My name is Michel Lee Kenmille

I am the council representative from Hot Springs, actually I’m a representative for the entire Tribe, for everybody, including the non-members.

I have been on the Tribal Council for one year and four months.

I ran for Tribal Council for about 7000 different reasons.  I say that because we have a membership of about 7000 people.  A few people asked me to run for Council; the whole Reservation watched me grow up.  They saw my ups and downs with drugs and alcohol.  They put trust into me because they watched me grow up.  

I’ve lived in Elmo all my life.  In my teenage year, I was always going between Elmo and Mission with my fiends there.  I grew up on the entire Reservation, pretty much.

Before my position on Tribal Council, I did police dispatch training, Tribal Game Warden training, and I was property and supply clerk and at animal control for the Tribe.  I also did Forestry and firefighting. 

My Tribal affiliation is Kootenai.

 Changes I have helped make for the Tribes? Right now, being new to this, I can’t see them yet, kid time.  The goal is to buy back as much land as possible, make the map green again like it was in the 1800s.  An example of change was the AFA agreement for the Bison Range. We now have input here as a Tribe; we have a say in what goes on there.

In this job there really ain’t spare time.  From the time I get home I get calls: people asking, “Can I come to your home, I have a concern?”
If I can get free time it comes very rarely.  But if someone in Pablo wants to talk to me, I want to be able to talk to them. 

I believe my fondest memory was being asked to run for Tribal Council because I never considered myself a leader.  But the opportunity wasn’t there for me to say no. Well, I’ll run for Council, that way I’m not disappointing anyone by saying no.  I couldn’t say, “I’m just gonna’ catch dogs the rest of my life.”  When the membership asks you, you can’t say no; it doesn’t matter if you win or lose; they’ll be happy you tried. 

I am a Democrat.

I am married with four children. 

Which former Tribal Council member do I most admire? Good question.  All of them, it’s hard to pick.  I believe they all had their specialties for taking care of their people and their district.  It would be hard to pick one.  All of them have done a lot for the Tribes.

Who do I look to?  A lot of it is, lots of elders.  Elders, and right behind elders is the membership; you need input from all the members. 

In 10 to 20 years, I’m hoping that we can have a lot of land back.  I’m hoping health care for membership will be better than it is today.  I believe it’s my job to care for the membership, so it will be better than it is today.  I believe it is my job to make it easy for you guys to take over.  I don’t want you to have to fix something that I broke. 

Important issues facing the Tribes?  Health, not only because of the Tribes but [in] the United States in general, healthcare is bad, even for non-members. 
The budget is something we really have to deal with.  The hard part is saying, “No, we can’t give you money for this.”  Your wants start becoming more important than your needs, and you can overstep your budget.  It’s a bad habit to get into. 

I would have to say a lot of tribes, a lot of the Tribes are our biggest allies.  We get a lot of pats on the back that our employees don’t get to hear.  It’s the employees that make us look good.

 I think that the biggest Tribal Council issue for me is family.  Not my family, but a family that is coming through.  It’s hard not to get a lump in your throat when you hear what they are going through.  It’s sad that [a] family is in [a] particular situation.  I’m gonna’ try to help that family.  I’m going to try and deal with family problems. 

One of my biggest personal achievements is getting people like you to sit down and listen.  I’m not a boss of any kind.  It’s hard to tell someone, “Come here and listen to me,” but to be able to really talk with someone and they’ll remember you.

I would like people to know that I am willing to listen to anyone.  I’m not saying I can help, but it really helps to just sit and listen.  It helps people who have things on their mind for you to be the person that they are able to unload their thoughts on.

My goal is to be the best I can right here. The only way I know that I’ve done anything for the Tribes is when people help put me back in there.  If they don’t put me back in, then I guess I didn’t do my job. 

I guess in 20 years, I hope I’ll still be here.  I’d like to be remembered for how I got my chance at running for Tribal Council.  The person that asked me to run saw something in me that I didn’t see, and I was given the opportunity by them asking me.  The people put me here, and they can have you just as easily taken out, even before your term ends. 

A future leader? Listening. Being able to listen is a big part of it, being able to listen to any age group-- you can go to any Head Start, any kindergarten, and because I’m an adult it doesn’t mean I have to stand up.  I come out of the adult world, then I can talk with them face to face, down to their level, in their world. 

How do I support Tribal youth and their education?  I bought all your raffle tickets, never won anything either! I believe this is one right here.  Just taking time to sit with you guys and talk with you guys on your time, I belong to you guys; I don’t want you to say, “he’s too busy.” 

My main advice, from me to you, is keep doing exactly what you’re doing now.  No matter how hard it gets, don’t give up.  Don’t ever give up on school.  One road I walk is being Indian, now that road is forked, now you’ve got education.  Take that as your weapon and use it.  Use all the education you’re able to absorb today.  It’s your weapon to benefit yourself and your family.  I wish I could say life gets easier, but life has rocky roads that we have to walk over, but we do get over them.