Badger Creek in the Badger-Two Medicine Area in Montana. Photo from Blackfeet Nation

A long-running effort to reform the constitution of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana continues on the reservation.

The constitution was first adopted a year after the enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Although some changes have been made over the years, critics say it needs to be updated to establish separate branches of government.

“This is a bad form of government,” Chairman Harry Barnes told The Flathead Beacon last year. “Now that I’m in it I can see where all the weaknesses are.”

Tribal members voted to start the reform effort in June 2008 but a Secretarial election was never held. A lengthy leadership dispute that was finally resolved last year also hindered reform efforts.

Joe McKay, a council member who supports reform, is hoping to move forward but with a "clean slate," he told the paper. He helped organize a symposium last month at the Blackfeet Community College to discuss potential changes to the constitution.

Get the Story:
Blackfeet Tribe Begins to Rewrite Constitution (The Flathead Beacon 2/9)
Blackfeet group launches constitutional reform effort (The Great Falls Tribune 1/16)

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Blackfeet Nation continues work to revise constitution (1/26)
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