PREVIOUSLY: 

###

Joe Davis

Joe Davis has been reelected as chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, just 15 months after he was ousted by the tribal council over allegations of gross negligence, neglect of duty and abuse of power. A tribal court judge later determined that the council acted unlawfully in removing Davis. During the tribe’s General Election earlier this month, Davis secured nearly 55 percent of the vote, beating out his opponent, Angela Jarnaghan.

The Outpost sat down with Davis this morning to talk about his history on the tribal council and to learn more about what’s to come. Our interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

### 

LoCO: How does it feel to be back in your role as chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe?

Joe Davis: It feels great. It’s a great blessing to serve my tribe in any role. I’ve worked in various roles over the years, and it’s great to contribute to your own tribe and community. But having the opportunity to serve as chairman is something I really want to make the most of. It’s a tremendous opportunity, and I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of great progress for our tribe because I believe we have a tremendous amount of potential.

I don’t know if you check the Hoopa Community Facebook page, but someone posted a photo montage of you set to “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home)” by Usher. What’d you think of that? That seems like a pretty warm welcome back to the council.

I didn’t see it directly, but a few people did send it to me. I thought it was pretty funny, though! You gotta have a sense of humor when you deal with tribal politics [on Facebook]. It can be dark at times, as far as the anonymous posts and the bitterness and anger that’s behind some of that. It was nice to see something that was a little more lighthearted.

Definitely! I wish Facebook as a whole were a little more light-hearted. On a more serious note: Can you describe the role of a tribal chairman? I don’t think many non-tribal members of our community know how tribal governance structures differ from city or state governments. Can you talk about that as well?

Well, it’s similar to a president or CEO. You’re responsible for representing the tribe at the federal, state and local levels, but it also involves management and oversight of our more than 60 tribal departments. It’s also about being accessible to over 3,600 tribal members. It’s a really big job.

One of my goals is to work with our tribal council to reorganize our tribal government to make it more efficient. I want to empower different sectors of our tribal government and the community so it doesn’t all just fall on one person or one elected body’s shoulders. We all have a responsibility to lift up our tribe. 

You were removed from the position as chairman following a tribal council vote in March of 2024. What’s happened in the time since, and how did you find yourself back in the chairman’s seat?

I think it’s been difficult for the tribe as a whole. Our tribal election ordinance says a special election must be held within six months [of a chairman vacating the position], but that never happened. Our tribe has kind of been in a period of uncertainty. 

For myself, I’ve had the opportunity to come to work at the Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC), and it’s allowed me to get out and visit over 30 tribes across Northern California. It’s been an awesome opportunity, but my heart has always been at home with my own tribal community. I’m really thankful for the opportunity to be able to serve my community. I feel like I learned a lot during my first stint as a council member and chairman, and I feel those things will serve me well going forward. I’m looking ahead to the future and trying not to dwell on anything negative in the past.

You were reelected to the position with nearly 55 percent of the vote during the June 17 General Election. Who has served as the interim tribal chair over the last year or so?

The vice-chair, Ryan Jackson, served as the interim chair. He had previously served as chair, I think, between 2015 and 2019. He’ll remain a council member, but there wasn’t an officially elected chair, as per our tribal constitution.

When you were ousted from the council last year, you were accused of gross negligence, neglect of duty and abuse of power — which you denied — and were even prohibited from entering tribal buildings. And if I recall correctly, you and your wife sued the tribal council. Did anything come of that?

Well, we were initially successful in getting an injunction from the Hoopa Valley Tribal Court, which ruled that the tribal council had violated our civil rights. However, all that really did was lift the restrictions that they had placed on me when they said I wasn’t able to speak with any tribal departments without a police escort. … Later on, we sued for monetary damages, but the tribal court ultimately ruled that the council — while they were in violation of their tribal constitution and tribal rights — were immune from monetary damages due to sovereign immunity because they had acted within their official capacity as council members. I decided not to appeal and to just move forward. I don’t want to dwell on the negative things from the past, but I do want to make sure that something like that never happens again. It’s a really dangerous path to go down when you allow a tribal council to take away somebody’s most basic human rights.

Not to dwell on it any longer than we need to, but do you feel the dust has settled on the controversy from last year? I know there are some new faces on the council, but do you feel that there is any residual resentment there?

I do feel that things have settled down. There’s only one councilmember left from that group that removed me; the rest have either stepped down or been voted out. And again, my focus is on the future and looking at the bigger picture and moving forward as a tribe. We have more important things to deal with. 

You mentioned wanting to improve efficiency within the tribe. Do you have any other goals or projects you’d like to tackle during your time as chairman?

I want to have an official strategic plan for the tribe to ensure that all the goals and priorities of the tribe are clear and that every tribal member has an opportunity to provide input on that. Education is also very important to Native people, you know, making sure that our young people are exposed to opportunities and career pathways. Tribal health is also very important, and that includes environmental health and protecting our fishing rights. 

I want to set a great example of somebody who is appreciative of their opportunities with the tribe by getting up early every day, working hard for our community and spreading the love amongst our people. We’re all in this together, so we need to come together as a tribe and fulfill our own purpose in life. Everybody has a purpose and calling, and so it’s important to make sure that every tribal member feels valued because every tribal member is extremely valuable to our tribe. When people are forgotten, they lose hope. We have to inspire our tribal members to understand their own value.

Are there any other exciting projects in the works?

Yeah! We have a new elders housing village coming up, and we also have a new education center in the works. 

The Bureau of Reclamation recently awarded the tribe $600,000 to expand and upgrade our irrigation system. We’ve also received $1 million to create an agricultural plan to promote food sovereignty and be less dependent on outside food sources. Our young people can learn how to raise livestock or how to raise crops. Ideally, all the meat and all the vegetables that come through our own grocery store will be produced locally. 

We’re still a “timber tribe,” if you will, so we’re looking to upgrade our sawmill so we can sell value-added lumber products, but in a sustainable way.

And when is your first meeting back on the tribal council?

I believe it’s July 3. That date may change because of the holiday, but we usually meet on the first and third Thursday of the month. I’ll be sworn in on Friday at noon, and I intend to hit the ground running. I’ll probably be working all day on Friday, and then come Monday, I’ll be out meeting with tribal departments and setting up meetings with the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), because they have a finger on the pulse of federal government and all of the changes that are happening under the administration. We’re going to have to come up with a plan to address that as a tribe and work with other tribes to form a unified voice that supports all tribal rights.