchell reported that there had been no action from theSocial/Public Relations/Staff & Support Committee. It was suggestedthat this committee prepare a presentation display detailing some ofthe work ACTIA has done. It was stated that this needed to be presentedat pow-wows and other functions across the state.

The Chair of the Native Tourism Committee reported that the NativeTourism Committee had not met yet.

Tommy Veal reported on the Archaeology Advisory Committee. Tommystated that TDOT would not recognize us as a legitimate non-profitorganization until we had the necessary 501(c)3 status.

John Hedgecoth reported on the Operational Procedures Committee. Hehas researched and copies procedures being used by other organizationsfor the Board’s study.

OLD BUSINESS

A motion was made and seconded that Jo Nicholson be accepted as anat-large member of the Advisory Council. The motion passed unanimously.

There was a final discussion concerning the ACTIA logo. It wasdecided that the basic design would be the name "ACTIA" in redsuperimposed over an eagle feather which was laying at an angle overthe outline of the State of Tennessee with a shadow in dark blue aroundthe state image. A motion was made and seconded to accept the design.The motion carried.

There was a continuation of the discussion concerning ACTIA’snon-profit status. It was brought up the fact that 501(c)3organizations are limited in their political involvement. In the caseof 501(c)4, the organization is allowed to be heavily involved in thepolitical arena but donations are not tax deductible as they are withthe 501(c)3. A motion was made and seconded that ACTIA immediately seeka 501(c)3 status. The motion carried. A a motion was made and secondedto set aside $400 from the treasury to cover the cost of filing the501(c)3 forms. The motion carried. A motion was made that the chairappoint tom kunesh to completed the 501(c)3 application which will thenbe reviewed by Joe McCaleb and have Dale Mitchell study the by-laws,get them in order and propose amendments. The motion was seconded andpassed unanimously.

The discussion now went into the staffing procedures for ACTIA.Because of the changes that have been made in the election process andthe fact that there appeared to be little interest in running for thepositions available, ideas were asked to be brought forward that wouldpromote a more positive image for ACTIA. During the discussion it wasdecided that TNNAC would continue to hold ACTIA elections. It wassuggested that each ACTIA member work a little harder on PR in theirown areas. A motion was made and seconded that ACTIA continue to allowTNNAC to democratically facilitate the elections for ACTIA on thecurrent biennial basis. The motion carried.

The discussion went into the need to expand the ability for theACTIA Board to recruit and seat new members in areas where there arevacancies. One suggestion was that the Advisory Council expand thenumber of available seats for members-at-large. Another suggestion wasthat the By-laws be changed to allow the inclusion of other electedpersons to be considered as ACTIA Board members. A motion was made andseconed that an amendment be made to the By-laws, ARTICLE 4.MEMBERSHIP, Section (1), (a) and (b) to strike the word"commissioner-nominees" and replace it with "nominees or delegates".The motion carried. A motion was made and seconded to strike ARTICLE 4.Section (4), "Vacancies in a caucus’s representation shall not befilled". The motion carried.

A motion was made and seconded to set aside the standing rulesgoverning the attendance of nominated members-at-large to allow JoNicholson to become a full Board member beginning today. The motioncarried.

It was noted that due to the change in the election process, ACTIAwould need to make an amendment to the By-laws concerning the beginningand duration of the terms of membership of the elected members. Amotion was made and seconded that the By-laws be amended to:

strike : (3)(a) Board members who are caucus commissioner-nominees

serve for four-year terms, beginning upon their election at theTNNAC

Convention and ending upon the election four years later.

The motion carried.

There was continued discussion about restructuring of the ACTIABoard to possibly elect a 7 member board of directors. This would allowACTIA to continue to be recognized as a legitimate Indian organizationwhile opening the general membership up to more interested non-Indianparticipants. It was also noted that having an Indian organization madeup of a majority of Indians may or may not be a novel idea. Some agreedthat since our membership is limited to only 35 and that the majorityof those were elected at the caucuses that there should be no problemin maintaining the status of an Indian organization while othersforesaw a possible problem in the future if ACTIA began to grow beyondthat number. A motion was made and seconded that the discussion betabled for the present and brought up at a later date. The motioncarried.

Don Merzlak presented a proposed revision to the RecommendedResolution to the TCIA on Mascots. The amended recommendation isconfined to public schools K – 12 which receive state and federalfunds. A motion was made and seconded to accept the revised version ofthe recommendation. The motion carried.

LUNCH BREAK

The next item that was discussed was the recommended resolution tothe TCIA on Recognition of Historical Tribes, Bands, and Nationsthrough legislative action. The TCIA has reviewed the resolution andreturned it to ACTIA because they felt it needed a few changes made. Ithad been suggested that perhaps some of the historical tribes had beenomitted from the resolution. It was stated that it was thought that theresolution left it fairly open to additions as information was broughtforward concerning other historical groups. The omission of theChickamauga from the original resolution was discussed and variousmethods of how to best deal with this issue were presented. Severaldifferent opinions on how to amend the resolution were discussed. Itwas decided not to rush the rewording of this resolution. A motion wasmade and seconded that this issue would be discussed on line amongACTIA members. The motion carried.

There was a discussion concerning recommendations on recognitioncriteria, review procedures and forms for the TCIA to use. It was askedthat we provide rationale for any word/terminology and proceduralchanges recommended. It was stated that what the TCIA needs is arecommendation on any changes that ACTIA might see fit to make on thereview procedures. They have already been advised to remove the word"enrolled" where it applies to the recognition by TCIA. A motion wasmade and seconded that ACTIA work on revising the 1990 RecognitionCriteria on line. The motion carried.

NEW BUSINESS

A discussion on developing "Visiting Sacred Sites in Tennessee"guidelines for consideration by ACTIA as an endorser was presented.Penny Plumlee had placed a "Prayer Site Protocol" on line. tom kuneshread the list to the Board. He said that the guidelines had alreadybeen approved by the Alliance. A motion

Was made and seconded that ACTIA endorse the guidelines. The motioncarried.

The discussion then moved to the subject of how to assist TCIA gofrom passing resolutions to implementation. It was stated that TCIA washaving difficulty keeping up with what resolutions had been made, whichhad been passed and their status. The ACTIA Chair charged themembership to think on this problem and come up with some ideas todiscuss at the next meeting. A motion was made and seconded that thisproject be tabled for now but keep it on the agenda for futureconsideration. The motion carried.

A welcome was extended to Joe McCaleb, newly elected ACTIA memberfrom the 2005 caucus from the Nashville area.

A motion was made and seconded to accept Jackie Hicks-Burris as anew member-at-large. The motion carried.

The next regular meeting of ACTIA will be on Sunday, 21 August 2005at Shell Mound Park Gazebo on Little Cedar Mountain, Jasper, TN at10:00 a.m. Central. There will be a cook-out and picnic after themeeting.

Tommy Veal offered a closing prayer.

Meeting was adjourned.

These minutes are submitted for approval on July 24, 2005.

Donna Bivens, Secretary/Treasurer