Roundtable type discussions are recommended

Editor,

I appreciated your coverage of a community meeting that was held several months ago in St. Ignatius on youth problems and juvenile delinquency. As reported, the meeting was quite rational and constructive, primarily, I believe because it was attended by a good cross-section of community members.

It also appears that the meeting was conducted along the lines of the roundtable, and/or "think tank" process, whereby no one felt threatened by retaliation for saying what they said. I have been recommending for a number of years that the Think Tank process should be institutionalized, supported, and promoted by various organizations, such as the Tribal Council, Salish Kootenai College, and others, to address in an ongoing manner many different types of tribal and community problems and issues.

I was a little disappointed that the meeting was not more widely advertised. Also, although the group expounded to a considerable extent on parental responsibility, little was reported on parental accountability, and the consequences for neglect. In various news reports on youth deaths and other delinquencies, the problem of "huffing" had been mentioned.

However, I have not read of any statements by local officials that gave warning of the most severe and tragic consequences of "huffing," and that is the probability of permanent brain damage and death.

Are we all afraid to say it? This information should be as widely disseminated as possible.

At one point in the meeting, Kevin Howlett made reference to the need for more Indian people to enter the reservation-wide political process, such as seeking countywide offices.

To the best of my knowledge, I am the first tribal member to have been elected to a countywide office, the County Government Review and Study Commission. Since serving on the Commission, I have found several ways to address the problem of no Indian representation in county government, and they are as follows:

1. To hold non-partisan elections for county commissioners and other county offices.

2. To file suit in court to have the county commissioners offices redistricted. Other counties where such suits have been successful are Blaine, Roosevelt, Big Horn, and Rosebud counties. Please note the recent news reports of Salish-Kootenai tribal member Delores Plumage's election to the Blaine county commission.

In conclusion, the meeting - gathering appears to have been a most positive and constructive step forward. I wish I had been there.

Wyman J. McDonald

Ronan