Public records
Any citizen may request any record the Nation holds. The Tribal Secretary has ten working days to answer, and if the answer is no it has to say which provision closes the record.
How to request a record
- Describe what you want, as closely as you can. A date range and a subject are usually enough. You do not need to know a file number.
- Send it to the Tribal Secretary by phone on 555-0103, by email to records@tribalnation3.invalid, or in person at the Administration Building. A form exists but is not required.
- You get an answer within ten working days. If the record is large, the Secretary will tell you when it will be ready rather than letting the clock run out.
- If it is refused, the refusal names the provision. You may ask Council to review it at any regular meeting.
Already public, no request needed
What is closed, and why
Personnel files, medical records, child welfare case files, and material closed under the archive access policy.
Two closures on this list are worth naming plainly. Site locations held by the Historic Preservation Office are closed because publishing where something is, is how it gets dug. Repatriation inventories are closed while families are being notified, because a family should hear from the office before they read it on a website.