Treaties, rules thrown out window?
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Editor,
Today, June 26, I watched the CSKT Compact Technical Work Group of the legislature’s Water Policy Interim Committee WPIC live on my computer.
I listened to Stan Jones with DNRC/Compact commission as he told everyone in the room that all treaties, rules, regulations, precedents, etc. were thrown out the window and have no bearing on this compact; that it was a negotiated compact that had nothing to do with any prior treaties.
That was rather confusing as the Tribes are always saying they own the water based on the Hellgate Treaty along with other documents.
I guess my question then is, what right has anyone to take water or property that another person has paid for?
What right did the Tribes, State, and Feds have to negotiate an agreement without the input and approval of the citizens of Montana in the hopes they could slide it past the legislature and make it law and just ignore treaties, amendments, and whatever was the rule of law?
What rights do the citizens who bought and paid for property and water rights, all the way back to their ancestors/homesteaders, have when it comes to water in Montana?
What rights do a sovereign foreign nation have when it comes to property that belongs to US citizens? Or, to property that the Tribes sold to non-tribal citizens? Once sold, it is no longer theirs.
The Tribes are either US citizens, or they are a foreign nation on US soil, they cannot have it both ways. If they want citizenship (which they already have) then they need to be treated as any other citizen. If they want to remain a foreign nation, then they need to give up their dual citizenship and be treated as a foreign nation. As a foreign nation, I don’t believe they have the right to govern US citizens.
If what Mr. Stan Jones had to say is in fact true, then the compact should be thrown in the trash.
Jan Rogers
Polson
