Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council (2024)

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

Post Office Box 256

Nixon, Nevada 89424

Telephone: (775) 574-1000

Fax (775) 574-1054

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

Tribal Chambers ~ Nixon, NV

February 2, 2024, Regular

Members Present:

Steven Wadsworth, Vice Chairman

Harriet Brady, Councilmember Judith Davis, Councilmember

Nicholas Cortez Councilmember Edward Ely III, Councilmember

Della John, Councilmember John Guerrero, Councilmember

Members Absent: James Phoenix, Tribal Chairman, and Councilmembers Nathan Dunn and Genevieve

Note: This meeting was in-person but zoom conferencing was an option for presenters and audience.

CALL TO ORDER

Vice Chairman Wadsworth called the February 2, 2024, Regular Tribal Council meeting of the Pyramid Lake

Paiute Tribal Council to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Roll call was taken by Brenda A. Henry, Tribal Council Secretary. Tribal Chairman James Phoenix, and

Councilmembers Dunn and Genevieve John were absent. All other Councilmembers were present at roll call

and a quorum was established for this meeting.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Vice Chairman Wadsworth presented the agenda with the following changes: remove from the consent

agenda item #3. Approval Elder Energy Request Billie Jean Guerrero, remove the Presentation item #1.

Bureau of Tribal Funds Administration Update, remove from Unfinished Business item #2 Approval 2024

Tribal Budget and under New Business item #1. Request for Approval Mobile Harvest MOU; add #2

Unfinished Business Approval Tribal Council Online Meeting Policy & Procedures with Resolution and #1.

New Business Approval Silver State Government Relations 2024 Contract.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the agenda with requested changes. Councilmember Guerrero

seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION

PASSED

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Karen Shaw, Tribal member. Ms. Shaw said committees and boards provide recommendations to the Tribal

Council and feels the Land Assignment Ordinance gives too much power to the Land and Resource

Committee. The land is for the Tribal membership who should have the recourse to come to Tribal Council if

they are denied or not satisfied with the outcome. There are some who are not Tribal members who sit on

some committees. It’s important that Tribal members get the opportunity to have an assignment. She agrees

with the rule for assignments not to be subleased to outside organizations, private stakeholders, or investors.

She is a land holder and owns land, she has alfalfa, and everything is paid out of her pocket. In the past there

have been investors that come in and sublease from a Tribal member and it’s not right because Tribal

members shouldn't have that power to do that, it should be the Council. She supports the original document

that states the Tribal Secretary oversees the official records because that office is the record keeper for the

Tribe; this is a change in the ordinance. Past assignments didn’t have to provide all the infrastructure, the

telephone lines, water lines, etc., it’s expensive and she has seen Tribal members struggle and couldn’t get

their places going. In the past they had Tribal members get 100-200 acres and they sit on the land, will this

new ordinance apply to them also. The land is here for the people, it’s their land, and its Tribal land. This

ordinance needs to have more review, it needs to meet the needs of all Tribal members.

Mervin Wright, Pyramid Lake Fisheries. Mr. Wright said he received a report from the Bureau of Trust

Funds Administration (BTFA). He originally came to listen to Mr. Ortiz’s presentation, but it was removed.

He had requested a report on the Pyramid Lake Fisheries investments from the inception to today, received

the report and it’s small. It shows the deposits, the investments and annual interest earned and over the past

three-four years it has decreased. Their Finance Manager resigned so he’s been filling and running AP and

payroll and has found past due invoices. He had Sheri Hunter come in to evaluate their finance system and

the accounting that was completed up until the manager’s departure is good. However, when it comes to the

budget, he’s discovered expenditures that have been ongoing and this past Wednesday he received a call

from Hometown Health, saying their January and February payments are due. Those payments were

coordinated via email and payments made online, so he didn’t have any information on the Hometown Health

expenditures. $6,315 is due for six employees in January and February and he expended $12,000 for

Hometown Health. Only six employees were on the list but two more are being added. He ran the fringe

benefits and health insurance, and it came up to $235,000 which is not in their budget. This is something he

just found out about. He prepared a report and forwarded it to Council. One response from their Board was

to request a meeting between the Board and the Council to discuss the financial status of the Pyramid Lake

Fisheries. He had a meeting with his management staff, and they are cutting costs, and shutting power off

where it’s not needed. They are looking at their operating budget to see if they can produce $135,000 in cuts,

but they are unable to do so, insurance alone on assets is $70,000. They have their R&M building, they have

aging infrastructure, aging facilities, aging equipment, aging vehicles, they need tires on two of their vehicles,

one of their vehicles is in the shop for repairs and they are going to discontinue their cell phones. They are

doing what they need to do. They currently have eight employees, and they need everyone. They are going

to start spawning in April, at Numana Hatchery they have three employees there. They are short on staff;

they talked about capacities and how much fish they are going to be able to raise. They will be shortening

They have a natural system, the lake, the fish, the river, they are going to move regardless of their financial

status. They need to continue with their part which they have done for 50 years. His staff is committed. He

will forward the Fisheries investment report to the Council for review.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

CONSENT AGENDA

The following items were presented on the Consent Agenda:

1. Approval of Minutes: January 5, 2024, Regular Outgoing

2. Approval Ratification of Poll Votes: Elder Energy Request Karen Moore, Kenneth Williams,

Loretta Garcia; Economic Development Committee Travel Request and Quarles & Brady

Invoices.

Councilmember Brady requested to pull #1 for discussion.

Councilmember Davis requested to pull #2 for discussion.

