Three years after its government splintered into disarray, most people on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation agree that its constitution needs to change. But a few weeks after the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council voted to send the draft of a new constitution to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for review, a vocal group of critics has emerged.
Tribal member Gabe Grant and a group called “The Real People” have said the authors who drafted the new constitution didn’t do enough to gather community input. They also accuse the authors of pushing for “open enrollment,” a highly contentious issue on the reservation regarding who can be a tribal member and reap the benefits that come with such a designation.
“We are open to change; we want constitutional change,” Grant said. “But this constitutional reform effort is a smoke screen for open enrollment.”
But Joe McKay, one of the principal organizers of the constitutional reform movement, said Grant and his supporters are spreading inaccuracies.
“They are absolutely wrong,” McKay said. “Open enrollment is a red herring issue that they’ve used to kill past constitutional reform efforts because they don’t want anything to change.”
For years, much of the power on the Blackfeet has been placed in a single branch of government: the tribal council. For the most part, that system had few problems until 2012 and 2013 when the council splintered into two different factions. Because neither faction had the ability to pay the bills, tribal employees went weeks without pay and local government shut down on multiple occasions. While the 2014 election stabilized the government, many people believed it was time to reform the constitution in an effort to prevent future divisions.
Starting in 2015, a group of local citizens began to review the current constitution with the goal of rewriting it. In July 2015, an informal public opinion poll was taken on the reservation and more than 400 people voted in support of reform. Following a two-day constitutional symposium in January, the group started drafting a new governing document, and in June it was put before the tribal council for a vote. The council voted 7-to-1 to send the document to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for review.
The document calls for the creation of a three-pronged government to replace the nine-person tribal council. The executive branch would manage the tribe’s day-to-day operations and have a president and vice president, each with three-year terms.
The legislative branch would have 13 representatives from around the reservation and meet twice a year to enact laws. The reservation would be separated into districts, with six representatives from Browning, two from North Browning, two from Seville, one from Old Agency and two from Heart Butte.
Lastly, the new constitution would create an independent judicial branch with a tribal court and appellate court. An elected chief justice would oversee the judicial branch and appoint associate judges.
The BIA is currently reviewing the document to ensure that it does not violate federal law. If the BIA gives the stamp of approval, a secretarial election would be held in which every tribal member votes on the new constitution. McKay said the vote could happen as early as this winter.
Grant said he has conducted an extensive analysis of the constitution and asserts that it contains numerous flaws. Among his concerns is that it “discriminates” against young members because the age requirement to run for chairman is at least 30 years old. He also took issue with how the new legislative districts have been organized and accused McKay and others of trying to gerrymander the reservation.
But Grant’s biggest concern is his belief that the new constitution will prompt the tribe to adopt open enrollment. Currently, to be a member of the tribe, you would have had to appear on the official census roll of the tribe in 1935 or be a quarter Blackfeet. There are approximately 15,500 enrolled members, half of whom live on the reservation. Grant said if the tribe welcomed more members with less Blackfeet blood, it would dilute the benefits and services they receive.
“Open enrollment would destroy our way of life,” Grant said. “This proposed Blackfeet constitution would hurt the Blackfeet people and hurt our nation.”
Grant points to Article II of the proposed constitution as his proof that open enrollment is possible. But McKay said Grant’s argument is unfounded because the language in the new constitution about membership is taken verbatim from the old document. McKay said the authors are aware of the controversies surrounding membership and did not want to mire the new document in a debate over who can and cannot be a member. McKay said the “Real People” are using open enrollment as an excuse to kill the new constitution. He added that similar tactics derailed a constitutional reform effort nearly a decade ago.
Grant also said that many people on the reservation don’t know enough about the current constitution to vote on it. But McKay said the draft document was published frequently in the local paper in Browning and was available online. He also said that all of the constitutional reform meetings were well advertised and open to all who were interested.
McKay said Grant and his group should let the people vote on the document to settle the debate once and for all.
“Let the people vote on it,” McKay said. “If Grant and the others believe that so many people are opposed to it, then what are they afraid of?”
“Let the people vote. Let the people decide.”