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Tribal-council-news

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Parent Issue
Day
21
Month
July
Year
1972
OCR Text

TRIBAL-COUNCIL-NEWS

Like so many other things in the community at this time, the Tribal Council has reached a new stage of development during which the Steering Committee has realized the need for a complete analysis and definition of what the Tribal Council really is and what needs it should be trying to fulfill within the community. For the past several months a steering committee has been meeting once a week at the Community Center on Tuesdays, and although the attendance was never real regular we usually had meetings that dealt with a great deal of business at hand in Ann Arbor without ever really talking about what was the purpose of all that business. It was always difficult carrying on a meeting there because there were always many interruptions and people coming and going and we could never find a good place to meet there. So, after three weeks of no meetings, we decided that for the time being we would have to move the meetings to a better place if we intended to get all the things done that we needed to.

We'd like to express to the community that during this time we're asking ourselves as a group questions like what is the function of Tribal Council, what 'community' are we a part of, what community's needs are we trying to meet, why do we have to build a Tribal Council, and how does that relate to the whole of Ann Arbor, etc? We know our needs are broken down to the basics of life such as food, housing, health care, education, defense, drugs, communications, finances and culture. And that's where all the actual work lies with the committees that relate to those needs-people who are into working with the Tribal Council can best do that by joining the People's Committees that deal with things they're most interested in or have the most knowledge of and experience with. The meetings on Tuesday are open meetings, but we urge people to only bring those matters to the attention of the Steering Committee that cannot be dealt with by any other committee.

Going back to the needs of the people we can begin talking about how people can relate to the Tribal Council through the various People's Committees which in fact is what the Tribal Council actually is; not just one small group of people who get together once a week but ALL People in the community relating everyday through the various committees of the Tribal Council, this time not all the committees are a functioning reality, yet the need is there and all that is needed for any particular committee to start functioning is people's organized energy. Right now there are five committees that do meet regularly and take care of business.

The past few issues of the SUN we've talked a lot about the People's Food Committee and how it's been working in the Park on Sunday bringing people good fresh food to eat at cheap prices as an alternative to the death culture food that surrounds everywhere we go. We hope to expand the functions of the Food Committee to include a coordinating council for all the community co-operative food projects and other people who are deep into good food for the people. We'd like to set up an office in the next few months and provide a central location for order collecting for food co-ops and a food-related information center. We're going to be working with the Music and Ballroom Committee to provide the same type of good food in the People's Ballroom as we do in the Park. People who are interested in working with the Food Committee should come to the meetings 2:30 on Friday afternoons at Mark's coffee House or call Jeanie Walsh at 761-1709.

The People's Housing Committee

The People's Housing Committee is just beginning to come together and is presently working on setting up some type of youth hostel for travelers to stay in as well as looking into alternative housing and living conditions for all those brothers and sisters who feel oppressed by their present situation and want to live more collectively with people they can relate to. For information about the Housing Committee contact Genie Plamondon at 761-1709 or come to the meetings at Mark's Friday afternoons at 1:00.

The People's Health Committee

The People's Health Committee has a lot of heavy business to deal with right now with every new wave of bogus dope that hits the streets put there by the dinosaurs. At the present time they are working hard on the problem of quaaludes here in our community and how best to get people to quit the drug safely and quickly. The great part of that problem lies not with our people but with the hospitals and drug companies who refuse and in fact often find it in their best interests to not give aid, saving the best, most efficient medical care for those who can afford it. For information about the Health Committee contact Nancy Lessing at the Free Health Clinic.

The People's Communication Committee

The People's Communications Committee at this time is the most active committee with the Ann Arbor Sun and the Tribal Network, the Radio Workshop and also working with the Music Switchboard. Any information you would like to know about this committee contact the SUN or the Tribal Network office at the Community Center, 663-4208.

The People's Music and Ballroom Committee is working everyday to put together the People's Ballroom so that we can all listen and dance to rock and roll as much as we need to all the time without having to pay the man for a place to come together and get high! The more people who lend energy to this committee the faster our ballroom will be in operation to take care of the very basic need that our music fills in our lives-the need for rockin' and rollin'! Not only will we be able to use the ballroom for music but we'll also be using it for films and Tribal Feasts and other large meetings and events that we've always had to use the University's buildings for in the past and we know what community THEY represent!

Although the tribal Sisters is not one of the initial committees of the Tribal Council it definitely serves a great need within the community for sisters to come together and talk about their positions with the Tribal Council as a whole. At this time we're going to start studying some literature that we feel is relevant and will help us all in the struggle for self-determination because we know that if we want to help all our brothers and sisters understand sisters' oppression we have to understand the oppression of ALL people. No one is free until everyone is free-FREE ALL PEOPLE!

The Sun every issue tries to carry in the Calendar listings of all the People's Committee meetings so that people who are interested can attend. If you have a question about a time for a committee meeting that you don't see listed please contact the Sun and We'll try and check it out for you.

JOIN THE TRIBAL COUNCIL!

LET IT GROW!

Jeanie Walsh- for the Tribal

Council Steering Committee