Looking back on Montana Indigenous caucus 2023 session

The Indigenous legislators had goals this session, some were realized, others were altered

The Montana Legislature came to an end on its 87th day, when the Senate called for a sine die motion on May 3, ultimately signaling for the House to finish up its side that same evening and bringing the 68th session to a close.

But for the American Indian Caucus, made up of 11 elected Indigenous legislators elected to represent tribal communities on and off Montana’s reservations, the session ended and left some priority bills with disputed amendments, while some died early in the session.

Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, Democrat, who has been a veteran lawmaker for the past 10 sessions, came into the legislature with strong intent, which included a list of nine bills including one aiming to protect Indigenous families and another to revise Indian education laws.

House Bill 317: Establishing the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act, sponsored by Windy Boy, was at the top of the list for the American Indian Caucus priorities for the session. Windy Boy said during multiple floor and committee hearings the motivation for the bill was partially due to the U.S Supreme Court case pending about the federal ICWA which was established in 1978.

Even though the bill did make it to the governor’s desk, pending approval, it faced challenges when a senator requested amendments that Windy Boy and other constituents did not agree with.

Sen. Dennis Lenz, Republican, who requested amendments for Windy Boy’s MICWA, brought his own version of ICWA into a bill that takes certain concepts from the federal law and applies them to all children in the Montana CPS. Lenz’s bill passed through the capital with little pushback from the supermajority and is also awaiting the governor’s approval.

“For too long, a lot of our kids have been lost in one system or another, whether it be this system or through residential schools,” Windy Boy told lawmakers in a committee hearing earlier this session. “It’s time to wake up and kind of move forward.”

House Bill 338: Along with MICWA, Windy Boy called for accountability within the list of bills he introduced which included the Indian Education for All program unique to the state. The bill will revise how state’s program funding is spent and will now require for a more strict reporting system to be in place on Indian Education For All implementation.

This bill came after the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana filed a lawsuit against the Office of Public Instruction and the Board of Public Education on behalf of some Montana tribes and individuals after a formal complaint was filed addressing how some school districts design their Indian education curriculum.

Senate Bill 120: One big win in the caucus member’s eyes was the passage of a bill that establishes a memorial highway in memory of the late Blackfeet chief, Earl Old Person. Sponsor Sen. Susan Webber, Democrat, believed this was going to be a relatively quick bill to get passed, but to her surprise it was tabled by its first committee.

“It was a struggle getting it out and, and it shouldn’t have been,” Webber said in an previous interview. “It should have been a slam dunk. It should have been easy, and I thought when I started it out, ‘Oh, it’s just going to sail through.’ That wasn’t the case.”

Webber called for a blast motion on the Senate floor– an action that bypasses committee approval, where it passed and made it through the rest of the legislature where Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill into law earlier last month.

House Bill 479: A bill that wasn’t brought up by the caucus but has made its way through the legislature is House Bill 479, sponsored by Rep. Joe Read, Republican. The bill is asking for the state to reimburse Lake County for its law enforcement efforts on the Flathead reservation due to the Public Law 280 agreement the tribe signed up for in 1963. The county said it would withdraw law enforcement services from the reservation portion of the county, if the state doesn’t provide reimbursement.

The American Indian Caucus didn’t explicitly oppose the bill but several Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal members came to the Capitol and spoke against it but CSKT tribal leadership has yet to publicly take a side.

Task Force Bills: Tyson Running Wolf, Democrat, introduced bills that would address the missing people within the state. House Bill 18, a bill designed to create and fund training for a missing persons task force flew through the legislation. House Bill 163, a bill to extend funding for the state’s missing Indigenous peoples task force, which was amended to extend its sunset date and decrease its funding, is awaiting to hit the governor’s desk for further approval.

Senate Bill 141: A bill that’s made several appearances before the Legislature, showed up again this session, pushing to change the Christopher Columbus holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day. Sen. Shane Morigeau, Democrat, introduced the Indigenous Peoples Day bill, which was the fifth time this bill has come into the legislature pushing for the change that many Montana counties and cities have already recognized and celebrated instead of Columbus day. However the bill was tabled in committee and failed in a blast motion on the senate floor.

House Bill 288: Windy Boy continued his push for accountability when he introduced a bill that would revise the requirements for the state’s American Indian Tuition Waiver. The bill’s original intent was to open the university tuition waiver to any Montana resident who can prove tribal descendancy from any of 574 federally recognized tribes.

However, the bill only got so far until it failed on the Senate floor with a 25-25 vote. Morigeau carried the bill and asked for it be reconsidered only to be tabled for the third and final time in committee.

Overall, the caucus turned over significant bills that directly affect the Montana Native populations. However, some lawmakers said more could have been done during the session to address childcare, housing crisis and shrinking educational gaps but they constantly came up against challenges presented by the Republican supermajority.

“It was very very frustrating, contentious and it was just mean,” Webber said. “I’ve been in five sessions, this has got to be the worst session in terms of personalities, in terms of getting things done, and in terms of just how the supermajority manipulated everything. They didn’t even need us basically.”

Sen. Morigeau, who finished his fourth session, said there is a need to continue to fight for Montana’s Individual rights in the next legislature.

“I just feel like we’re gonna continue to try and close the gaps on a lot of these statistics that we see, whether it’s in the justice system, the healthcare system for native populations, and Montanans in general,” said Morigeau in an interview with MTFP and ICT. “So, I mean, really at the end of the day, I think we’re trying to just look out for working people and that’s what we’re gonna come back and do is try to make sure there’s equity in our governmental like systems for the working class Montanans.”

This story is co-published by Montana Free Press and ICT, a news partnership that covers the Montana American Indian Caucus during the state’s 2023 legislative session. Funding is provided in part by the Headwaters Foundation.

Dateline:

HELENA, Mont.