"Last week’s statement from the Spirit Lake tribal government is welcome – but it’s not enough to divert attention from charges of child abuse on the reservation.

The statement was published in the Devils Lake Journal and reported by the Herald last week. It’s available in full on the Herald’s website, www.grandforksherald.com.

In the statement, the tribal government suggests that it inherited the problem, that it’s dealing with it effectively and that whistleblowers and a malevolent press have made things worse.

This level of defensiveness undermines the effectiveness of the tribe’s statement."

Get the Story:
OUR OPINION: U.S. Senate could have a role at Spirit Lake (The Grand Forks Herald 8/12)

Also Today::
Spirit Lake Nation responds to critics, challenges motives of 'whistleblowers' (The Grand Forks Herald 8/10)

Related Stories:
IHS rescinds reprimand of employee in Spirit Lake controversy (8/3)
Editorial: IHS should explain reprimand of tribal whistleblower (7/31)
IHS reprimands employee who warned about Spirit Lake children (7/30)
Man charged for murders of Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation children (7/24)
Editorial: Children's safety at risk on Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation (7/18)
Toddler who died on Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation being laid to rest (7/13)
BIA investigates death of baby girl on Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation (7/11)
Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation faces scrutiny over child welfare woes (7/9)
HHS official blames Spirit Lake Nation for child abuse problems (6/22)
Sen. Hoeven seeks answers on Spirit Lake social services (04/25)
Editorial: A free press is essential, even in a tribal society (4/17)
Deaths of Spirit Lake Dakotah children treated as homicide (05/26)
Spirit Lake mother confirms identities of two slain children (5/25)
Father suspected for deaths of two children at Spirit Lake (5/24)