BY JUSTIN FRANZ // JAN 7, 2015 /
That’s how the new chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council describes the divisions and turmoil that brought the reservation’s government to a standstill in 2013 and 2014. But six months after a new tribal council was seated, Barnes said good things are coming to the reservation east of the divide.
Barnes, a successful businessman who was elected to the council last summer, said for the first time in two years the Blackfeet have a government that isn’t distracted with personnel matters and instead focused on making the reservation a better place to live. He said the council is fixing its broken budget and building relationships with other tribes that could bring economic development to the reservation.
“The Blackfeet have been at the forefront of tribal leadership for years, but we had lost that,” Barnes said.
In a Dec. 31 report to tribal members, Barnes said that the tribal government had finally completed its 2012 audit and has begun working on the 2013 audit, which it hopes to finish by March. After that the tribe will dive into the 2014 audit, although Barnes said it would be challenging. In October 2013, the tribal council split into two factions and the Blackfeet began 2014 with two governments that had appointed their own department heads and employees. Barnes said the division created a financial mess and it could take some time to sort it all out.
Since taking office in July 2014, Barnes said the tribal council – made up of nine members – has found ways to reduce costs, find new revenue and consolidate debt.
“We want to restore our financial credibility so that our membership can trust us again,” Barnes said.
Now that those projects have begun, Barnes said he hopes economic development can become the primary focus of the new year. In the spring work will begin on two new projects: a new dialysis treatment facility and a new nursing home. Barnes said both projects would create short-term construction jobs and long-term health care jobs.
The Blackfeet are also working with the Blood Tribe Agricultural Program in Alberta to export hay. The Blood Tribe wants to ship 38,000 metric tons of forage products out of Browning by rail and Barnes said he hopes their northern neighbors can help the Blackfeet develop a similar program.
Barnes said he hopes they are able to create at least 100 good-paying, fulltime jobs by the end of 2015.
“I think the public is appreciative of some of the things we’re doing and they like that the tribal council is addressing some of these issues head on,” Barnes said.
The tribe is also making efforts on the environmental front. In October, tribal chiefs and leaders from the Blackfeet Confederacy signed a proclamation asking the U.S. Department of Interior to ban energy development in the sacred Badger-Two Medicine area. Michael Jamison of the National Parks Conservation Association has worked with the tribe before and said the new council appears to be getting a lot done.
“I think there is a lot of good energy and goodwill over there right now,” he said.
http://flatheadbeacon.com/2015/05/13/rebuilding-a-nation/
A slideshow is there.
Rebuilding a Nation
BY JUSTIN FRANZ // MAY 13, 2015 /
A Nation Divided
Police would stand guard by the entrance and protesters frequently loitered outside. Tribal members who wanted to access their government were turned away. And sometimes, when the splintered tribal council could not agree on who would sign paychecks, the government simply shut down.
But today, the doors are open.
Barnes discusses rebuilding the tribal government and restoring trust with its members. Then he turns his attention to work that has begun on a gamut of projects that could change the course of history on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, including constitutional reform and protecting the culturally and environmentally significant Badger-Two Medicine area.
A few minutes after 9 a.m., Barnes apologizes to his visitors that he has to run. He grabs a stack of papers and walks down a hall to a conference room where the nine-person tribal council is about to meet.
In 2012 and 2013, the government on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation east of the divide was in shambles. Divisions on the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council began almost immediately after the 2012 election and over the next year and a half numerous council members were illegally suspended or appointed. The actions of the tribal council, led by then Chairman Willie Sharp Jr., drew ire from Blackfeet members and protests outside of tribal headquarters were common. At one point, in August 2012, Sharp called in law enforcement from off the reservation and declared a state of emergency that lasted for nearly two years. Many worried violence would break out.
Under the guise of the state of emergency, protestors and opponents of the council were often arrested under questionable circumstances. In one instance, Native American activist Bryon Scott Farmer was arrested for a comment he had made on Facebook. Sharp said the arrest was made because Farmer, a tribal member who lived in Great Falls, was trying to incite violence. But critics accused the council of using an obscure law, Ordinance 67, to stifle free speech.
The situation took a turn for the worse in October 2013, when the tribal council split into two factions, with both claiming control over the government, which was later shut down because neither side had the ability to issue paychecks after a treasurer was terminated. Employees of the tribe went without pay for weeks at a time until a temporary solution was found.
In June 2014, Sharp and two other incumbents were ousted in the primary just two weeks before 10 candidates jockeyed for five open spots on the council. Harry Barnes, Joe McKay, Nels St. Goddard, Tyson Running Wolf and Iliff “Scott” Kipp were elected to the council, joining members Bill Old Chief, Cheryl Little Dog, Forrestina CalfBossRibs and Chief Earl Old Person. During a secret ballot at North American Indian Days, Barnes was named chairman. Prior to running for council, Barnes ran a successful construction business and supplies store.
The biggest challenge was addressing the fact that the Blackfeet Nation essentially had two governments. When the tribal council split in October 2013, each faction began appointing its own members to various positions. When the new council arrived, there were multiple people holding the same job.
Another challenge for Barnes and the new council has been restoring relations internally and externally. Since taking office, Barnes said he’s become the tribe’s biggest “cheerleader” and has frequently met with local, state and federal officials.
“During the dysfunction of the last few years, we pushed all of our relationships to the brink,” he said.
