National

County apologizes to Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Commissioners in Ravalli County, Montana, hand delivered an apology to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes for offensive remarks at a recent meeting.

Jan Wisniewski, the county's planning board chairman, complained about "drunken Indians" in the jail system at a meeting on November 20. The remarks sparked outrage among residents and tribal members.

“Ravalli County values the cultural heritage between the Salish people and the Bitterroot Valley and desires to further a positive relationship with CSKT,” the apology stated. “The Board apologizes if public comments caused offense. Certain comments did not represent the opinion of the Board or the majority of people in Ravalli County.”

But those comments aren't the only issue. County officials questioned why the tribe wants to place a 58-parcel that includes the sacred Medicine Tree into trust.

"The whole tone of this meeting was confrontational," former Ravalli County attorney George Corn said at a meeting the following week, The Missoula Independent reported. "They were grilled by your attorneys ... At best it was denigrating. At worst, it implied racism."

County officials have cited the loss of property taxes as one of their major issues. The site only generated about $800 last year, according to news reports.

The tribe's application is pending with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Get the Story:
Revisiting racism (The Missoula Independent 12/5)
Commissioners to apologize to Tribes for racist remarks (The Bitterroot Star 12/4)
Commissioners to hand deliver apology (The Ravalli Republic 11/28)
Ravalli County commission to apologize to tribe (AP 11/28)

Some Opinions:
Dan Brooks: Drunk on power (The Missoula Independent 12/5)
Gail Gilman: Ravalli County commission: Official displays racist, toxic behavior (The MIssoulian 12/5)