Council Dispatch #183     August 8, 2023

 

Tribal Executive Office

 

  • A group of philanthropists met with council for a meet-and-greet. The group is interested in funding wildlife conservation. Chairman McDonald acknowledged Dr. Mary Stranahan for being an outstanding citizen and member of our community, Michael Jamison for stepping up for Indian country in a big way, and Peter Brown from the AMB West Foundation for all he has done. Tim Stevens works for the Kendeda Fund. He wants to build hopeful partnerships to help the Tribes with the work they are doing. Mr. Stevens appreciated the history lesson provided by Jordan; it was a great foundation and eyeopener. They toured the Food Sovereignty building and were impressed. The group toured the location for the future Bison Range Gift Shop & Museum and they think it will provide a great educational experience. Council welcomed the group and thanked them for being here.  Chairman McDonald gave a brief history of Blue Bay. Tom thanked the organizations for giving to tribes; they give him hope. Climate change is a big issue.

 

Tribal Council

 

  • Chairman McDonald informed council that he will be attending the U-Cut Conference at Spirit Ridge the last week of September and will attend the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Conference the week before that.

 

  • Len TwoTeeth asked about the funding of $100,000 that was set aside for the communities. Chairman McDonald responded the funding was used for the Dixon Agency. Terry Pitts reported the building in Dixon got a refrigerator and a microwave but they have not been hooked up yet, even though they have requested it many times. Jim Malatare provided a meat rack at no charge. Len wants to use that funding to have a playground for the children, more picnic tables, and a basketball court in Elmo. Mike Dolson suggested establishing a group in each district to discuss uses of that funding and give the group access to that money to do things. Jim Malatare wants to consider a request for funding from Nkwusm. Chairman McDonald responded that a request needs to be submitted for use of the community funding.

 

Division of Fire

 

  • Council received an update on local fires. Shane Hendrickson discussed the fire in the Jocko. He followed up on alternatives with the team and there is zero to low confidence to do anything with the time and staff that we have. He recommended taking steps for structural protection to protect bridges. A longer term plan assessment needs to be done. Ron Swaney reported that there was a fire in Ravalli and a fire on Mercer Lane, and both of those fires are now out. There are smokejumpers on the Holmes Creek fire and they should be coming off there tomorrow. The fire will be secure, but it will not be out. Dicey weather is coming tomorrow through Thursday, which will challenge the Niarada fire and the primary objective of that fire. Ron talked about tribal contracts for equipment; he is navigating through that with the team and there is a meeting in Elmo today to discuss it. The team will discuss priorities and provide a current list. The information group is gathering information. C.T. received a call from Northwest Energy about the Mercer fire. It was two acres in the slash. C.T. needs to follow up and get the paperwork completed. The fire is on state property, and just a small tip of it burned on tribal land. C.T. will follow up and report back. We are in extreme fire danger. Fire restrictions remain at stage II and will stay that way until the end of fire season. The South Fork Road and Canal Road are still closed. The Nirada fire has no closures or evacuations. There will be a community meeting at the Elmo Community Center on August 9 at 6:00 p.m. and at the Arlee Community Center on August 10 at 6:00 p.m. Ron ordered a BAER Team to make a preliminary assessment of needs.

 

Department of Human Resources Development

 

  • Council took action to waive policy to require a background check and allow the individual to be a personal home caregiver for his elderly mother for the remainder of her care. The waiver is specific to this particular situation only.

 

Walk-In

 

  • Kathy Baylor stopped by to say hello to the Tribal Council. She is Hank Baylor’s daughter. Kathy owns a parcel of land that she is offering for sale to the Tribes. The offer will be reviewed by the Land Committee.

 

Montana Forest Service

 

  • Representatives met with council for a government-to-government consultation. Chairman McDonald expressed his concerns about having placenames that are negative. We are offended by the name of Jefferson Davis. The CSKT were partners with the Wilderness Society to change the name for locations with Mr. Davis’s name on them. CSKT was on the forefront of getting the placenames changed. The disappointing thing is that the majority of Montana is our ancestorial homeland, including all of the forests except past the Tongue River on Yellowstone, but the CSKT offered our own Salish placenames and was excluded from the process and any consultation. That was hurtful, especially because CSKT was the Tribe that initiated this. The name Jefferson Davis is offensive to us and Tom hopes Region I would consider the name change, regardless of what it is. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribe was invited to consultations from the beginning. CSKT wants to address any lack of communication with the Forest Service. The Tribes want the name changed; it should be done all across the landscape. The Forest Service let the Board of Geographical Names know they are supportive of the name change. The Forest Service wants to prevent any future missteps of not reaching out and consulting with the Tribes on a proper basis. It was not intentional by any means. Chairman McDonald did not see any response or correspondence from the Forest Service and he was frustrated that they were being nonresponsive. It could have been done quicker and better and without conflict between the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe and CSKT. Relationship building is a necessary step to properly manage resources and any improvements would be appreciated. Chairman McDonald would like the meeting to take place as soon as possible. CSKT is interested in the Good Neighbor Agreement. We have a protected interest and want to make sure our rights and access are protected and do not get put to the side. Our subsistence uses of the lands need to be in place in perpetuity and not affected. We need to reduce our carbon footprint. Tony Incashola, Jr. was interested in a meet-and-greet with all the forest supervisors and managers. Once the initial funding agreement is finalized he will push it all to the table at the same time, and that will happen soon.

 

 

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