December 2024 Open Meeting Summary

Tribal Open Meeting Summary 12/4/2024  held at the tribal office and via Zoom

1. CM’s Emily, Glenn, and Acting CoC Marion were present. Elder Larry J was present. 2C Alan served as a proxy for CM Chris and AC Cheryl was present.

2. Members Sara R, Nancy J, Carolyn D, Aaron F, Rebecca F, Josh W, Lisa L, Julie W, Jennifer R, Sara M, Kevin D, Steven T, and Steven W, and Randy W were present.

3. Financial Report (as of 12/3/2024 at 12:35 pm)

   1. General Fund: $43,888.81

   2. Building Fund: $1264.56

   3. Cemetery Fund: $447.00

   4. Grant Fund: $29,459.69

4. Old Business

   1. Online Votes

      1. 10/7 Reimburse Larry for work on the ramp and its supplies

         1. Emily-yes, Marion-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes

      2. 10/18 Purchase event insurance

         1. Emily-yes, Marion-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes

      3. 11/15 Purchase general liability insurance from Hiscox

         1. Emily-yes, Marion-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes

      4. 12/4 Pay $140 for WIP to sponsor Jeanie Wright as Miss Moonlight Native American of 2025

         1. Moot because the deadline passed

5. New Business

   1. Resolution CC-12-06-2024-001: Certification of the 2024 Election Results

      1. Emily-yes, Marion-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes

      2. AC Cheryl swore in Council Members Rebecca F, Glenn C, Emily W

   2. Receipts

      1. Fuel: $94.88

         1. Emily-yes, Marion-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes

         2. Check 886 General Fund

            1. Secretary’s note: written from the wrong account

            2. Check 1083 from the Building Fund was deposited into the General Fund

      2. Reimburse CM Marion for lights, picnic table, and $105 for tribal stipend in November

         1. $607.18 Check 885 General Fund

            1. Emily-yes, Marion-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes, Rebecca F- yes

   3. Groundskeeper Lease Agreement

      1. On a lease for a long time

      2. The issue was with pets in the agreement

      3. John T was helping with the 2016 lease, but Chief Hatcher stepped in

      4. The last agreement was not signed

      5. It has to be a lease because he’s a tenant on the grounds

      6. We need to discuss getting another mobile home or paying him a salary

      7. We need a meeting to iron it out in an executive session

      8. CM Marion: in January?

      9. AC Cheryl: yes; review the old lease, have conversations

      10. If we were to have our own office (larger), this building could be used by him

          1. CM Marion: come in at 6 on 1/10?

          2. Those available: Emily-yes, Glenn-yes, Rebecca-yes, AC Cheryl-yes

   4. Family Day 2/15 (20th anniversary)

      1. Food

         1. CM Glenn: the hot dog cart is supposed to provide lunch per the contract

   5. Dr. Sara Rich: Dendrochronology

      1. Longleaf pines in Horry and Georgetown counties

         1. Learn how our ancestors cared for the land and used fire

         2. Lumbee reinstituted prescribed burns on their land and will host us to join them in doing one

         3. Certified Fire Managers: talked to the state about being interested in doing prescribed burns

         4. CM Marion: what are the dates for the Pembroke burns?

            1. Dr. Sara: Courtney Steed said any day we wanted

            2. AC Cheryl: Is it on the calendar?

            3. Jennifer R: I’m available

            4. CM Rebecca: I’m available

            5. Jennifer R: we could meet with our Lumbee neighbors and move to state certification

            6. AC Cheryl: I think Jennifer and Rebecca would be good to observe

            7. Dr. Sara: any day except when it’s windy or rainy

            8. Do we know the number of people they’d like to be there?

            9. Dr. Sara: I’ll check with Courtney

         5. Prescribed Burning link: https://firenetworks.org/ipbn/

      2. Shipwreck Materials: Cooper River: retrieved timbers from local pine wood

         1. Link: https://prezi.com/view/4Fj2whwRoynvPa4n6XFa/

         2. Subsampling then microscopically to see who was living there

            1. Biofilm on the wood with buildup of bioplastics

         3. Suggestions for changes made to the draft before Wednesday

      3. Does WIP want their logo on the burn or ship projects

