35.01.010 Statements of Tribal Policy and Legislative Intent

Pursuant to the power vested in it by the Constitution of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, the Tribal Council, recognizing the spiritual, cultural, and economic value of the wildlife and recreation resources of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation and Trust Lands held in trust for its members; and recognizing that these are irreplaceable Tribal resources; and recognizing that unregulated use of the wildlife and recreation resources of the Tribe would threaten the political integrity, the economic security, and the health and welfare of the Turtle Mountain Tribe and its members, hereby enacts this Game and Fish Code to ensure proper management of these vital resources.

Further, recognizing that the Turtle Mountain Chippewa people alone have the absolute, inherent, retained sovereign right to use and enjoy its natural resources, and to govern its use by its Members and all others, the Tribal Council, in regulating the wildlife and recreation resources of the Reservation, intends that tribal Members shall be afforded the greatest possible freedom to use and enjoy these resources consistent with the preservation and improvement of these resources for future generations.

Of secondary importance is the policy of permitting the limited use of the wildlife and recreation resources of the Reservation and trust lands by Non-members for the promotion of intercultural education and good will and for the economic benefit of the Tribe as a whole. Recognizing the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tradition of restitution as a remedy for injustices, the Tribal Council hereby declares that this Code is civil in nature and that restitution and other civil penalties shall be the primary remedy for its violation. Criminal sanctions may also be imposed in cases where this Code so provides.