Item #1.

Councilmember Brady didn’t get a chance to review her edits and would like to table.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to table January 5, 2024, Outgoing minutes until February 16, 2024, Special

TC meeting. Councilmember Della John seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed

with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Item #2.

Councilmember Davis had a question on the Quarles & Brady invoice, is 5 votes sufficient for a poll vote?

Vice Chairman Wadsworth responded it is majority vote.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve item # 2, Ratification of Poll Votes. Councilmember Ely seconded

the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED.

PRESENTATION

1. Silver State Government Relations Update. Will Adler

Mr. Adler provided an update on the process for the Lands Bill, mainly because of the Council’s questions

regarding how the Lands Bill was granted, why Tribal requests weren’t fulfilled and why can’t the Tribe be

heard a second time around. Federal Lands bills are not fixed subjects. In 2013 the Washoe County Lands

bill was filed, then refiled by Dean Heller in 2015. They have been engaging pretty heavily with the Washoe

County Lands bill process, but that measure failed in Congress and didn’t go any further. Each time it fails

or is renewed it must be reintroduced into Congress. In 2022, this was the Truckee Meadows Lands bill.

The initial language was first partially introduced and then had a comment period. He did file, for the Tribe,

comments of concern that the Tribe’s initial requests weren’t fulfilled in their entirety and cause of concern

on the general disposal boundaries. The disposal boundaries are located around the I-80 corridor and

thought of as the Laposada Engagement where there is a feed road that would come out of North Sparks, go

around the mountain and then down into the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. He did comment on this in the

2022 lands bill which died in the last Congress. Both 2022 and 2023 lands bills died in Congress but in

2023 it did have a formal comment period. In 2024, the bill had to be reintroduced, and it has almost the

same identical language as 2023. There are the same questions, what can they do going forward, why wer

the conflicts still present in the lands bill and why the Tribe has not been heard yet. He thinks we can better

address the Tribe’s concerns with the disposal boundary, we can document regional incompatibility going

to the highest bidder which leads to more development leading to businesses, housing, and more water use.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

If they can’t answer where the water is coming from and how development is non-impactful, then why

would they open the door? It’s a simple argument but requires direct advocacy with a clear message, anda

continual message. The federal process is where they can amend this, the bill has been introduced in

Congress, but it hasn’t seen a committee yet and moved forward through legislation so they can take direct

comment and change the language in it. Looking into the future, this bill might have to be reintroduced in

2025.

Councilmember Della John asked if they were still allowing access to the new lands. Mr. Adler said there is

preservation around the area and it creates access and preservation of that area, but the language in the

disposable boundary doesn’t say the boundary shall impede access to the area. There are petroglyphs in

the area and there is a lot that needs to be added to the bill.

Councilmember Brady motioned to enter Executive Session. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion. Votes

were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council entered

Executive Session at 6:24 p.m.

Councilmember Guerrero motioned to exit Executive Session. Councilmember Brady seconded the motion.

Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED. Tribal Council

exited Executive Session at 7:17 p.m.

Councilmember Brady motioned to direct the Tribal Chairman, designate or the Tribal Secretary to forward

all information and future mailing lists pertaining to Pyramid Lake issues and other political correspondence

to include the full Tribal Council on email strings. Councilmember Ely seconded the motion. Votes were six (6)

for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

1. Request for Approval Law & Order Committee Adoption Ordinance, Law & Order Code, Title 3,

Chapter 6, Junior Juvenile Justice with Resolution. Paula Wright, Secretary Pyramid Lake Law & Order

Committee & Wes Williams, Legal Counsel

Ms. Wright explained this ordinance would conclude this chapter and there are no changes to this ordinance

presented to Council. Councilmember Brady said Councilmember Genevieve John made corrections that

were supposed to be incorporated. Ms. Wright said the changes were made.

Councilmember Brady asked Mr. Williams regarding procedure 3.3 to 3.10 #E. which states the petitioners

are fit and proper persons to have the care and custody of the child. This paragraph is subjective, what are

going to be the objective criteria that they are going to follow? Mr. Williams explained that this section of the

code is talking about the petition, so the person filing the petition has to address all these different things

and one of them is they are asserting, just in that petition, as potential parents are fit and proper. It’s a

pleading standard they must acknowledge or state to meet the requirements of the petition. Following that

is when other sections of the code kick in. There must be an evaluation or study of the parents to determine

if they are proper parents and it is in the best interest of the child for them to become parents. That must

occur through the Human Services Department to do a study and present it to the judge and it is his decision

whether they are proper parents. As far as subjective, somebody has to make a decision based upon an

evaluation on whether they are capable and proper of being the parents and that gets presented to the judge

and he is the one to make the ultimate decision. Councilmember Brady said she still has concerns about it.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Councilmember Della John was concerned about putting the responsibility on the parent to notify everyone

when the adoption goes through. Wouldn’t the court normally do this to make the notification to interested

parties? Mr. Williams said this is part of the processes, the judge would have to determine who should be

notified. With this code, if the parental rights were not terminated, then those parents must consent to this

adoption. This would not apply if those parents did not consent and there would be separate proceedings.

Councilmember Della John said her question pertained to after the adoption where the new parents were

required to make all the notifications. Mr. Williams said that it is correct that the court would be making

notifications to all interested parties if they needed to participate in the case.