The work to mend fences is also happening on the council itself. Running Wolf said that even when council members disagree with each other they try to respect each other’s opinions and leave any grudges behind closed doors. He said that members of the public are starting to notice, too.
“I recently asked a tribal member how we were doing as a council and she told me that we were ‘boring’ to watch when compared to the last one,” Running Wolf laughed. “I love being a boring council.”
Topping the list is protecting the Badger-Two Medicine, a remote area at the edge of Glacier National Park, the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. In April, tribal members kicked off a campaign to rally public support to terminate 18 oil leases held in the area by Sidney Longwell of Solenex, LLC.
The leases were among 47 issued by the federal government in 1982 and since then the tribe has been fighting them, arguing they violate numerous federal environmental and historic preservation laws. While other oil companies have terminated their leases, Longwell has stood his ground and in 2013 filed a lawsuit so his company could begin drilling. A federal judge has yet to make a decision on the matter.
Tribal historic preservation officer John Murray said the tribe has met with Longwell on three different occasions, including last month, but Murray said Longwell remains uninterested in relinquishing his claims. Murray, who has been working on the effort to protect the area for a number of years, said he is confident the tribe will prevail. He hopes that someday, the Blackfeet will be able to co-manage the land with the U.S. Forest Service.
“We need to protect this land not just for the Blackfeet people but for you and your offspring,” he said, adding that it is the setting for various Blackfeet creation stories.
Another critical environmental project on the reservation is the finalization of the Blackfeet Water Compact. Negotiated for 20 years and passed by the Montana legislature in 2009, the water rights agreement has languished in Congress ever since. The agreement would formalize the tribe’s water rights and unleash funding needed for critical improvement projects on the reservation.
In April, Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines introduced legislation to finalize the water compact, but sources close to the tribe expect it will be another year before there’s a vote. Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke also came out in support of moving the legislation through the Senate and House. Chairman Barnes said working with Montana’s Washington, D.C. delegation would be critical to getting the compact passed.
Flathead Beacon
The tribe is also working with others in Indian Country to protect bison on the Great Plains. In September 2014, the Blackfeet joined other tribes from the United States and Canada to sign the Northern Tribes Bison Treaty, which seeks to coordinate management and preservation efforts and allow the animals to roam freely across the international border. The treaty was significant as it marked the first time that these particular tribes had signed an agreement in more than 150 years. Barnes said preserving and expanding the tribe’s bison herd would have both cultural and economic benefits.
Barnes and just about anyone else on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation agree that the economy is among the biggest challenges facing the area. Unemployment rates of 75 percent are not uncommon on the reservation. In hopes of improving that, earlier this year the tribe began planning a new dialysis treatment facility and nursing home that would create short-term construction jobs and long-term health care jobs. The tribe is also working with the Blood Tribe Agricultural Program in Alberta to possibly export hay.
But locals are not waiting for the tribal government to solve the economic issues by itself. Late last year, a small group of business owners revived the local business bureau and rebranded it the Blackfeet Country Chamber of Commerce. In May, the group had more than two-dozen members and more are signing up.
Chamber President Skye Gilham, who runs the local Radio Shack, said that a year ago, a tourist from New York visited her store and asked about what type of attractions they should see. Gilham said she had a hard time coming up with a list, and it dawned on her that local businesses could band together to solve that.
Alger Swingley, owner of Blackfeet Outfitters, said one of the chamber’s goals is to attract some of the 2 million people who visit Glacier National Park every year.
“People just drive through town and they never stop,” Gilham said. “But we want them to stop and enjoy our beautiful landscape, meet our people and experience our unique culture.”
To help foster tourism on the reservation, the chamber is working on hosting a series of events this summer, including art shows and farmers markets. It’s also helping businesses by getting out brochures and plans on creating a mobile visitors center that can be taken to local events. It has also sponsored cleanup events around town to make Browning more attractive.
“Browning has a negative reputation among locals and that’s unfortunate,” Swingley said. “But we’re going to move past it.”
Swingley and Gilham both said that the stable political climate in the last 10 months has helped the community significantly, noting that the area’s economy took a major hit when tribal employees weren’t getting paid because of the split council.
Perhaps most important of all of the recent changes on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation is a grassroots effort to reform its government and possibly change the constitution.
One of the biggest criticisms of the Blackfeet government – or any tribal government established through the Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934 – is that there is no separation of powers and the tribal council controls everything. In June 2008, voters on the Blackfeet reservation overwhelmingly passed a referendum to reform the constitution and implement a government with three branches, much like Crow Nation did in 2001. A constitutional committee was established, but after a few years the effort faltered.
After the political dysfunction of the last few years, support for change is once again growing and even those in the government support the idea.
“This is a bad form of government,” Barnes said. “And now that I’m in it I can see where all the weaknesses are.”
In recent months an informal group of tribal members has been regularly meeting to discuss reforms. In July, Blackfeet tribal members will go to the polls and be asked a simple question: Do you want to see a different form of tribal government? If a majority of voters support reform, a formal committee will be created and a constitutional convention could be held to rewrite the government’s core documents. Supporters of the reform say that drastic changes in how the government is set up could prevent future dysfunction. However, even without restructuring its government, positive momentum seems to be growing on the reservation.
Earl Old Person has been on the tribal council off and on since the 1950s and was named chief in 1978. Last week he said that the current tribal council is one of the most effective he has seen in years, but noted that there is still more work to be done.
Chairman Barnes agrees, but said he is excited for the future of the Blackfeet Nation and its people.
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