Tribes see bright future for life on Flathead Reservation
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When I tell people I live on an Indian Reservation, they’re usually full of questions. Can’t only tribal members live there? Are there casinos everywhere? Do you ride a horse to work?
No, no and no. While questions like these are often laughable, what’s not so funny is how many misconceptions are out there about life on a reservation. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Communications Director Rob McDonald put a few of those to rest in a “State of the Flathead Reservation” address at the November meeting of the Polson Chamber of Commerce.
With a land mass of 1.3 million acres, a $30 million payroll and a diverse membership ranging from a handful of elders who grew up speaking only Salish or Kootenai to movers and shakers who are on the forefront of technology, medicine and education in Native America, the Flathead Reservation is an exciting place to live. CSKT programs such as Indian Education, social services and Law and Order are constantly growing and expanding, McDonald noted, and some departments got large funding boosts during the past year. With a $1.4 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, Tribal Law and Order soon will be building a much-needed new headquarters and jail.
“(The current jail is) definitely not a place any of us want to see,” McDonald said.
Improvements to infrastructure on the reservation are also trickling down the pipeline as planning continues for the new Ronan section of U.S. Highway 93. Although funding for the construction isn’t in hand yet, the project is on target. If you’ve heard rumors that CSKT planned to put a stop to the highway work, forget them, McDonald said.
“(The highway project) is on track, and no one is there saying, ‘Oh no, don’t expand the road there,” he explained.
In another development particularly exciting for the Tribes, CSKT is set to take over management of the Kerr Hydroelectric Project in 2015.
“As economic water rises for us, it rises for the rest of the community,” McDonald said.
Perhaps the most high-profile issue facing the Tribes is management of the National Bison Range. After a federal judge ruled that an Annual Funding Agreement between CSKT and the U.S. Department of the Interior was invalid due to a red-tape issue, the Tribes are still in negotiations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“But we are not out of the game … we’re still in discussions and hopefully going to get back out there,” McDonald noted.
For anyone with questions about life on the Reservation, the Tribes’ website www.therezweliveon.com is a great source, McDonald added. Check it out — you’ll probably find something you didn’t know, and you might come away a few misconceptions lighter.