Ms. Wright said in 2020 their department had three adoption cases held in abeyance, and they were able to

get them processed by following the old 1993 ordinance which is a short and specific. The court did notify

Nevada Vital Statistics and Western Nevada Agency on the adoption. Attached were the final court order,

certificate of Indian blood and birth certificate if there was a name change.

Councilmember Brady said she would feel more comfortable seeing the criteria in place to make sure

personal judgements aren’t used and it can’t be perceived that Human Services personnel aren’t using their

personal views on family issues.

Mr. Williams said he looked up the fit and proper terminology regarding petitions and it is standard language

but back to Councilmember Brady’s question about the process and being subjective. The way it is written in

the Human Services Department, he would assume if one of the parties is an employee and they had a

personal connection with a child or family, they should recuse themselves, it would be a third party who

doesn’t know them. The Tribe might want to consider adding a third party to be added to the ordinance since

the Human Services Department is not a huge department to assist the staff members that have a personal

connection.

Councilmember Brady said that is what she was thinking about, and she recognizes there is the potential to

have a non-Tribal person who may not know the ins and outs of the culture.

Mr. Williams said they can add language to address that situation because he didn’t think about that aspect

of it.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth asked the Council if that were something they would like to see added,

Councilmember Brady agreed. With consensus this item will remain tabled. Mr. Williams said he will get with

Ms. Wright to add the language and get the document back to Council by the next meeting.

2. Request for Approval of Tribal Council Online Meeting Policy & Procedures with Resolution.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth said they discussed this item at length during their Tribal Council retreat.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the Tribal Council Online Meeting Policy & Procedures with

Resolution. Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with

zero (0) abstentions, MOTION PASSED

NEW BUSINESS

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

1. Request for Approval of Silver State Government Relations (SSGR) 2024 Contract. Will Adler,

SSGR

Mr. Adler explained this contract is at a minimum an active contract, typically in the interim sessions, SSGR

operates in a passive mode monitoring water legislation, current activities, and regional events. In the

active mode they are making lobbying efforts with the DC office for the Lands Bills which there are two at

the moment. The contract contains the same language as previous contracts, but it is scoped for this year

specifically for the Lands Bills and secondly for any additional research into economic development that is

available.

Vice Chairman Wadsworth asked if this contract would be in addition to his current contract as a lobbyist.

Mr. Adler stated his contract expired in December 2023 but has an unwritten bound to the Tribe.

Councilmember Brady said she would like to see a contract come forward with his scope of work as a

lobbyist.

Councilmember Ely said he reviewed his last contract, and it seemed generic for a lobbyist for the Tribe.

With this new contract the scope of work is more detailed, but he also would like to review it.

Mr. Adler stated that his session contract is a detailed scope of work for the legislative session and the

interim work is for monitoring and as needed or directed from the Tribe.

Councilmember Brady said what it comes down to is they didn’t know what he was billing them for because

his invoices were generic. They would like to see who he spoke with and for what reason and how much

time was spent on that activity because they are accountable to the people.

Mr. Adler said he can provide an accounting for what was done in November and December and did note

the process wasn’t as smooth as it should have been with the previous Chairman.

Councilmember Brady noted that with her previous motion about dissemination of information, hopefully

information will get to the Council and move in the right direction.

Councilmember Brady motioned to table the Silver State Government Relations 2024 Contract.

Councilmember Davis seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED

2. Request for Approval to receive the PLPT Community Needs Assessment. Trish Conner, Contracts

& Grants Administrator and Frederick Steinman, UNR/UCED

Ms. Conner said back in the late spring, the Council requested staff complete a community needs

assessment. Staff reached out to the University Center for Economic Development at UNR to complete the

assessment which included several deliverables from meetings with the Council, Chairman, Vice-Chairman,

Executive Team and the Tribal Secretary, workshops with the managers and directors, four community

meetings (one online and three meetings in person), one in each community of Nixon, Wadsworth and

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Sutcliffe and a survey was mailed to community members 18 years and older, which was also available

online and hardcopies at Tribal Administration. Present with her today is Dr. Frederic Steinman, Director of

the University for Economic Development and Nate Strong, faculty researcher.

Mr. Steinman provided a brief overview of the completed results of the 2023 Community Needs

Assessment for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Reservation and how the results will be used to inform

organizational and strategic planning efforts for a kickoff in March. Assessment is a way to identify specific

needs, wants, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for a community or organization. The

interviews and meetings are published in the University Center for Economic Development Technical

Report 2023/24-11. They relied primarily on data from the United States Census Bureau, primarily the

American Community Survey dataset. That was because most federal funding programs require a data

element to be included in an application. Instead of the Tribe collecting their own data, they can use the

information in the community needs assessment. Overall, from a socio-demographic standpoint they see a

common trend across the states, a continued aging of the total population, educational attainments levels

that are slightly lower than statewide, regional or national trends. They see a lower percentage of

households with either a computer or other electronic device or access to broadband or internet

subscriptions. They also see higher disability rates throughout the reservation relative to state and national

trends on the economic front they collected and analyzed. Common observations from the community

needs assessment as well as interviews were relatively high unemployment rates and levels of per capita

and median family income that have lagged behind. Housing is a problem for every community across

northwestern Nevada. Even though the survey focused on the real pride of living on the reservation and its

historical culture and identity there is a cost with longer tribal travel times for individual residents to

access basic groceries, retail products and healthcare services for advanced physical and mental health care

services. Ongoing household debt, financial security were all issues identified as moderate to serious

concerns, need of transportation, job experience, job training, not having a college degree were identified

as top reasons why individuals find it difficult to find either employment or to keep employment. These are

common items identified throughout the state. Moving forward, thinking about strategic planning which

will begin in early March, some areas they can start thinking about are developing new or potentially

expanding programs, resources and services to the Tribal Council and the Tribal government that can or is

already offered to the residents of the community. Areas highlighted during the community meetings and

interviews was the issue of growing the local and or regional economy that provides good quality, high

paying jobs, and improving accessibility to quality housing. These areas can consider developing specific

goals and actionable items as they transition into the strategic planning process. When it came to what the

public likes about their community, the most common answer was the people that make up the community,

the tight knit and interconnected relationships that exists between people that live throughout the

reservation, in the communities of Nixon, Wadsworth and Sutcliffe, tremendous pride in being part of this

community and being a Native American and that being tied to a shared culture in history and heritage.

