Colville Tribal leadership roles assigned

The Colville Business Council, the main governing body of the Colville Confederated Tribes, selected officers and committee chairs Thursday, following the recent election for seven of the 14 seats on the council.

Rodney Cawston, of the Nespelem District, will continue to serve as chairman of the CBC, elected by acclamation on June 11, according to a press release from the tribes.

Jack Ferguson, of the Keller District, was elected vice-chairman; and Joel Boyd, of Inchelium, was selected as secretary.

Committee chairs elected were: Jack Ferguson, Management and Budget Committee; Joseph Somday, Natural Resources; Richard Swan, Sr., Law and Justice, and Veterans; Janet Nicholson, Health and Human Services; Joel Boyd, Employment and Education; Darnell Sam, Culture; and Marvin Kheel, Tribal Government. Roger Finley, a newly-elected CBC member from Inchelium, will chair the Community Development Committee.

In addition to Finley, Jarred-Michael Erickson, from the Nespelem District, is the other newly elected council member.

The Council honored outgoing Nespelem District representative Andy Joseph, Jr. and Susie Allen, who had served the Inchelium District.

Chairman Cawston noted that Joseph had served for 16 years on the CBC and was indispensable to a number of health care services improvements for the tribes during his tenure. Cawston also commended Allen for her work on broadband and other telecommunications services for the tribal membership.

The chairman and others on the CBC noted that 2018-19 was a year of several accomplishments for the tribes, including numerous legislative successes in health care, broadband funding, and voting rights. The tribes also secured two major court victories in the past few months: the successful conclusion of Colville's longstanding litigation to hold Teck Cominco Ltd. responsible for its contamination of the Upper Columbia River, and a second appellate victory in the Rick Desautel hunting rights case in British Columbia.

"We all look forward to continued successes for the Colville Tribes and to improving the lives of the tribal membership in the areas of health care, economic development, natural resources and education, to name a few," Cawston said.