Eldred Enas
Chairman

On January 2, 2009, Eldred Enas became CRIT’s first new chairman in 20 years. But that doesn’t mean he lacks for experience.

Enas had served for a total of 14 years previously on the Tribal Council, including in the position of Vice Chairman. Still, his landslide victory over two other candidates surprised even him.

“I was surprised I won with that many votes,” he said. “But I think it shows that the time was right for new leadership and that there was a change needed in the way our Tribal Government is run.”

Enas takes office at the time when the worldwide economic downturn is being felt close to home in just about every way, so he said it’s impossible to pick just one or two priorities and focus on them.

“Everything is a priority right now, and we can’t just list one over another,” he said. “With the recession the way it is now, we want to survive it and reestablish the name of our Tribe as a leader of other Tribes.

“We will hopefully use the next four years to make the CRIT Reservation a better place to live for our members.”

Enas assumes the role of Chairman as part of one of the largest turnovers on the Tribal Council in CRIT’s history, but said he is confident that the new council members will get up to speed quickly.

“Once they’re exposed to what they need to do, they have their own ideas and will work to formulate them into new policies,” he said. “We’ll work to incorporate not just the thoughts of Tribal Council members, but the ideas from all the people of CRIT we’ve talked to over the years who have ideas of their own.”

Enas particularly wants to improve the level of communication between Tribal members and their Tribal Council, so that members have their voice heard on all significant Tribal issues.

“We all have an open door policy, and anyone is invited to come in and talk to each and every Tribal Council member and express their views,” he said. “All members can come in just to visit, and we will be here and available to talk with them.”

Enas said it was an extraordinary honor for him to be selected as Tribal Chairman, a role in which he will join many of the great people in CRIT’s Tribal history.

“We want to thank everyone for how they voted and will take their trust into our hearts and work to do what’s right,” he said.

“I want to thank our members for giving me the best Christmas ever this year, and I will always remember December 6, 2008 and their trust and confidence in me.”