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- By Levi Rickert
Opinion. Trust is everything in Indian Country.
When it comes to governance, trust is a virtue that must exist between tribal elected leaders and non-Native elected officials. Tribal leaders, who represent their sovereign nations in meetings and negotiations, must retain relationships of trust with non-Native elected officials across all branches of the federal, state, and local levels of government. Tribal leaders must interact with them as they strive to bring improvements to the lives of their respective tribal communities.
Tribal leaders fully understand they need to work in a non-partisan approach in order to achieve progress for their tribal communities. On an ongoing basis, Native Americans face many issues that impact their tribal communities from health disparities, housing needs, low educational attainment, a need for more employment, and more broadband.
Beyond some of the basic needs of life, there is a need for increased revenue for law enforcement in Indian Country to combat the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) and flow of illegal drugs into tribal communities.
In order to get support from the executive branch of government, they work in the spirit of trust. This spirit must carry over to Congress and statehouses in order to get needed legislation passed.
This brings me to the recent discovery of a U.S. Senate candidate making disparaging and blatant racist comments about Native Americans.
Tim Sheehy, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in Montana, was caught on tape making disparaging racist remarks about Native Americans. In the audio clips, he characterizes Crow Nation tribal members as being drunk at 8 a.m. and throwing beer cans at him during a parade.
The story broke recently when Char-Koosta News, the official news publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation, published an article that contains audio of Montana GOP senatorial Tim Sheehy making the disparaging comments.
Sheehy reportedly was recorded at non-Native events, including a fundraiser where he apparently felt well at ease to make such racist comments, as if Native Americans are fodder for humor.
As the news about Sheehy’s comments broke, he drew the ire of Native Americans from throughout Indian Country. On Thursday, the National Congress of American Indians denounced Sheehy’s racist comments.
“Such harmful rhetoric has no place in public discourse, especially from those seeking elected office. These derogatory comments are a stark reminder of the persistent racism that Native communities continue to face,” the NCAI statement said. “We expect our elected leaders and those who seek public office to uphold the highest standards of respect and integrity, particularly when discussing historically marginalized communities.”
The Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council reacted to Sheehy’s comments with ire and asked for an apology.
“The Crow people are not your punchline. Native Americans are not your punchline,” Bryce Kirk, the council’s chairman, said in the statement. “Your words were unnecessarily hurtful, and unfortunately a little too close to being hateful.”
The Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, which speaks for leaders of every Montana and Wyoming tribe, demanded that Sheehy apologize publicly.
“He can’t understand the road we have walked,” said Thomas Rodgers, a spokesperson for the council and enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe.
“He cannot understand. You have to live it daily. You have to experience it.”
The incredible thing about Sheehy is he ranches cattle on the Crow Nation and has buddied up with some tribal members there. In essence, he smiles in their face, but feels comfortable around non-Natives to make jokes about the Crow, as if they are second-class citizens.
This behavior shows Sheehy is not to be trusted.
To borrow a quote from the late great poet Maya Angelou, who said “when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,” Native Americans must pay heed to the real Tim Sheehy; not the one who shows up and smiles in their face. He cannot be trusted and certainly does not deserve the respect of Native Americans.
Separate from Sheehy’s racist comments about Native Americans, he is painted as an ex-Navy Seal and a millionaire who will work on the best interests of Montana.
He was handpicked by Republican Sen. Stephen Daines to run against Montana's three-term U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Daines is highly partisan. When he was a member of the House of Representatives, he voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that contained a tribal provision. During Deb Haaland’s (Laguna Pueblo) confirmation to become the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Daines was one of the most fierce opponents of her nomination. He called Haaland a radical.
This year, Daines put a procedural block on Biden’s federal district judge nominee for eastern Montana, Danna Jackson. Jackson is a Kootenai descendant who grew up in Montana on the Flathead Reservation.
In Sheehy, Daines selected a man who portrays himself as a successful businessman, but lost his company $77 million dollars and is currently being sued by his former employees for allegedly cutting their pay while paying himself multi-million dollar bonuses.
Sheehy is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who is expected to carry Montana, a traditionally Republican state. Sheehy runs on Trump’s coattail, which is helping him hold a lead in the polls.
Even with an apology to Native Americans, the trust factor would be almost impossible to ever achieve if Sheehy is elected to the Senate.
Both Native Americans and non-Natives need to look way past the “R” on the ballot vote for someone who has a proven track record on working behalf of the people of Montana and certainly for Indian Country.
Tester can be trusted. Sheehy cannot.
Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.
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