There were concerns with the youth, they are leaving the community because there is no housing to keep

them in the community, there are no jobs to employ individuals of working age, concerns about alcohol,

drug and other substance abuse, domestic violence, physical and mental healthcare issues and a broader

concern for aging public infrastructure and public facilities. One of the final questions during the survey

was what you like about the Tribe, the Tribal Council and Tribal Government, there was an overwhelming

response was pointed to staff and accessibility of staff and Tribal Council members. The willingness of

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Council members and staff to listen to individuals may not be able to listen to solve every problem but

there is a general appreciation amongst the public their voice is heard. Among the Tribal Council and

members of staff, in terms of organizational concerns, the need for increased sustainability and

organizational resources both financial and non-financial. Even though communication was somethin

everyone liked about the organization, you can never have enough both internal and external

communication.

Councilmember Brady asked how many community members responded. Mr. Steinman said they had 136

surveys returned which included both online and the hard copy versions that were distributed throughout

the community and mail. They also had about 15 or more people attend the community meetings on

average in each community.

Mr. Steinman explained this document is the new statewide Nevada Native American Community and

Economic Development Strategy, this document was commissioned by the Governor’s Office of Economic

Development, they in turn asked the University Center for Economic Development to go out and try to

identify various community and economic development needs across the State. The problem with a

statewide document specifically for Tribal and Native American communities in Nevada, is an assumption

they can paint 28 federally recognized Tribes with one brush. In that document they tried to break out

individual communities and Tribes. This is where the Tribe’s Community Needs Assessment comes into

place because it talks about the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal communities. In the Statewide plan there were

issues with natural resource elements which every Tribe in the State that participated in the development

of that document during the ITCN Annual meeting in 2022 has concerns about natural and potential

manmade threats to the natural resources in their communities but those made may be different from tribe

to tribe. This document is a draft, and they will be reaching out to the Tribe for any revisions because this

document was developed in 2022, and a lot has changed, and they want to make sure the document is

reflective of the Tribe’s needs and issues of today. They will constantly be revising the document, not just in

the next couple of months but every single year for the next five years.

Councilmember Brady stated that in this document Mr. Steinman received information from the NUMU Inc.

charter, but NUMU Inc. didn’t have authorization to provide it, nor did they come and ask them (the Board).

She is their Ex Officio, and she never heard of the information being gathered much less being submitted to

UNR. They had a meeting on Wednesday and the Board has a copy, but they haven't had a chance to review

it yet. She is going to encourage the Council to look at it because NUMU Inc. spoke on their behalf which

they had no permission, and it needs to be changed.

Mr. Steinman agreed, stating this is a living document and he can work with Ms. Brady, as the Ex Officio,

individually. The entire Tribal Council represents the community to revise those elements of that document

that speak specifically for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Reservation.

Councilmember Ely said the original intention was to put together a future strategic plan, where they will

be in five or 10 years. There is a lot of information in the community assessment, but the question is, is this

step one inputting together the goals and a future strategic plan?

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Mr. Steinman said it is just step one where they are trying to figure out where they should be focusing those

strategic planning efforts. Thinking of the first workshop in March where it will be to tear the document

apart and dial in a couple of targeted issues that the Council and organization want to take over the next

five years. It is a world of unlimited needs and wants but the organization, like every organization has

limited resources, you can only do so many things. The purpose of the strategic planning workshops is to

really think hard about the direction for the next five years, what exactly must be accomplished within that

strategic planning horizon? It seems like work but much more work is to come as they develop the strategic

plan itself.

Councilmember Guerrero said, thinking about NUMU Inc., with their goals they could change to just

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe because the survey might have been misunderstood when they did the needs

assessment.

Mr. Steinman said this assessment was done back in 2022 at the Grand Sierra Resort during the ITCN

Annual meeting.

Councilmember Della John said she likes this assessment because it is post COVID which messed with the

Tribe but thinks they can use this information to develop new goals since everything is different from what

it was.

Mr. Steinman said the past three-four years have been challenging for everyone. Most are trying to pick up

the pieces and move forward but the timing is ideal being able to do the community needs assessment

survey post COVID to see where the community is today, what are the issues that have emerged over the

pandemic period.

Ms. Conner said she wanted to get on record an acknowledgement the Council has received the report, they

don’t have to approve it.

Councilmember Brady motioned to acknowledge receipt of the PLPT Community Needs Assessment.

