A government, a homeland, and the people it answers to
Tribal Nation 3 is a sovereign government. It writes its own laws, runs its own courts, manages its own lands and waters, and answers to its own citizens. Everything else on this site follows from that.
The government
Seven Council members and an elected Chairperson, thirty five departments across nine areas, eight standing boards and commissions, and a court.
The constitution was adopted in 1978 and has been amended four times since. Council meets in regular session on the first Thursday of each month, and those meetings are open.
The homeland and the water
The Nation's country is a timber coast: cold inlets cut into conifer, fog most mornings, rain most of the year. Its economy, its food and half its emergencies come off the water.
The Nation manages its own fishery and shellfish beds, sets its own water quality standards, and holds its own environmental code. The estuary is the single thing most of the Nation's natural resources work is about.
The language
The Nation holds its own language work: a department, an immersion school, a nest for infants, a paid apprenticeship, and an archive with an access policy Council sets.
On this demonstration every language line renders nothing at all, and the space above this heading is one of them. That is deliberate. The language and culture section explains what the work is, and about this demo explains why the words are missing.
The community
Ashbend is the seat of government and where most citizens live. The school, the clinic, the elder center, the community hall, the ballfields and the wharf are all inside a mile of each other.