Potential litigation won’t be a picnic for tribes
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Editor,
Should the final tribal reserved water rights compact in Montana, for the Flathead Indian Reservation, fail to pass through the state legislature, the CSKT Council, legal dept and negotiating team have declared they will begin the litigation process for their 7,000-plus water claims with the DRNC and the water court. They’ve used litigation as a coercive gun to our heads, continually threatening the State of Montana – declaring everyone will have to “lawyer up” and spend millions of dollars over decades. They seem to enjoy their illusion of being the bully on the playground.
Little does the CSKT know that they will be spending tribal money to litigate my Walton water rights, thanks to the sale of an 80-acre Indian allotment many decades ago (by his heirs) to a non-tribal resident of Lake County. Unique as it turns out to be, his moccasins are just my size and feel very comfortable. It should be an exciting time. Of course, once the State of Montana figures out that it’s their duty to represent the non-tribal, tax-paying citizens of Montana, they can utilize that $55 million pot of money (previously allocated to buy off the CSKT) and with any luck, run it dry — darn.
Just think, this reservation will have to buy its water rights through litigation, instead of just settling them, reasonably, through honest and real negotiation. While claims of precedent and case law have been made for their outrageous demands, none have been presented (because none exist) to support their demands. I’m guessing that the truth will be exposed at some point, and maybe the journalistic community will pick up on it all by themselves and print it for the public’s education. Wouldn’t that be nice? Truth, justice and the American way.
You can’t hide a skunk under a 6-foot pile of manure and think nobody will look or notice.
Michael Gale
Ronan