Councilmember Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED

3. Request for Approval Nevada Main Street Presentation for Possible Submission of Exploring

Level Application. Trisha Conner, Contracts & Grants Administrator and Shari Davis, Director of Rural

Economic and Community Development

Ms. Conner explained the staff is constantly looking for funding opportunities and this program through

Ms. Davis’s office called the Nevada Main Street, there is also a National Main Street program. It’s a

grassroots program developed by community members. Ms. Davis will present the program and one thing

to keep in mind that if it’s successful, it would be its own 501 C-3 and assists the Tribal Government in the

local economic development of main streets. Since there are three different communities, there will be

three different ones, and they would be developed by the community members in each of those

communities and the Tribal government would assist them financially and through policy and regulations.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Ms. Davis said they encourage economic and development in rural Nevada primarily through the CDBG

Program in which the Tribe gets their own funding. They partnered with Mainstream America which is a

National Organization with thousands of communities throughout the United States. With decades of

revitalization experience, they focus cn downtown revitalization, historic preservation, community

development, beautification, economic vitality and all those things that make us want to spend time

downtown. It can function as an umbrella organization to get various partners to work together and move

in the same direction. It is all about empowering local communities to improve quality of life for residents

and keeping their sense of place, especially with the unprecedented growth in Nevada communities. To

start off, they will assist with organizational development services, provide board member, staff, committee

training, most trainings available on-line, networking, scholarships, and grants and member access to the

Main Street American website, team calls, with community updates. They received $700,000 from the last

legislative session and conducted a two-day strategic workshop in five different communities with 19

different communities participating facilitated by Dr. Steinman. With this funding they will competitive

grants which will be opening in April, and they used to operationalize the goals in the strategic plan. They

work with the following partners: Travel Nevada, Outdoor Rec, Shippo, SBDC, USDA, both Senators offices,

the University Center for Economic Development, Dr. Steinman, Business and Industry RNDC, Small

Business Advocacy, Arts Council, State Parks, BLM, Nevada Rural Housing, Department of Transportation

and all of their Regional Development Authorities.

Councilmember Brady asked what is the significance of Jackson Street? Ms. Davis said it is a historically

black neighborhood that was very dilapidated, and they are doing work on the sidewalks and roads and

starting a main street there. There are a lot of people that have lived in that community for a long time,

there are grandparents who owned a barbershop and salon there since the 40s.

Ms. Davis said the next step, if the Tribe would like to move forward through the program, is attend

meetings which Ms. Conner already does, establish the public private partnership, define a district establish

an organization in order to hire a manager, provide funding for staff and volunteers to attend trainings,

budgets, work plans, track data and report. These are all things her office can assist with. Supporting the

community led to growth while retaining the community’s identity and sense of place. They are not coming

in and saying, “You need to do this, but for them saying how can they help.“

Councilmember Brady mention she played a part in Fernley’s main street and including the trout. She

thinks it is a good idea and exciting concept. With Wadsworth and the Lincoln Highway, she wishes they

could capitalize on that more because of a PBS documentary she saw where people pay to go see a brokendown piece of road that is a part of the Lincoln Highway. Wadsworth has had movies made here and the

fact the railroad was here, and they capitalized on the fish, she would like to see the cultural center become

a part of this.

Ms. Conner said there are three levels to the application. The first is exploring, she has been attending the

meetings which are considered pre-exploring. She will be getting with Sherry to figure out with the three

communities how do they approach to get those communities interested who would then join the meetings

with her. This will take time and will put her away for about five hours a week. There are financial

implications because she would have to attend the meetings and coordinate with the communities

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

eventually. This would be the Tribe’s only obligation at this point. She is just exploring, and the Tribe is not

paying for anything other than her staff time to coordinate.

Councilmember Davis motioned to approve the exploration of the Main Street Program. Councilmember

Cortez seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions.

MOTION PASSED

4. Request for Approval Use of Hardscrabble Canyon Vision Quest Ceremony May 20-28, 2024.

Valda Kaye, Tribal Member

Ms. Kaye is requesting use of the Hardscrabble Canyon Ranch, specifically the use of the barn/shed which

has a cement floor. This is an area they plan to set up cooking. She is requesting on behalf of herself, other

Tribal members (TM) and community members to pray during their vision quest. Ceremony families and

members from the Tatanka Wanbli Society are present to answer any questions.

Bethany Sam, Secretary for the Tatanka Wombly Society. She read the letter to the Council explaining their

request to use the Hardscrabble Canyon area for their Vision Quest Ceremony.

Michael Brady and Daniel Kaye, both Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal members, explained their reasons for

wanting to use the Hardscrabble Canyon for the ceremony.

Toby Stump, Reno Spark Indian Colony Tribal member, said they have eight to ten individuals that will be

participating in this vision quest. The people in the camp will be family members and support personnel

with a total of 30 people in the camp. They practice “leave no trace” and fire safety. They will have medical

trained individuals with them and will have a satellite phone for communication if needed and will have

about ten to thirteen vehicles.

Councilmember Della John mentioned the area has been washed out from the flooding and she is not sure

how dangerous it is up there. Mr. Stump said they were just up there with members looking at the terrain

and willows because this is the time they pick willows for certain items.

Councilmember Della John asked if they had liability insurance in case someone gets hurt. Mr. Stump said

they will look into it but as a ceremony it is more of an individual act but for a group they can look more

into it. Councilmember Della John said for events sometimes they have a waiver that participants sign to

hold the Tribe harmless. Ms. Sam said if the Tribe provided the liability waiver it wouldn’t be an issue for

their participants to sign.

Councilmember Cortez highlighted issues that occurred the previous year, there was an Environmental

Department employee (Ryan) who was not able to conduct his duties in the canyon during that time when

they had a ceremony there. Mr. Stump said they met a guy driving a white jeep and introduced themselves

and asked if there was anything they could do to help with it or if they were disturbing anything.

