Tribal people were not consulted on gambling issue

Editor,

As a tribal elder of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, I have lived on the Flathead Reservation all of my 65 years.

Over the years, I have been reluctant to trust our tribal council in the decisions that they have made for our tribal people.

Again, with the recent rejection of our gaming extension, I have concerns.

With revenue generated last year of $11.5 million made off of tribal gaming, why weren't the tribal people given the opportunity to voice their opinions based on the decisions to reject the offer?

There were no questionnaires or flyers sent out to the members asking if we were in favor of keeping or rejecting the gambling extension.

The matters of this particular issue should be left up to the whole tribe, not decisions made only by the tribal council.

Also, concerns our Native people should be considered. With the rejection of the proposal, 60 to 150 possible Native people will now be out of a job one month before Christmas. Who will care for these people? Will the council be willing to share some of their income with them? I think not! I hope this next year we will not hear that the tribe does not have enough funds to pay per capitas.

This reminds me of a few years back when the Yellowstone Pipe Line offered the Tribe $3 million dollars per year to run a pipeline through our reservation from Missoula to Thompson Falls. To this day, the oil company still transports oil through our reservation by railroad rather than pipeline, and we do not get anything for it.

Fred Cordier

Ronan