         1. CM Marion: motion to allow Dr. Sara to use the logo on the projects; CM Rebecca seconded

            1. Emily-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-yes, Rebecca-yes, Marion-yes

   6. Committee reports

      1. Buildings & Grounds: CM Glenn: Nothing to add

      2. Arts & Crafts: Nothing to add

      3. Grants: AC Cheryl and Dr. Dillian

         1. Catalyst Grant: money for the first year has been received

            1. The first part was for capacity building and training people

            2. Michelle registered for grant writing certification at USC

            3. AC Cheryl is going to CCU for upcoming grants

            4. The goal is for WIP to be self-reliant and do the grants ourselves

            5. They’ve helped the Wassamassaw and Edisto tribes

            6. Co-travel stipend for research

            7. We need guidelines for going forward

            8. A meeting with Lowcountry Land Trust is occurring 

            9. They’ve helped the Wassamassaw and Edisto tribes

            10. We are working with people through conversations and want to bring the tribes together in a summit (like AC Cheryl’s Rhode Island trip)

         2. ACLS: Digital Justice Seed Grant

            1. Planning grant

            2. It has to be administered by the university

            3. Its purpose is to bring forth research that we need for higher funding grants

            4. Its focus: 

            5. CCU will administer the grant & do the payouts

            6. Story map project: we can add links to historical sites, audio interviews with location

            7. Conduct interviews for the future GIS & story map

            8. Funding for mapping and capacity building

            9. Seed grant: $25k for 18 months

            10. Google Analytics can tell us how viewers interact with us & how long they look at particular pages

            11. Use StoryCorps: Americal Folklife Center in DC so the interviews will be preserved

            12. We will find out in the spring if we got it

            13. Up to $20k, 5-person steering committee

            14. It may be used to get the dugout canoe here 

            15. Walter Hill from the Horry County Museum & Dr. Sara Rich can help

            16. We need a project for this; not pauwau because it’s an event

         3. CM Marion: CCU has been well-publicized by me; their time has been unreal

            1. Dr. Dillian: thank you; we get a lot out of it too; it’s a great partnership

         4. 2C Alan: CMA has $250k to distribute to tribes in January; process will be online

            1. AC Cheryl: it’s mainly operational

            2. Up to $20k, 5-person steering committee

            3. It may be used to get the dugout canoe here 

            4. Walter Hill from the Horry County Museum & Dr. Sara Rich can help

            5. We need a project for this; not pauwau because it’s an event

         5. Justice Outside Grant: general purpose, but when written, it was planned around youth events

            1. April 5-6/2025: Day 1 fishing, Judge Ronnie will do a presentation, horses, walk the interpretive trail, camp overnight

            2. Day 2: kayak on the Little Pee Dee with Winyah Rivers Alliance and share stories of the river and Waccamaw

            3. Dr. Sara and Josh W interested

      4. Newsletter: we need someone to do it

      5. Pauwau

         1. Looking for new stories of local cultural history & language

         2. Looking for pictures of traditional suks

         3. We need advocates to help bring more children to the grounds

         4. Popcorn fundraiser: $77.50

         5. Donut Fundraiser: $67.50

         6. Deciding on location and time for outbrief

      6. Drum: nothing to add

      7. Archiving Project: Jennifer R & Rebecca F

         1. Jennifer R: Taking a free course through UCLA: archival and museum training

            1. Starts in January & ends in May

         2. CM Rebecca: applied for a fellowship

         3. Jennifer R: Historical markers for Bethel Cemetery & near the coordinates for the Pine Level School.

            1. Jennifer had been working on this project and consulting with Dr. Dillian who suggested reaching out to Ben Burrough from the Horry County Archives

            2. Burroughs sits on the Historical Society. Mr. Burroughs regularly works with organizations and groups about historic markers. 

