Reservation tribal governments across the United States (U.S.) constantly proclaim their sovereignty status as independent nations, which is inherently false based on the fact that reservations are trust property of the U.S. federal government. This means, reservation land is property of the U.S. government and the reason why tribal governments do not pay a property tax to a state (U.S. federal property cannot be taxed by a state). Reservation Indians are also dependent upon the federal government for Housing, Food, Medical care, and General Assistance (with the exception of a few federal reservation tribes). These factors prove reservation tribes are not sovereign, but are truly dependents of the U.S. federal government.
The proof of this dependency is evident in the extraordinarily high annual unemployment rate, extreme poverty, and the fact that the Blackfeet tribe of Browning, Montana is able to exist in these inhuman conditions. The Blackfeet federal reservation is a perfect example of the vast majority of federal reservations in the U.S. The source of this 70-year old (1934-2004) political, economic, and social disaster is the direct result of uneducated and incompetent non-leaders of tribal government. The visible evidence of decades of failure can be viewed reservation wide, i.e., poverty stricken communities, alcoholics on street corners, and the extremely high mortality rates.
The only solution to ending tribal government dependency on U.S. federal taxpayer dollars will be to enforce the 1953 congressionally adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 108; in which congress declared that federal benefits and services to Indian tribes should be ended. A remedy Congress could utilize; impose a fixed time limit (5-years) on the open-ended federal entitlement money given to tribal governments. The 5-year time limit was utilized in 1996 by President Clinton (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act ‘PRWORA’) to end single mothers’ open-ended welfare entitlements; similarly, an arrangement such as this must be compulsory for tribes to afford them the sovereignty they adamantly assert to maintain. How can a U.S. President and Congressional members force such tough love measures on millions of single mothers with dependents and not have the same iron resolve toward another group of government dependents?
It is the responsibility of the national and/or local governmental leaders to show the way through hard times and improve the economic and social conditions of one’s country and/or community, as the national leaders did during the worldwide great depression of the 1930’s. The worst year of the Great Depression in the U.S. was 1933; the national unemployment rate was a record high 24.9%. Annually, on the Blackfeet reservation the jobless rate is a minimum of 70%. Where would the U.S. be today, if the President had not ameliorated the economic conditions since 1933?
The reasons for these third world conditions are a direct result of the tribal leaders incompetence on business matters; they do not possess the credentials or qualifications to create employment or negotiate on any legitimate business matter. Tribal leaders are elected from an unskilled collection of nonprofessional tribal members. The educated tribal members leave the reservation from disgust and frustration after years of battling the deeply entrenched system of chaos, death, and tribal self-destruction; therefore, the electorate is presented with no intelligent candidates to choose from on the ballot.
The 1934 Indian Reorganization Act (I.R.A.) granted Indian tribes the opportunity to create their own tribal constitution or adopt the I.R.A. format for self-governance. This self-governance was presumed to lead to economic independence and true sovereignty, but it has been a complete disaster. The Blackfeet tribe, chose the I.R.A. design and remain as politically weak and economically poor as they were in 1934. According to the 2003 U.S. census bureau statistics there are 2.5 million Indians in the U.S., out of 292 million
U.S. citizens. Indians do not possess the voting numbers and/or wealth to distress a state or national politician; therefore, they will remain politically invisible, until one or both of these factors change.
Tribal self-governance will never come about as long as the U.S. government is going to prop-up these incompetent entities. Historically, the association between the federal government and Indian tribes has been recognized and exercised as a paternalistic relationship. U.S. federal tax dollars taken from hardworking taxpaying citizens and given to the tribes has crippled, not helped the reservation Indian. It is this guaranteed federal financial safety net that has allowed the tribal corporate business (tribal governments are incorporated) to fail. In this capitalist world, corporations either succeed or fail based on their managerial competence. The federal government must hold tribal corporate entities to the same standards.
