Founded in 1983, the Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council represents the people of Western Alaska’s largest city and is the region’s largest federally recognized tribe.
As of 2021, ONC had an estimated minimum total enrollment of 3,500 members, with more than 40% of these members living outside of Bethel.
This month, the tribe announced that non-Bethel members will be excluded from voting on 19 proposed amendments to the tribe’s constitution, the details of which had not been disclosed to all tribal members as of Jan. 23.
In an email to KYUK, tribal leadership confirmed that it plans to make the amendments publicly available, but did not say when that would happen.
A letter from ONC chairman Walter Jim announcing the decision and providing a timeline for the vote on the amendments has been met with fierce criticism on social media from Bethel and non-Bethel tribal citizens alike.
ONC member Nikki Corbett, who was born in Bethel but has lived on the Kenai Peninsula for the past decade, has been particularly vocal about the issue on social media.
"Honestly, all we're demanding is transparency and communication. We are requesting to be a part of our tribe. We just want to be included. We want to be able to help," Corbett said.
Corbett said that ONC’s constitution clearly spells out a requirement for transparency, and she said that a 2016 ordinance passed by the tribal council directly addresses the voting rights of non-Bethel tribal citizens. Corbett said that it is unclear whether the ordinance was ever implemented, but said that the language regarding voting rights is clear.
"Members who establish a permanent residence outside of the village of Bethel shall be listed on the tribal roll as inactive members," Corbett said, reading from the 2016 ordinance. "Inactive members shall not be eligible to hold tribal office, but will be permitted to vote on local matters that come up for a vote by the members."
Corbett said that she is also concerned about whether the amendments could change the way ONC determines its membership. The current constitution, adopted in 2002, mentions a requirement of one-quarter Alaska Native blood, known as a blood quantum, for its “base membership.”
According to the constitution, the blood requirement applies only to original ONC members. These are defined in the constitution as the original members of Bethel Native Corporation, the village corporation for Bethel created as part of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
The constitution goes on to say that all children born to these original members are eligible for ONC tribal membership, without mentioning a blood requirement.
But in 2021, an anonymous website called We Are ONC claimed that scores of descendants had been denied membership in Bethel’s tribe based on blood quantum. The website also claimed that its founders had successfully petitioned the tribal council to discontinue the practice of enforcing blood quantum following an emergency meeting that same year.
In this way, the issue of blood requirement is nothing new. But Corbett said that she worries a decision with serious consequences could be made in the upcoming vote on the amendments without sufficient input from non-Bethel tribal citizens.
"I have two young children, and they are a quarter, and if they have children, they will not be able to enroll in the tribe if they press for this," Corbett said. "Blood quantum is not a part of our Yup’ik values. It's not a part of who we are. It was something that was placed from the government to push towards cultural genocide."
In its January 2025 meeting, the seven-member ONC tribal council heard from Corbett and half a dozen other tribal members in Bethel and outside of Bethel who echoed the concerns about membership, voting rights, and transparency.
On Jan. 22, ONC announced that it would be holding an informational meeting for tribal members in Bethel on Jan. 25 regarding the proposed amendments. The announcement confirmed that only Bethel tribal members will be allowed to vote on the amendments, citing the 2002 constitution.
ONC has previously told members that it plans to mail out ballots on Jan. 27 and will post the results of the election in mid-March. It still isn’t clear whether out-of-town members will be privy to details of the amendments at that time. Corbett said that the pace has been alarming.
"It's very swift and sudden, and with so many proposed amendments it really should be done with a constitutional convention because if the changes are made they're going to affect the entire tribe," Corbett said.
In an email to KYUK, ONC Executive Director Brian Henry declined to comment on the out-of-town voting rights ordinance or the content of the proposed amendments, saying that tribal membership must meet before issuing any public statement.
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