Kolby KickingWoman
ICT
It’s been a rocky start for the Indigenous members of Montana’s state legislature, however the lawmakers have remained focused on increasing Native visibility in the Capitol as well as throughout the state.
There are 11 total legislators in the Montana American Indian Caucus, four in the state senate and seven in the state house. That number is down one person from the 2021 session when there were eight members in the state house.
The Montana legislature has the highest Indigenous representation than any other state in the country. In fact, the percentage of Indigenous legislators in the statehouse, 7.3 percent, exceeds the percentage of Native population in the state, 6.6 percent.
The 2023 Montana legislative session, which is held every two years, began with concerning discussion from another lawmaker about possibly challenging the tribal reservation system. There are seven reservations throughout the state, home to 11 tribes. A 12th tribe, the Little Shell band of Chippewa, does not have a reservation.
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Despite the legislation that would bring positive impacts to Native communities, the session got off to a rocky start.
At the beginning of the session, Republican Sen. Keith Regier from Kalispell, who is not Native, discussed introducing a joint resolution looking for the state and congress to “to investigate alternatives to the American Indian reservation system.”
While it was never officially introduced, the Native caucus rebuked the notion. However, Indigenous caucus members were still alarmed that the matter was discussed at all.
“I was just kind of surprised to see it so open,” said state Sen. Shane Morigeau, Salish and Kootenai. ”Over the years some of these folks have been a little bit more crafty about the way they target Native people. It’s kind of been the sentiment is not really seeing us as Montanans and recognizing we have a responsibility to recognize everybody in Montana.”
Related: Native caucus condemns resolution on reservation system
Fellow legislator Sen. Susan Webber, Blackfeet, shared similar thoughts and said dealing with misinformation about tribes and racial overtones occurs every legislative session.
“It galvanized not only the Montana American Indian caucus into really getting our points across and to make sure that we’re always heard in committee and on the floor, and then it also galvanized the reservations to say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?,’” she said. “I hope that just that little incident tells the tribes, the tribal people on reservations, and off reservation, how important it is to vote.”
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Last week in response, Morigeau introduced a bill to enhance the legislative understanding of state-tribal relations with a mandatory 10-minute training for legislators at the start of the legislative session focused on state-tribal relations.
The bill, SB233 has received its first reading in committee as it works its through the legislative process.
“We got to do better in Montana,” he said. “We got to do better for legislators who are making these laws. We got to start looking better for Montana citizens and making sure they’re getting educated properly about tribes and people.”
The bill would require legislative services staff to coordinate with the director of Indian Affairs for the training.
Among the other bills that the Indigenous caucus members include:
- Senate Bill 120: Establishing a state highway as the Chief Earl Old Person Memorial Highway.
- House Bill 18: Revising and extending a Missing and Murdered Indigenous persons task force
- House Bill 287: Revise state laws relating to language preservation
- And House Bill 288: Expanding the Native American tuition waiver offered to Indigenous students at the state’s higher learning institutions
The Indigenous caucus members mostly identify as Democrats. Two members, Rep. Rhonda Knudsen, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and Caucus chair, Sen. Jason Small, Northern Cheyenne, identify as Republican. The Republican party holds a super majority in the state legislature, as well as in the governor’s house, making working across the aisle a necessity.
Having served in both the state house and senate, Webber is accustomed to working with the opposite party, saying as legislators they all have the same bottom line at the end of the day; serving their constituents.
“For us in the Montana American Indian caucus, it’s being those warriors in a front that is fighting for the Indians right to live the Indians right to sovereignty,” she said.
The Montana legislative session is expected to run through May, continue to check ictnews.org for continued coverage.
Related: Partnership focusing coverage on Montana Native American Caucus
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