Large land-based tribes to meet in Washington

Tuesday, January 16, 2007  

The Council of Large Land-Based Tribes will meet in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for a national summit.

Carl Venne, the chairman of the Crow Tribe of Montana and the president of CLLBT, called for tribes with reservations of 100,000 acres or more to attend. He said it will focus on health care, trust reform, economic development, law enforcement and epidemic rates of drug use.

"In the past decade, the United States has made major changes in Indian laws and policy without regard for the traditional large land-based problems of poverty, high unemployment, substandard housing and dwindling federal resources to care for large Native populations," the group said in statement. "The CLLBT was formed in 2000 to speak out on those issues and other needs of tribes who live on large reservations."

Venne said he hopes tribal leaders can work together on these issues during the 110th Congress. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-West Virginia), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, have been invited to address the summit.

The meeting takes place from 9am to 4pm at the offices of the National Indian Health Board at 101 Constitution Avenue NW. For more information, contact Gordon Belcourt, the executive director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, at (406) 252-2550.