Lawmakers hear proposal urging feds to fully fund law enforcement in Indian County

Tribal leaders and lawmakers are supporting legislation that would urge the federal government to fully fund law enforcement in Indian Country in Montana, where they say agencies are underfunded at a time when reservations are faced with epidemics of drugs and missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, is carrying House Joint Resolution 1, which would also ask Congress to develop agreements with each of the tribal nations to put programs in action.

The resolution would also request Gov. Greg Gianforte send a letter to Congress asking for the same.

Patrick Yawakie, representing the Blackfeet tribe, supported the resolution at the proposal’s first hearing on Friday, noting that in the original treaties between the federal government and the tribes of Montana, the government promised to fund law enforcement on tribal land. Despite this, Yawakie said law enforcement in tribal nations has been consistently underfunded.

“This has led to increases of organized crime entering into our reservations, distributing drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, leading to a growing number of overdoses and deaths,” Yawakie said.

Dan Stusek, representing the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, spoke in support of the resolution and said a 2021 estimate from the Bureau of Indian Affairs showed federal funding for tribal law enforcement and public safety met less than 13% of the tribes’ total needs.

“Although CSKT does more than any other jurisdiction on our Flathead Indian Reservation to ensure the safety of all citizens, our tribal justice system is consistently underfunded, current federal funding for tribal justice systems does not come close to meeting the Indian Country’s enormous unmet needs.”

Running Wolf added that the resolution wouldn’t cost the state any money.

“There’s a zero-funding appropriation, just ink and paper and a stamp to get it to Washington, D.C. on behalf of both Senate and House and from the Executive Office.”

No one spoke in opposition at the resolution’s first hearing in the House Energy, Technology and Federal Relations committee last week.

Emma White is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Greater Montana Foundation.