Councilmember Cortez said half of that land there is under lease under a Tribal members name, technically,

the Tribe wouldn’t have any say over that parcel of land. Councilmember Della John said that TM has leased

land next to the ranch from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is grazing land. Councilmember

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Cortez asked if that would be another form of permission that would need to be asked for by the lease

holder, which was brought up last year because of the lack of communication with the lease holder.

Councilmember Brady said what was relayed te the Council was that a Tribal employee was cussed out and

as a Council, they didn’t know their group was up there. She appreciates they are here now in front of the

Council because this is the process, and that process was circumvented last year. They didn’t know what

was going on, the departments didn’t know what was going on and it was concerning. She hears they are

bringing in 30 people but there are always stragglers, how are they going to handle that? Because she

suspects it will go beyond 30 people.

Ms. Kaye said last year there was miscommunication for which she apologized to the Council. She explained

their procedures for their prayers and when family members would leave the camp, always locking the gate

behind them. She mentioned there were a couple of cattlemen that came through with their animals, they

offered them water, but nobody was in the road or in their way. She thought everything was good, but it

was miscommunication with the Chairman, herself, and his brother. She didn’t know she had to go through

these channels to get permission to pray but now that they know they are present asking for permission to

use the area.

Councilmember Brady said she is not stopping anyone from prayers or to be able to find themselves. She

experiences the feeling when they close the Lake and Native families experienced the spiritual feelings of

the Lake being closed to only them. Just like humans, those places need rejuvenation, Hardscrabble Canyon

has been damaged through fire and needs rejuvenation, but they must work closely with their departments

like Natural Resources to see how that area is going to handle people coming in and using it. There is a

concern, they must look at all sides of it, with the Cattlemen’s Association, who are in the Constitution, and

they have to review everyone’s rights. Appreciate them coming to the Council early so they can consult

with the Natural Resources Department to make sure that area is going to stay in a protected state so they

can further its recovery from the fire that occurred there.

Councilmember Ely said he heard there was miscommunication that led to misinformation and bad

misinformation. He respects their ceremony and thinks it’s a good thing overall. Do they have a daily point

of contact? He understands they are trying to be isolated and be spiritual, but do they have an

organizational chart or a main contact for the Tribe to have? Recommend they communicate with the Tribe

daily or even the Ranger Station to provide a status update to ensure they are okay. Ms. Sam said Mr. Toby

will have his phone fer communication and will include the Tribe in the plan.

Councilmember Davis said they made a comment about being up there checking for willows. That area is

supposed to be closed except for Tribal members. She is glad there are Tribal members present to speak

because the letter they received only listed RSIC and would like to see a Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal

member contact to be responsible for our people and land while they are up there, if this request is

approved.

Terry Wright, in the audience asked for history on the Sundance, on the Pinenut hills and why they had to

leave there. There are fasting areas on the Reservation, why are they not using those? Ms. Kaye said she

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

wasn’t aware of any of those areas. For them to use Hardscrabble it’s because there is water there for the

kitchen and the cement area for cooking. Mr. Wright explained there are fasting areas that were used by

our ancestors years ago and they still use these areas. They haul water and all their supplies into the areas.

Ms. Kaye explained this year is going to be her father’s memorial Sundance for the four years. There are

also two other Sundances on the Reservation, one in Nixon held by Charlie and Blindman’s in Wadsworth,

which have been occurring for years. Her dad was a Sundance dancer and spiritual advisor for years in the

Pinenut Hills, Calpine, Mount Hood in South Dakota. Since he passed this year, they will be having a

memorial on her property. She spoke to her neighbors, and they are okay with it being held on her property

and with the cars driving through. For the Sundance, they do the vision quest which they have to do before

they go into dance.

Mr. Stump provided a brief history of the Tonka Wombly said this started with the Lakota people during

the massacre era and the ceremonies started from the sweat lodges and Sundance’s and were interpretated

differently from the various Tribes. They danced in Pine nut Hills until 2013 until two years ago and there

were signs that said the time for their dance there was ending due to washed out roads, internal family

problems and they didn’t want the negativity around the dance. Their connection to Pyramid Lake was

through David Kaye and his family.

Councilmember Cortez said for his knowledge, Charlie went around and asked the Tribal leaders, the

spiritual leaders, the people throughout the community for permission before doing what he does.

Josh Davis, Pyramid Lake Tribal member, said as far as he can remember Sundances weren't traditionally

practiced here, they were adopted at one time. Every Sundance leader, every medicine man has a story,

they can trace their roots back to where it was given and started because nobody can just run a Sundance.

When you're on a vision quest, nobody understands, you're putting your life out there and you might not

come back. He continued to explain his experience with vision quests and Sundances.

Councilmember Guerrero said our relatives from the past all the way from Pyramid Lake, Basin Valley,

Walker River. His concern is environmental, is there going to be contracting up there because there is still

the Baer Grant that needs to be done. He is not sure when they will start so they need to take that into

consideration. They should consider tabling until another time because they don’t need to be mixing

traditional with politics right here and now.

Councilmember Cortez asked for confirmation that their trash won’t end up in the Tribe’s dumpsters along

the Lake since there is an issue of illegal dumping.

Chairman Wadsworth said Councilmember Guerrero is correct, the Tribe needs to investigate the work that

is scheduled to occur in the Hardscrabble area because they are not 100% sure when it’s going to start.

