Don Larson’s Aug. 15 Pathfinder OpEd concerning Condon jumping ship from Missoula to Lake County being a no-go rings true. A 30-year stint in Seeley Lake left vivid memories of being treated like a red-headed step child by Missoula. Condonites, you have my sympathy.
What did not ring true were Larson’s misleading comments concerning CSKT government and tribal membership not paying their fair share into the Lake County tax coffers while enjoying many county services. While up on his soap box, two-county homeowner Larson also took a pot shot at the CSKT purchase of Kerr Dam and the loss of yet more county revenues.
The Flathead Indian Reservation contains the vast majority of Lake County as well as lapping over into Missoula and Sanders counties. The 1855 Hellgate Treaty facilitated pushing the three tribes of CSKT off their ancestral homelands onto the then deemed undesirable 1.3 million acres that lie within the government prescribed boundaries.
CSKT is a sovereign nation, complemented by a nonpartisan, member-elected governing body, supported by a judiciary, law enforcement, resource management, educational and health departments among others. Think of it as traveling to another country, minus the hassle of passports. A nation with its own laws, culture and people.
The Kerr Dam hydroelectric facility was yet another example of past non-tribal efforts of resource extraction for profit while pushing the tribe to the side and telling them to shush up. That electricity was sent to the mining interests in Butte and Anaconda as well as west to Spokane, Washington, much as it is today.
After a near 100-year operation, the dam was put up for sale. CSKT stepped up. Seeing the acquisition and investment as part of its vision for the future socio/economic security of its people, while bringing back into the fold yet another parcel of its treaty lands that were pretty much just taken.
The tears and hand wringing by Lake County leadership was immediate and persists to this day, much the same as with the passage of the Water Compact. How dare the tribe desire control over their own natural resources and onsite generated resources found within their boundaries? Liken the tax loss story to coming home and finding some yahoo camped out in your backyard. Pretty soon he’s acting like he owns the joint and is expecting you to anti-up and pay him for the privilege of living on your own land.
Weary of being marginalized by systematic efforts by governments seemingly bent on the elimination of self-determination and their very existence, CSKT is moving forward to provide its people a path into the future.
Larson and the Lake County leadership chirping while arm flapping in that pathway, with their hand out for tax dollars from CSKT’s sovereign nation for the county tax coffers, well that should show up in the comic section.
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