Tribe now registering all on reservation

The tribal government at Pleasant Point is now requiring that all non-tribal members who are living on the reservation must register with the tribal clerk's office, which is creating concern among some that the action will lead to the possible charging of user fees for services.
"All we want to do is to get non-tribal members to register," says Passamaquoddy Chief Clayton Cleaves. "It has nothing to do with racial matters, and we don't plan to charge anybody any kind of fee at this point, unless there is approval by the tribal council at a later date." He says that community members had conveyed their concerns to tribal officials about finding out who is living on the reservation. He notes that all of the tribal members are registered on the Passamaquoddy census.
Councillor Newell Lewey, who made the request that the tribal council consider the matter, says he made the request because a 1981 tribal ordinance requires that all non-tribal members must register with the tribal clerk's office within 10 days after moving onto the reservation. While enforcement of the current ordinance was his reason for making the request, he notes that community members have expressed concerns that "they don't know who's living here." He says that, as in all communities, concerns have been expressed that registered sex offenders or other abusers may move into the community and repeat the cycle of violence. Concerns also have been expressed about the cost to provide services to non-tribal members. The aim of the registration is "to get a clearer picture of who lives in the community," he says.
Cleaves says that a user fee was suggested as possibly "a good idea," but the tribal council directive at present only is for non-tribal members to register. Cleaves notes that a user fee might create hard feelings among both non-tribal and tribal members.
Cleaves adds that many non-tribal members have lived on the reservation for years and he appreciates their efforts to help build the community. But he adds, "We need to know who they are."
There has been "no official discussion" on charging user fees, Cleaves says, but he points out that the tribe is in poor financial condition and is always short of funds. He notes that the tribe doesn't have funding to help leverage federal grant funding that requires matching funds from the tribe.
Increasing the figures for the number of people who are living on the reservation "may impact on funding levels," he notes. Property taxes are not charged on the reservation, but the tribe receives federal funds on a per-capita basis that are used to pay for such services as public works, snow removal, trash collection, water and sewer and streetlights. He says those services "are financed by tribal members by the funds that come to the tribal government."