Path to justice unclear (Denver Post)

On a bitter February morning four years ago, a well-armed federal SWAT team rolled across the cheat-grass prairie of Montana’s Blackfeet reservation on a mission to re-establish order in a lawless land.

They started by firing the entire tribal-run police force – such as it was. In truth, the tribe’s slipshod police had long ago ceased to be much of a deterrent. Serious crimes routinely went uninvestigated. In one notorious incident, a prisoner released from jail unsupervised to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting instead went to the house of a former girlfriend, where he beat and raped her.

Promising to hire more officers, modernize the jail and enforce the rule of law, the takeover of police powers by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs was cheered by many residents on this 1-million-acre reservation.   read more

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Blackfeet Tribe patrols border with limited resources, funds (Indian Country Today)

CUT BANK, Mont. (AP) – When Robert DesRosier looks north into Canada and east toward the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, he admits that if he were a smuggler, or perhaps a terrorist, he would take advantage of the reservation’s lack of security.

DesRosier is one of just two tribal members working to secure the reservation’s 65 miles of international border. It’s a daunting task and one DesRosier says goes largely unsupported by the federal government.

”The things that come through here could affect the rest of the nation,” he said after a scouting flight over the border. ”But one of the things that affects us the most with Homeland Security is that we don’t often get the money to operate or maintain a good border protection program.”    read more

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Majestic Yellowstone Bison Receive Native American Prayers (Native American Times)

Buffalo herds once numbered 30 to 60 million across North America but were slaughtered nearly to the point of extinction during the late 1800s. As of the spring of 2006, the Yellowstone herd has approximately 3,500 remaining buffalo. Forced to remain inside the confines of Yellowstone Park, the buffalo are subjected to repeated harassment or death as a result of leaving the border lines the animals do not see nor sense.

Buffalo were the sustaining force for the American Indian people for centuries. The balance of supply and demand, weather patterns, and over use of one part of the ecological web affected both bison and human. The plains tribes honor the buffalo in their religious belief and ceremony, depended upon them for their shelter, food, and daily living requirements. Many of the tribes are now part of a hunting program developed by Montana leaders who say buffalo must be killed to keep population in balance. Their efforts are attempting to return some of the buffalo back to the tribes that originally hunted them originally in this area.   read more

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American Indian lawsuit sparked by Montana woman being heard (Montana’s News Station)

 

Some 11 years ago a woman from Montana sued the federal Interior Department over money owed to Native Americans and over time that suit by Elouise Cobell of Browning became the largest class action ever filed against the U.S. government.

Come Wednesday Cobell will be in a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C. as her case goes to trial for the second time. At issue is whether or nit the government can provide an accounting for money that it held in trust for half a 500,000 people.    read more

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