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No advantage for any culture

The front-page headline in the Daily Inter Lake for June 6 states, “School offers apology for graduation incident.” The article makes it known that Flathead High School apologized for not allowing a student of Blackfeet descent to wear “a cap with a Native American headdress and striped motif painted on the mortarboard at the June 2 commencement ceremony.”

The question I have is, was it proper for the Legislature to create a special policy that makes a distinction between people of American Indian race and culture and the rest of our society?

Senate Bill 319 states:

“(1) The purpose of this section is to help further the state’s recognition of the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians and the state’s commitment to preserving the American Indians’ cultural integrity as provided in Article X, section 1(2), of the Montana constitution.

“(2) A state agency or a local government may not prohibit an individual from wearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at a public event.

“(3)(c) “Public event” means an event held or sponsored by a state agency or a local government, including but not limited to an award ceremony, a graduation ceremony, or a public meeting.”

According to the Montana Constitution, Article X, Section 12, “The state recognizes the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians and is committed in its educational goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity.” But does this mean that American Indians have the distinct right to wear war bonnets instead of traditional mortar boards at graduation?

Under Article II, Section 4 of the Montana Constitution, “Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas.”

Does this mean that every graduating student is allowed to display signs of their race and culture on their graduation gowns? Can my grandchildren display the O’Neil coat of arms containing the Red Hand of O’Neil on their graduation dress? Can their Jewish classmates display the Jewish Menorah on theirs?

How about political ideas? Are we now going to allow Ku Klux Klan regalia as graduation dress?

Or are all non-Indians now going to be discriminated against at city council, county commission and school board meetings? Does this statute change the dress codes of the Montana state Senate and House of Representatives?

Only a select few legislators were smart enough to figure out the bad consequences of Senate Bill 319. I applaud Reps. Randy Brodehl, Carl Glimm, Steve Lavin, Mark Noland, Matt Regier and Derek Skees and Sen. Dee Brown for honoring their oaths of office. They were smart enough not to cast their votes to give special advantages to any race or culture in Montana. —Jerry O’Neil, Columbia Falls

Bottling plant will be boon

We the people of the Flathead Valley live in a land very unique to the rest of the United States. Most of us would say thank goodness for that. We are fortunate to live in the greatest country on earth and be residents of Montana.

At this time I am confused by the opposition expressed against the people who would like to start a bottling operation in the upper valley. Not knowing these people or having any connection with them, I find myself in their camp. To begin with, this business would produce jobs in the Flathead valley. This sounds like a good clean industry with very little, if any pollution involved. There seems to be fear that a water-bottling operation would deplete the Flathead aquifer. This is a job that would take a qualified water hydrologist to determine if this might be a case in point.

This is a land of lakes, rivers, flowing streams and springs. We live in snow country with great annual snow pack. Even in a slow year we have great run-off with lots of water flowing into our aquifer. Every year the Flathead River flows millions, if not billions of gallons of water into the Columbia River, which then flows into the Pacific Ocean.

In another vein, I am amazed at the number of beer-brewing operations producing beer made from the water from the Flathead Valley aquifer. We’ve counted at least seven breweries just in this valley and there are probably more than that not yet listed. Each bottle of beer produced I assume would utilize a pint of water, about the same as a bottle of commercial water. I looked at one commercial bottle of water that was shipped here from Washington. Are we nuts paying shipping on water shipped here from Seattle?

Coors Brewing Co. in Golden, Colorado, has been using water from Clear Creek, one of the streams flowing from the east slope of the Colorado Rocky Mountains for over 60 years. Part of the Coors branding on their beer cans reads “Made from pure Rocky Mountain spring water.” Coors Brewing has created jobs for thousands of people. They even make the cans their beer is sold in. They are also involved in other industries that create jobs.

I’m surprised that some people in this valley would be opposed to a very light industry that could potentially provide employment for their family, friends and neighbors.

The state Senate defeated Senate Bill 215, which would have stymied the proposed water-bottling business. It seems the state Senate wisely decided the issue should be settled on the local level.

This has turned out to be a case of too damn much government intervention. Let us hope that the free enterprise system will prevail. This is exactly what our new president is trying to do, bring more new jobs to the American people. —Jerry Fisher, Bigfork

Missoula folks support Jewish community here

We the undersigned elderly Missoula residents and friends would like to publicly express our encouragement of the Jewish communities in Whitefish, Kalispell and all of the Flathead Valley as they struggle against the bitterness and hatred directed toward them by unnamed internet “trolls” backed by the Daily Stormer, a white supremacist neo-Nazi group based in Ohio.

Let it be known that we find this kind of behavior anhorrent and lend our voices in full support of those working to combat said behavior. —Marian Wise, Elizabeth Scott, Nonda Gaylord, Rnace Schindeleecker, Kris Boyd, Lela Mae Collver, Maggie Lough, Ann Watson, Joyce Larson, Deanna Neff, Shay Stanton, Mary Jo Diddel, George Merseal, Erin O’Connor, Margie Nagle, Jeffrey Nirider