RONAN - Honored to speak on behalf of his tribe's ability to care for the land, air and water, Dan Decker also was saddened by the divided house he saw in the Ronan High School gymnasium Thursday night.
"Decade after decade, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have proven that we can bring very good things to this valley," Decker said. "But for just about all of my 50 years, I have also heard the naysayers on this reservation question the tribes' ability to do just about anything."
"And when the tribes took over the power company, those same people said our lights would go out," Decker said. "But Mission Valley Power is one of the best-run utilities in the Northwest. Every time the tribes take a step forward, the naysayers say you can't."
So while disappointed, Decker was not surprised when the critics came to Thursday night's public meeting on the tribe's request to take over management of the National Bison Range and the Ninepipe and Pablo national wildlife refuges.
The opportunity - provided for in amendments to the Indian Self-Determination Act - is one that should be embraced, Decker told a visiting deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
"It is an opportunity that will benefit everybody," he said.
Five hundred-plus people packed the high school gym for the meeting, called at the request of U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., to gauge public sentiment about the ongoing negotiations between tribal and Interior Department officials.
Paul Hoffman, Interior's deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, said a proposed management plan and funding agreement giving the Salish and Kootenai Tribes responsibility for the Bison Range should be ready for public review by the end of June and could be approved by Nov. 30.
The majority of those who testified in the first hour of public comment endorsed the proposal, which would leave the Bison Range in federal ownership, but under tribal management.
Alvin Windy Boy, chairman of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe, came from Box Elder to speak in favor of the plan.
"My father once told me the Salish and Kootenai tribes have paved the way for all of us," he said. "We want to expand our horizons as First Nations."
Jonathan Windy Boy, who represents the Rocky Boy's Reservation in the Montana Legislature, said white people are scared "because Indian people are getting smarter," but that is no reason to deny the Salish and Kootenai Tribes the opportunity to prove their ability to manage the 18,000-plus-acre range.
Former Missoula County Attorney Dusty Deschamps, who works sometimes as a prosecutor for the tribes, added his unabashed endorsement.
"The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is without equal," he said. "It's every bit as good as any governmental entity I've worked for, and in many respects better than the United States government. Do the tribes have the ability to operate the Bison Range? I think the answer is unequivocally yes."
Several tribal members said they have been offended - and wounded - by claims that tribal management of the Bison Range would be "a disaster."
"I am very proud of our natural resources," said Charles Tellier of St. Ignatius. "We stand head and shoulders above other tribes. How can you make a statement such as that - that the tribes would be a disaster - when you don't even know the people? These people are full of ethics, you bet, and full of principle."
Having lived on the Flathead Indian Reservation all her life, on ground that has now supported seven generations of her family, Cathy Dupuis said she knows firsthand the ability of the tribes to manage businesses, agencies and natural resources.
"What I've seen in my years of working for the tribe is conscientious, hard-working people," she said. "Some of the comments regarding antagonism toward the tribe and our ability to manage have been deeply wounding - that simply because we are a tribal government that we don't have the same abilities to manage the Bison Range as the U.S. government."
A handful of non-Indians spoke against the proposal in the first of two hours set aside for public comment. They questioned whether the transfer of power was legal, whether non-Indians would have a fair chance at jobs on the Bison Range, whether it was appropriate for the tribe to manage a national resource.
Harvey Town of Polson said he is worried that the tribes would use the Bison Range to "impose their culture and religion on other people, including schoolchildren."
"These people talk about bonding with buffalo, about having a special relationship with mountains and rivers," Town said. "They will seek to promote that thinking. I thank God for the buffalo and for the rivers and the mountains. The Bison Range reminds me that God is wonderful. But nobody should insinuate that they have some special relationship with these places because of their race or culture."
By far the loudest, most enthusiastic response came when Bill Swaney addressed the crowd and the visiting officials. An instructor at Salish-Kootenai College and former employee of the tribes' natural resources department, Swaney said he is "sick and tired of allegations and half-truths and innuendoes."
"This tribe has a proven, exceptional track record of managing natural resources," Swaney said. "When you get up every morning and look at these mountains - the Mission Mountains - that's the tribal government. That's the first wilderness area ever designated by a tribal government.
"The clean water you enjoy? That's the tribe. The clean air you breathe? That's the tribe."
"This piece of ground - this reservation - is better managed than any other in the country," Swaney said. "We deserve the chance to manage the Bison Range."
Reporter Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5268 or at sdevlin@missoulian.com
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