Continue Some Indigenous lawmakers say the Congress was defined by anti-Indigenous racist currents The Interim Commission on State and Tribal Relations met for the first time in Helena on July 19 to resolve the most pressing issues for Montana’s 12 indigenous tribes and set an agenda for the interim period. During the day-long meeting, lawmakers debated a number of newly passed bills, as well as two U.S. Supreme Court cases that could affect child welfare and Native water rights.
The Montana Legislature will not convene again until January 2024, but a number of interim committees will meet between sessions to consider policy issues and draft future legislation.
While the Commission has historically been made up of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, the bill introduced by Senator Keith Regille (R, Kalispell) this Congress would: changed a long-standing formula To reflect the partisan balance in Congress. The commission now reflects the Republican majority status in Helena, with three interim Republicans for every one Democrat holds. Republican lawmakers said the move reflected the will of the people who sent 102 Republicans to Helena in the last election cycle.
However, an amendment introduced by Rep. Tyson Running Wolfe (D-Browning) maintained an even division of factions on the State and Tribal Relations Commission.of 11 Native American legislators There are nine Democrats in the Montana legislature.
During the July 19 meeting, lawmakers heard presentations from legal staff on two recent U.S. Supreme Court cases. Harland vs Blackeensupported the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), and Arizona vs Navajo Nation, The ruling ruled that the United States had no obligation to secure Navajo water rights. In debating both cases, lawmakers and state legal representatives foresaw the possible consequences for Montana’s Native communities and tribal lands.
ICWA is 1978. federal law This law governs jurisdiction over removing Native American children from home when dealing with adoption, foster care, and state child custody proceedings. Lawmakers passed ICWA in response to a long history of Indigenous children separated from their families by welfare and adoption agencies and isolated from tribal communities. By law, authorities must seek to involve the child’s family or tribe actively in custody proceedings and must endeavor to ensure that the child is placed in an indigenous home before being adopted by a non-indigenous family.
The US Supreme Court upheld ICWA on June 15. In the middle of a legal challenge From white foster families who claimed the law discriminated against non-Indigenous families based on race.
Montana legislators passed a statewide version of ICWA during Congress, but its sponsor, Rep. Jonathan Windy Boye (D-Box Elder), said it was in response to uncertainty about how the Supreme Court would rule on challenges to ICWA.
windy boys House Bill 317Enactment of the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act (MICWA), the bill codified many of the ICWA’s provisions statewide, giving preference to families, tribal foster homes, and Indigenous families when Indigenous children are placed in foster care or when parental rights are terminated and placement is required.
“It’s time to wake up and move forward here, because for too long too many children have been lost in this system, in boarding schools, in different systems,” Windy Boy told the House Welfare Committee in February. hearing.
At last Wednesday’s meeting, committee members raised questions about how MICWA would be implemented in light of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold federal protection.
“There are 700 Indian children in orphanages in Yellowstone County, so if anything goes wrong there will be some disruption to the system,” said Rep. Sharon Stewart Peregoy of the Democratic Crow Office. “I don’t think that’s the case yet, but this change might make it so.”
Stewart Peregoy said resolving the confluence of MICWA and ICWA should be a priority for the Commission.
“It’s important to physically get all the players together and look at them, but it’s also important to plan ahead and have meetings,” she said.
Attorney Laura Sankey Cape, the state employee who handled the case, said MICWA was drafted to maintain federal protections, so the two laws should be able to operate in parallel.
Sankey-Keip also announced Arizona vs Navajo Nation. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 22 that the federal government need not take “positive steps” to secure water for the Navajo, the nation’s largest registered tribe. Drought Risk Increases in Colorado River System.
Montana has negotiated 18 agreements to settle water rights with indigenous reservations and has been approved by the federal government, but lawmakers debated the implications. Arizona vs Navajo Nation As battle on the water The controversy intensifies in the dry climate.
Rep. Joe Reed (R-Ronan) said, “I’m almost grateful that Montana was able to get these water agreements in place before this decision.” “But if you understand that, Salish Kootenai Water Compact, there is still a lot of discussion going on there. The existing Water Compact opponents have not given up yet, and I don’t think they will give up in the long run. It will be a long game, but they are very positive about their efforts. “
Commission members noted Flathead Lake’s historic low levels this summer, upsetting local businesses, residents of Flathead Lake County and the Flathead Indian Reservation, and environmental groups warning of the effects of prolonged drought and disrupted lake levels.
Discussing future public meetings on water rights in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, Reed said, “People will probably be very strongly rallied to that interim meeting, so we’ll have to be prepared.”
“It’s a big problem. For those of you who haven’t read it in the papers, it goes down to the Flathead Lake problem. It ends up selling power to Washington State. It’s a can of bugs and we’re going to get hit with it,” he added.
In addition to the Supreme Court’s ruling, lawmakers at the meeting discussed changes to India’s universal education program passed by the most recent parliament. Strengthen requirements for school districts To educate students about the history and culture of Montana’s indigenous communities.
The Committee also outlined a number of issues to be discussed during the remainder of the interim session. These include Public Law 280, a 1950s federal law that gives certain states criminal jurisdiction over Native American reservations. Training legislators and state officials on state and tribal relations. Ignorance and racist comments It will be created during the 2023 session. law enforcement activities. Infrastructure development, including distribution of federal funds aimed at increasing broadband internet access on tribal lands.
For more information on the Interim Legislative Committee, please visit: Kashiyama government
