Group Looks To Reform Red Lake Constitution

A group of Red Lake tribal members are looking to amend their constitution. The committee has been working on the changes for years and may now be a step closer to achieving their goal.

Since forming in 2013, the Constitution Reform Initiative has now moved forward with a series of public meetings.

The group is looking to have a create a new constitution, or a revised version, using public comments about what should be included. According to the group, the current constitution created by the U.S. government doesn’t reflect their needs.

So far, the group has one drafted section about the separation of powers.

Another concern that community members discussed was a line of succession, which previously lead to a referendum when a council member passed away.

A new constitution was upheld in the 1950’s but has not been amended since. The group hopes to have a new constitution drafted within the next two years.