OPINION: Gianforte offers new hope for Montana reservations

The Indian name of my father, the late Donald W. Meyers, was Buffalo Walker. Such names, given by the Elders, were accepted with great pride and acknowledge that we as First Nations people understand the ways, importance and sacredness of the bison.

Many Indians and non-Indians want to see bison return to the landscape for what it would mean to our native cultures and national heritage. Just as many Indians and non-Indians are concerned about the economic impact of this potential move on the agriculture and beef industries. We leaders who will come together and work to resolve these issues.

Tribal governments need not be in conflict with their cattle ranching neighbors and vice versa. We need each other. According to the Montana State Department of Commerce, Natives contributed $6.6 billion to Montana’s economy over a seven-year period 2003-2009.

The candidacy of Greg Gianforte for governor offers us a unique opportunity to bridge that divide and create better outcomes for all Montana citizens.

The truth about Greg that I observed as he visited six of Montana’s Indian reservations is that he is running an open, honest and praiseworthy campaign for governor. Before he announced his candidacy, Greg promoted entrepreneurship on three reservations.

I was with him as he was invited into Native homes and pow-wow family campsites. After tribal people found out that Greg was truly interested in their concerns he was widely accepted at the grassroots level.

Montana’s native communities have suffered for decades from a lack of jobs and opportunities where some unemployment rates are over 60 percent. Career politicians in Helena and Washington have made empty promises to provide the economic development so desperately needed in Indian Country. After 50 years in the wilderness of government socialism, I asked many Native Elders if they thought that we as tribal people are now “better off.” The vast majority of them said “No, we can’t honestly say that we are.”

While there have been a couple good developments in recent years, many tribally owned businesses located on Montana’s reservations have failed because they became mired in tribal politics. The lack of a separation of powers on the reservations has also served to thwart businesses from locating on reservations because most have no recourse to recoup losses through tribal courts. So, Gianforte is correct when he says that these structures on Indian reservations hinder free markets locally.

Almost two years ago, I asked the governor’s office in writing for the number of Indian businesses started by the Indian Equity Fund initiated by the state Legislature over a decade ago. I asked how many of these businesses were still in operation, how many employees they had and their annual profit margin. I have never received this information.

The wealth of Indian Nations has been held hostage long enough by bureaucratic red tape and outdated tribal constitutions that do not allow for the separation of powers. It’s time for state and tribal leadership to unlock the economic potential of the reservations through true self-determination and sovereignty. Bright Native entrepreneurs need to be invited to “come home to Montana” to assist local entrepreneurs develop businesses and create a new and fresh wave of economic development in Indian Country.

Today, many Natives and non-Natives see that it’s time for change for the state of Montana and Indian Country. As a member of a First Nations tribe I can say that all non-Indians are not from Montana. However, one does not have to be from Montana to be for Montana. Greg has demonstrated this by creating a successful business that has hired hundreds of Montanans in high-paying jobs. That’s why I am voting for Greg Gianforte and Lesley Robinson, and I hope you will too.

G. Bruce Meyers, a Box Elder Republican, is the current representative for House District 32 and is a candidate for Senate District 16, which covers North Central and Northeast Montana and includes three Indian Reservations. He is an enrolled member of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe.