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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SEE THE ARCHIVES FOR PREVIOUSLY PRINTED ARTICLES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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Lawton Constitution Thursday, April 5, 2001 Kiowa Tribe
may lose $1.6 million in federal funds Dispute over
who directs housing may result in loss of block grant. By Rose
Fischer STAFF WRITER CARNEGIE — Kiowa Tribe members stand to lose about $1.6 million
in federal block grant housing funds unless the Kiowa Indian Council
governing body clearly decides who directs the tribe’s housing. The Kiowa Indian Council will meet at 10
a.m. Saturday at the Kiowa Tribal
Complex in Carnegie. The KIC will
discuss whether the new Kiowa Tribal Housing Program or the Kiowa Housing
Authority will handle future tribal housing needs and Indian housing Block
Grant funds, and which group will certify the 2001 Indian Housing Plan. The KIC could decide to place the issue on
the tribe’s June election ballot to settle the current dispute. The KIC received a March 20 letter (in
care of Kiowa Business Committee Chairman Billy Evans Horse) from Jacqueline
Johnson, deputy assistant secretary for Native American Programs in
Washington D.C. “The Office of Native
American Programs will no longer approve any Indian Housing Plan submitted by
the Kiowa Tribe, or submitted by any entities on its behalf, whether created
by state law or tribal ordinance, without a tribal certification authorized
by a clear, duly passed and certified resolution of the Kiowa Indian
Council,” Johnson wrote, indicating a possible interruption of funding. Johnson wrote that the tribe’s housing
funding could be interrupted, but her notification should allow time for the
Kiowa Indian Council to act. Johnson
wrote that Indian Housing Block Grants were authorized in 1998, 1999 and 2000
to the new entity, Kiowa Tribal Housing Programs, under the belief that the
Kiowa Business Committee chairman (in office when the housing plans were
submitted and approved) was authorized to act for the tribe. However after a recent Oklahoma Supreme
Court ruling — Housing Authority of the Kiowa Tribe vs., Ware — Johnson questioned
the authority of the Business Committee chairman to certify plans submitted
for Indian Housing Block Grants. “In
light of the court’s discussions, it seems that the Kiowa Indian Council must
either approve each plan or approve a resolution appointing an individual or
entity to approve such plans on behalf of the tribe each year,” Johnson
wrote. According to Jim Kelley, Kiowa
Housing Authority director in Anadarko, the Kiowa Indian Council or governing
body is comprised of all tribal members of voting age. The Kiowa Constitution requires the KIC to
elect members to serve on the Kiowa Business Committee to run tribal business
and to elect members to the Board of Commissioners of the Kiowa Housing
Authority to handle tribal housing matters.
Kelley said the tribe formed the Kiowa Housing Authority in 1968 as a
state-chartered entity to funnel federal funding to the tribes. However, the 1997 Native American Housing
and Self Determination Act no longer required federal HUD moneys to go
through a state office but gave the KIC authority to select the entity that
conducts the tribe’s housing business.
The Kiowa Business Committee has power to form subordinate boards and
appoint the Kiowa Hearing Board and the Kiowa Election Board. It recently appointed the Kiowa Tribal
Housing Programs to handle housing business, and the new board received the
last three years’ housing block grant moneys instead of the Kiowa Housing
Authority. The Business Committee
also quit calling elections for board positions on the Kiowa Housing
Authority, so that current board members have served seven years. “HUD is saying that the only way the
funding can take place now is that the KIC mandates who they want to handle
it through the election process,” Kelley said, “It will be in June; it may or
may not be in time. We have funding
through the year 2000 Lawton Constitution
Thursday,
April 5, 2001 Kiowa Tribe
may lose $1.6 million in federal funds Dispute over
who directs housing may result in loss of block grant. By Rose
Fischer STAFF WRITER Kiowa Tribe proposes to give members their homes FORT COBB — Kiowa Business Committee Chairman Billy Evans Horse
and the Kiowa Tribal Housing Programs board proposed a plan Wednesday to give
tribal members their homes. The
proposal came at a luncheon forum at the Kiowa Caddo Vocational Center. According to Kiowa Tribal Housing Programs
officials, the homes are located across Southwest Oklahoma, many in Lawton
and surrounding communities; and individual ownership could positively affect
the Lawton economy. Officials
answered questions pertaining to the land after the homes were deeded to the
tribal members. Kiowa Tribal Housing
Programs officials also listened to the Kiowa community’s concerns about
housing needs. |
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