In 1953, Public Law 83-280 was created; this law gives powers and responsibilities to the states over reservations that are assumed by the federal government. It is the 21st century; it is time to implement P.L. 83-280 nationally. Reservation Indians must be subject to the same laws as all other U.S. citizens.
Reservation property can be distributed to tribal members, which will allow for the dissolution of the tribal government. State tribal citizens will fall under the jurisdiction of the city, county, and state government. All civil and criminal matters will be adjudicated in the city, county, and state judicial system. Taxation and regulation; of property owned by Indians will be governed by the city, county, and state government.
The federal taxpayers of Montana and other states that contain a federal Indian reservation must be informed of how their taxes are being stolen and wasted; they are paying both a state tax and a federal tax (the Blackfeet tribal government receives
'your' federal tax dollars to exist). Indian tribal members living on and working on a federal reserve do not pay a state tax (they do pay federal taxes). Hence, it is the state and federal taxpayers; that finance the Blackfeet tribes culture of crime and corruption.
On the Blackfeet reservation, the yearly jobless rate is at least 70%; this 70% do not pay any taxes. The 70% are also on state welfare; therefore, taking money from the Montana state taxpayer. Montana is taking a quadruple hit, not collecting taxes on: personal income, property, business, and paying-out state welfare money. This means the costly burden for housing, food, medical care, and social services are being paid for by the taxpaying citizens of Montana and other federal taxpayers.
This federal tax drain must be eliminated; initially, there will be an outcry from reservation Indian tribes, they will decry that the U.S. Congress is bound to honor its treaty obligations. My response to them - Indian tribes must realize that treaties are a formal agreement (not a law) between two or more parties and that the treaty depends on the good faith of the parties involved. History illustrates a regime must have the power to enforce a treaty. Indians do not possess the political power to enforce a treaty as evidenced by their past relationship with the U.S. government, e.g., the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 “...their land and property shall never be taken from them without their consent.” The U.S. government is the sole global super-power; it is in the position to be both violator and enforcer of a treaty.
Seventy years of ignorance and incompetence of Blackfeet tribal self-governance has produced a vile social system, which maintains the qualities of abject poverty that are alcoholism, drug addiction, wife battering, child molestation, political corruption, a kangaroo court of injustice, and a corrupt drug using tribal police force of lawlessness that was seized at gun point by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Police force (spring of 2003). In this uncivilized community, there is no rule of law, no judicial review, no civil rights, and no civil liberties.
In summary, it is tribal self-governance that has generated the political, economic, and social destruction of their communities; the only way to advance the lives caught in this tragic situation is to eliminate tribal government. The U.S. Congress must eradicate the federal trust responsibility that binds and allows this paternal relationship to exist; it is this outmoded historical relationship that cripples the Indian. Article 4, Section. 3. - the U.S. Constitution, “…The Congress shall have the Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States….” In 1862, Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. President set forth The Emancipation Proclamation; and in 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery.
The proud culture of the Blackfeet tribe has been replaced by a centuries old U.S. federally induced culture of welfare. This culture of welfare constructed by the federal government destroys motivation and represses the welfare recipient’s incentive to achieve. Eliminating the reservation system will allow the Blackfeet tribe and other reservation tribes to declare themselves truly sovereign, which can only be achieved through personal and then collective responsibility and accountability. Reservation Indians must be given the same “tough love” treatment that single mothers with dependents were given in the mid 1990’s; the elimination of open-ended federal entitlement money with a 5-year lifetime limit. Congress retains this authority based on their plenary power (full and complete) as sanctioned by the U.S. Constitution.
After all, it is the duty and responsibility of a government’s leaders to create employment, economic growth, and social stability; whether that government belongs to a reservation tribe or the nation, is beside the point. Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt lifted the U.S. national economy from the worldwide Great Depression with his New Deal legislation; this accomplishment proved that successful management takes education, intelligence, knowledge, and successful business experience. These four leadership qualities are entirely unknown to tribal leaders, who have proven to be completely incompetent and incapable of raising the standard of living on federal Indian reservations.
E-Mail Ron Gray at: inovator13@yahoo.com