Councilmember Brady motioned to table the use of Hardscrabble Canyon for a Vision Quest Ceremony until the

Special meeting in March to allow the Tribe to check contract scope of work with Natural Resources and

coordination with the Cattleman’s Association to ensure they won't be further damaging the environment.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Councilmember Della John seconded the motion. Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED

5. Request for Approval of NUMU Inc Cwner’s Meeting. Steven Wadsworth, NUMU Inc.

Councilmember Davis took over the meeting while Chairman Wadsworth stepped down to present as

Chairman of NUMU Inc.

Councilmember Guerrero stepped out of the chambers at 9:22 p.m.

Mr. Wadsworth is requesting a date for their owner’s meeting. This is their quarterly meeting to present the

Audit 20222 to the Council. They signed the engagement letter for 2023 to start that audit, but they must

schedule a meeting to discuss and present the 2022 audit. They are requesting a date in February, preferably

after the 8th because that is the deadline for the JGFP action through the court.

Councilmember Cortez motioned to approve the next owner’s meeting on February 14, 2024, at 5 p.m.

Councilmember Della John seconded the motion. Votes were five (5) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0)

abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Mr. Wadsworth returned to his Chairman seat and Councilmember Guerrero returned to chambers.

6. Request for Approval 3™4 2024 Transportation Safety Plan with Resolution. Da Nelle Smith,

Transportation Safety Coordinator and Elizabeth Whitlock, High Road Engineering Inc.

Ms. Smith said they completed the 2024 update for the Safety Plan which started in October. They provided

a survey online which was posted for 30 days, it was posted in the post offices, and she provided copies at

Domestic Violence Awareness in October. She had a stakeholder meeting in December attended by 15

people, NDOT, City of Sparks, Lyon County District for the School Bus, and the Fernley City Manager. This

was first approved in 2015, and is updated every five years, but they will be doing a survey every year for

the community to provide input.

Ms. Whitlock said they are behind in updating, the last plan was done almost 10 years since the plan was

completed. It’s not mandatory for the plan to be updated but the Federal Highway and the Bureau

recommend it be updated every five years. The Tribe applied last year for the safety funds to complete the

update.

Councilmember Della John said they had concerns regarding State Route (SR) 447, is that included in the

update?

Ms. Smith confirmed it was included, and they included the bus routes from all the districts who provided

their routes, she wants to get shelters for the bus stops. This information is included on a map at the end of

the plan.

Ms. Whitlock said there is an action plan based upon all the crash data analysis; they developed a short list

of projects the Tribe listed as the highest priority. SR 447 was the highest accident route out of 80 routes

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

they studied. The second item on the action plan list would be to seek shoulder widening along that State

Route and the school bus shelters came third on the priority list.

Councilmember Della John said she counted 15 school buses that ran every day starting at 5:30 a.m. to

about 8:30 p.m. for the High School buses. Recently with the mining in Gerlach, the big semi-trucks are

coming through now. She hopes this information is in the study.

Ms. Whitlock said there was no data on the crashes with the semis, so it didn’t show up in the study as an

area of concern regarding trucks. With the Wadsworth Bypass being funded for construction, most of the

truck traffic will now be bypassing Wadsworth, at least.

Councilmember Della John mentioned an accident in Nixon during Burning Man and the traffic had to

divert through the community. An alternative route might be a safety concern in the community. There are

not a lot of roadblocks, so they fly through the community. And when there is a wreck on the I-80 freeway,

traffic diverts through Pyramid Lake and Nixon to Wadsworth.

Ms. Whitlock said that was mentioned in their public meetings so there is mention in the plan when there

are accidents on freeway I-80 and that is when the Tribe’s cooperation with NDOT becomes more valuable,

to have a good working relationship with the State so when there are incidents there is a response plan in

place to deal with it.

Councilmember Ely asked if NDOT provided the number of times that interstate 80 was closed in the USA

Parkway area? Because every time it’s closed SR 446 and SR 447 end up being a freeway and it’s a solid line

of traffic until it’s opened.

Ms. Smith said NDOT did not give them a number, but it is in the plan for the shoulders to be widened but

guess they didn’t have enough in the budget because she is not sure where it went from there. Their next

main plan was to redo SR 446 because it was worse than SR 447.

Councilmember Davis said that was her concern also was if NDOT provide any information on when they

close the freeway.

Ms. Whitlock said they didn’t specifically ask NDOT about the type of closures or diversion routes so they

will have to go back to them and request specific information about the number of times the traffic was

diverted.

Councilmember Davis said that it would be an important part of their data to show those roads do need to

be improved because a lot is being spent on the freeway but when they close it, the Tribe’s skinny roads

become the freeway.

Councilmember Brady agreed and stated even though the little Lincoln Highway in Wadsworth on Main

Street, traffic is speeding through and not going 25 mph. Even the road going up the hill out of Wadsworth

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

where there are automatic signs, there is speeding, and I am not sure if the Tribe’s Law Enforcement are

notified when there are detours.

Ms. Whitlock said they do capture the accidents on I-80, which tells the story of how often it is occurring

but they need to put something specifically in place so the Tribe can have better coordination with NDOT to

assist with enforcement for the speeding issues and have better communication of when the incidences

occur, so the Tribe is notified specifically.

Councilmember Della John said the timing of the accidents is important also because it might be dusk or

early morning when drivers can’t see too well.

Ms. Whitlock said they show at least 50% of the accidents occur in dark or dusk type conditions so it is

definitely a concern that nighttime is less safe, but she can make that a point in the report that shows a

need for improvements and reinforces the need for it on the State Routes and wider shoulders. This gives

more backup or credence to that fact.

