CSKT Chairman addresses Montana lawmakers
Nicole Tavenner
Vernon Finley
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HELENA – Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Chairman Vernon Finley addressed the Montana legislature and officials to say this is the state where people can disagree on opinions and shake hands afterwards. The Montana House of Representatives and other officials welcomed Chairman Finley with a long round of applause as he made his way through the house chambers to the podium. Chairman Finley began his State of the Tribal Nations Address in Salish on Wednesday, Feb. 1. He switched to English to explain that he started developing his philosophy about life when his grandmother pointed out that the world is full of opposites. She told him that opposites exist together in a marriage. “If you see one, and you don’t see the other, it’s because you are not looking,” Finley said. And the idea was valuable when considering people’s varying opinions, especially in today’s political climate. He believes one of the things making Montana great is that people can connect even if they have opposite opinions. “Montana has always been a place where people have come together, a place of opposites,” he said. Finley says the political relationships on a national level “for the most part” are a different story. He isn’t sure how much more opposite they can get. In his speech, he circled back to the positive things in Montana. He said people in this state have opposing views, but they still work together. “Even though we have extreme right, and we have extreme left in our state, in the final analysis, common sense prevails,” Finley said. He asked Montana legislators to keep in mind that the state has often come together to support different views. He mentioned several examples including Jeannette Rankin, the first female lawmaker in U.S. Congress from Montana; the culture of tribal nations, and the focus on the Montana Constitution. Finley said he was proud of Gov. Steve Bullock for making the state of Montana “look” more like Montana with diversity in leadership roles. One of the recent bills that made its way through the legislature, he said, is good “for all of Montana,” and it concerned the affordability of post-secondary education, which was supported by a state legislator and a member of CSKT, serving House District 95 in Missoula. “I’m proud to say that was sponsored by CSKT’s own Shane Morigeau,” he said. Finley was also proud to note work within the Montana judicial system. “Attorney General Tim Fox’s policy on authentic tribal consultation with the Montana Department of Justice was the first of its kind,” he said. He talked about how government officials including U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, Gov. Bullock, and Attorney General Fox and others recently joined together with CSKT to denounce hate groups. Finley said Montana republican Rep. Ryan Zinke’s call to serve as secretary of the Department of Interior was good for Montana. “We disagree on a lot of issues, but the issues that we agree on, he’ll stand up and work hard with us,” he said. In closing, Finley asked the legislators to keep in mind the different perspectives across the state with respect to race, gender, and socio-economic statues. “And when we disagree, lets have a healthy disagreement and shake hands afterwards,” he said.
