The Cowlitz Indian Tribe (the Tribe) is a federally recognized sovereign nation. It has governmental entities serving its people, preserving its heritage and culture, building its community and protecting its resources. These entities employ persons, including Cowlitz members and members of other recognized Indian tribes and non-Indians. These employees were hired and permitted to work with the Tribe’s people and resources in order to serve the intramural needs of the Tribe through its government. Government employees provide intramural services to the Tribe including, but not limited to, controlling internal relations, preserving the Tribe’s unique customs and social order, providing for the health and welfare of Tribal members, prescribing and enforcing rules for Tribal members and those accessing Tribal resources, managing education, housing, hunting, gathering, fishing and assisting the Tribe and its people in building a cultural and economically rich future for its present and future generations.

Accordingly, the Tribe has a strong interest as a sovereign in regulating the activities of the employees who serve in its government. The Tribe retains inherent sovereign power to exercise jurisdiction over all employees permitted to work in its government. Government employees, through their various roles in the self-governing processes of the Tribe, directly impact the Tribe’s interests in political integrity, economic security and the health and welfare of the Tribe. For these reasons and others, the Tribe is enacting an employment code governing the conduct of its government employees.

The intention of this Code is to provide for certain protections for certain employees. [Res. 22-120, 2022.]