NCAI webinar breaks down how to draft and submit policy resolutions for 2025 convention
Loading...
Summary
Suzanne Gould of the National Congress of American Indians walked sponsors through eligibility, formatting, committee review, and deadlines for submitting policy resolutions to NCAI’s 2025 annual convention, including the Oct. 13 portal deadline and Nov. 18 in‑person emergency cutoff.
Suzanne Gould, archival specialist at the National Congress of American Indians, outlined how tribal sponsors should draft, submit and shepherd policy resolutions through the NCAI process ahead of the 2025 annual convention.
Gould said the central rule is that "resolutions must be national in scope and that they must advocate for the best interests of all American Indians and Alaska Native people," and urged sponsors to avoid proposals that take sides in intertribal disputes. She repeated a second firm rule on eligibility: "Only NCAI individual Indian members, not tribal nations, in good standing are authorized to submit a resolution." Good standing, she said, requires current individual dues and that the sponsor’s tribal nation be a current NCAI member.
The webinar covered practical requirements: use the official 2025 Word template available through NCAI's portal (not PDF or Google Docs), follow the template’s formatting for whereas and be‑it‑resolved clauses, and search the archival database at ncai.org/resolutions to avoid duplication. Gould said the archive holds approximately 5,000 adopted resolutions dating back to 1944.
On timing, Gould announced the portal opened Sept. 8. "This is your initial first resolutions deadline, and that's Monday, October 13 at 11:59PM Pacific," she said. She added that after that deadline only "emergency in nature" resolutions—those arising after the portal closes and before noon on the second day of the conference and that explicitly explain the emergency and requested responsive action—will be accepted; the second in‑person cutoff is Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific.
Gould described the review flow: staff check submissions and membership status, the resolutions committee determines order, a report goes to the executive committee at the start of the convention, and subcommittees and full committees may amend, edit or recommend adoption, tabling, or referral to the general assembly. She noted on‑site logistics: the resolutions office opens Monday, Nov. 17 at 8 a.m.; subcommittees typically meet Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons; full committees meet Monday and Thursday afternoons; and adoption is scheduled for the final general assembly on Friday morning.
Gould closed by offering the resolutions committee and staff as resources and said she had placed her email address on the webinar slides for follow‑up questions. The recorded webinar and a compiled FAQ will be posted on NCAI’s website for sponsors who want to review the guidance or share it with colleagues.
