A nation is its people
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Editor,
I take issue with a statement in the Aug. 29, 2012, issue of the Valley Journal, which reads, “What many people don’t understand is that this court case dealt with mismanaged lands and resources belonging to tribal nations, not individual tribal members, as in the famous case of Cobell v. Salazar.”
I specifically refer to Webster’s Dictionary, Fourth Edition, wherein the word “nation” is defined as a noun, “1. a body of people associated with a particular territory and possessing its own government 2. an American Indian people or tribe.”
The key word in the above definition is “people.” When people refer to the Flathead Nation, they mean its people or the tribes that comprise the Flathead Nation, specifically the Salish, Kootenai and Upper Pend d’Orielles.
Do Rob McDonald and the CSKT Tribal Council believe that the Flathead Nation is so ignorant that we, the enrolled members of the tribes, cannot fully understand that we, the people, make up our tribal nation? No, it’s not our tribal council that constitutes a tribal nation, but the enrolled people themselves.
The majority of people that spoke at the eight district meetings were in favor of 100-percent payout. Those who attended and did not speak voiced their opinion by applause whenever someone spoke for 100-percent payout. If you doubt the sincerity of the majority, why not put the balance of the settlement the council has retained up to a vote? This is a fair and just way of deciding exactly what the people of the reservation want done with the money withheld; to pay out or be retained by council.
Geraldine A. Roullier
CSKT member
Pablo