            3. This is the most cost-effective and direct way to begin the process. 

         4. AC Cheryl: reached out to the Preservation Society

            1. Suzanne stepped forn & the assistant said they were back-logged

            2. Jennifer R: they aren’t very communicative with us

         5. Jennifer R: will be a guest on the Genealogy Adventures podcast to discuss tri-racial ancestry

            1. Link from the podcast: https://www.facebook.com/genealogyadventuresusa/videos/837930981650644

      8. Files Committee

         1. 2C Alan: Honorary applications

            1. Christine and Franklin Widdifield

         2. Resolution EW-12-06-2024-001: Amendment to modify membership fee renewal read

            1. CM Rebecca: I think it’s a good idea

            2. CM Glenn: is it costing us anything?

            3. AC Cheryl: just postage

            4. Instead of people asking for a new ID who haven’t paid membership fees for multiple years

            5. CM Marion: I’ve said for a long time that we need it

            6. CM Emily: it is an annual reminder

            7. Instead of people asking for a new ID who haven’t paid membership fees for multiple years

            8. CM Marion: I’ve said for a long time that we need it

         3. Files committee meeting 12/7 at 10 am

      9. Longhouse Project

         1. AC Cheryl: I spoke with David H and he’s bringing trees down periodically and debarking them

            1. Not a lot of major work because of weather and surgery

            2. CM Glenn, reach out to people who normally show up for grounds workdays

            3. CM Marion: can CCU students help?

            4. Dr. Dillian: spring break is 3/10-14

            5. Dr. Sara R: if there’s an early enough notice, we could bring students down

            6. Dr. Dillian: I have the last of the materials for the longhouse

   7. 2C Alan

      1. Minority Small Business Loans under the CMA

      2. Veterans Stand Down event planned for 3/8

      3. Elders’ baskets from UMC: need to know how many to get

         1. AC Cheryl: get 15- 20

   8. AC Cheryl

      1. Walter Hill: there’s a grant for gardens here: $60k

         1. They would be rain/ pollinator gardens

         2. Soil testing: free through Clemson University; we need experienced people helping

            1. Coastal Conservation League, Sustain Coastal

         3. 2 pollinator gardens, 1 medicinal garden (box garden)

         4. This grant has to be submitted by Jan. 30

         5. Dr. Dillian: CCU would take a small amount off salaries, which be $1000 for 1 student

         6. Rick Huffman:: Earth Design and National Plant Society

         7. Motion to allow WIP to partner with CCU and let them administer this grant; Marion seconded

            1. Elder Larry: how big are they going to be? Would we have PW parking?

            2. AC Cheryl: the best spots I can tell are like where the social was

            3. They go to spots where it’s really wet, not where we park

            4. Emily-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Marion-yes

      2. TN Land: no matter with Donna on the land, TN requires us to have insurance

         1. CM Glenn: that’s exactly what I said in that meeting

         2. AC Cheryl: Giles doesn’t expect to hear back before Monday

            1. It will probably be less than we expect because it’s undeveloped

            2. We don’t know how it was settled in the divorce

            3. CM Glenn: when I was there, he said no one was on the grounds

      3. Native American Heritage Month Proclamations

         1. 5 done

         2. I met with the Town of Aynor, but she didn’t know what it would do

   9. Sara M: I was blessed to be there with everyone at PW & I got the boss’ approval to be there next year

      1. I have ideas for children during the PW

         1. CM Glenn: get your ideas together and present them to the Council

            1. Get it in writing

   Marion motioned to close the meeting; Rebecca seconded.

   Emily-yes, Glenn-yes, 2C Alan (Chris)-abstain, Rebecca-yes, Marion-yes

   The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

   Respectfully submitted by Michelle Hatcher on 12/30/2024 at 12:27 pm.