Councilmember Brady asked what would be the timeline for support? Is it possible to table this for the

added information from NDOT.

Ms. Whitlock said they could, if they get the request to the right person, guessing they could have the

information in about three weeks.

Councilmember Cortez said he enjoyed reading the plan because it was detailed and how the strategic plan

had timelines and justifications on why they were listed. He is looking to see the final after they receive the

data from NDOT.

Councilmember Davis motioned to table the 34 2024 Transportation Safety Plan with Resolution until they

receive the NDOT data. Vice Chairman Ely seconded the motion and noted the information needs to be

included in the plan to justify improvements to the road.

There was a question on why the Tribe doesn’t go for the funding itself. Councilmember Davis said the

maintenance would be overwhelming. Chairman Wadsworth said not knowing how much funding they

would get and also, they haven’t been upkeeping the roads on State Route (SR) 446.

Ms. Whitlock added it becomes a tribal or BIA route and it goes into a different source of funding, so the State

funding doesn’t really come with the road.

Votes were six (6) for and zero (0) opposed with zero (0) abstentions. MOTION PASSED

Ms. Whitlock confirmed the information they are seeking is the number of times I-80 was closed, and traffic

was diverted through the State Routes through the Reservation.

7. Selection Tribal Council Representative Pyramid Lake Health Board.

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Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Councilmember Dunn, who relayed through the Tribal Secretary, volunteered to put his name in for the

open slot vacated by Councilmember Guerrero who resigned. Councilmember Brady also volunteered to be

a Tribal Council representative on the Pyramid Lake Health Board. By ballot, the Council chose

Councilmember Brady to serve as Tribal Council representative on the Pyramid Lake Health Board.

On a separate matter, Councilmember Brady commented while attending the 2024 Tribal Leader’s Summit

during a presentation it was demonstrated there is a lack of communication with the new Nevada Public

Safety Tribal Liaison, he is supposed to be collecting data on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons.

What was interesting was there were only two people documented, and Pyramid Lake was not listed.

Chris Parsons, Chief of Police said they have two active cases now with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

Missing and Murdered Indigenous People unit that they have reported. The State Legislature created this

position to work with the Tribes to try to coordinate better for Nevada Natives to file missing persons

reports with the County if the Tribe didn’t have the resources to do so. This was a legislator from Las Vegas

who initiated this, and it included a State contact for the Tribes to go to. This is the first year that it’s been

in place, and he thinks they are not sure yet what they are supposed to do. DPS hasn’t reached out to any

law enforcement that he knows of, so it doesn’t surprise him that their numbers are off. Don’t think they

know who to contact at BIA or the federal government, but this is a State funded program. It didn’t come

from BIA or the Tribes.

Councilmember Brady mentioned they didn’t have any information from Pyramid Lake including “Jacob”

who is still missing.

Chief Parsons said he is one they have reported with BIA. The BIA has a Missing and Murdered Indigenous

People unit that covers the West Coast now, instead of just individual States. Not only do they enter them as

missing people into NCIC, but they do also try to follow up as best they can and report it to the BIA unit,

who has a bigger and broader reach. He doesn’t think there is any mandated communication between them

and BIA that he knows of in that legislation.

Janet Davis, in the audience, said what they are talking about was discussed in the recommendations in the

Not Invisible Action Commission that went to President Biden. It’s about all the agencies working together

and having some sort of uniformity because their data doesn’t match the Tribes, and this is occurring

everywhere. They are still following up on their recommendations to the Biden Administration.

Chief Parsons said it’s more setup for the State to be contacting the Tribes. For example, whether a County

Sheriff receives a missing person report from a Tribe or not, but according to the legislation, the County

Sheriff is supposed to contact the local tribe and coordinate the information and work together. It was a

requirement to have a single point of contact and the DPS nominated someone to do that but there is no

requirement to coordinate with the Tribes, so, not sure how it’s going to work.

Councilmember Brady asked if they could provide that information to them so it’s accurate.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

February 2, 2024, Regular minutes

Chief Parsons said he doesn’t think they are set up to do anything like that. When he goes to his Sheriff's

and Chief’s meetings, they have that conversation, but they are still trying to figure out the legislation

because it wasn’t clear on what they were supposed to do, and the State is working through it. What they

found out during the workshops with the State Legislature when they were asking the different Tribal

Police questions, they found outa lot of the Tribes don’t have the same capabilities as Pyramid Lake when

entering missing people. Pyramid Lake has the capability, but the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe didn’t have any,

there are a lot of deficiencies between what the tribes can do.

Councilmember Brady said it would be beneficial to the Tribe to provide that information to them.

Ms. Davis said she thinks a lot of times legislation is made but it’s not followed through or how to

implement it.

ADJOURNMENT

With no further business before the Tribal Council, Councilmember Cortez made a motion to adjourn the

meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Davis. Votes taken were all in favor, motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 9:58 p.m.

Submitted by,

We

renda A. Henry

Tribal Council Secretary

CERTIFICATION

The foregoing minutes were adopted by the Pyramid Lake Tribal Council, governing body of the Pyramid

Lake Paiute Tribe, at a meeting duly held on the 20% day of December 2024, having ten (10) members

present, constituting a quorum, by the vote of eight (8) FOR and zero (0) OPPOSED, with one (1)

ABSTENTIONS.

Minutes attested and concurred by:

ao

Steven Wadsworth, Tribal Chairman

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Council

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