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Article 3/14/05 |
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| Schweitzer
reaching out to 'the first Montanans'
By Sarah R. Craig, Associated Press Writer
Havre Daily News
3/14/05
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HELENA
- The smell of burning sweetgrass often wafts
through the second floor of the Capitol, from the governor's
office to his family policy adviser's office down the
hall.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer burns the grass in an American Indian
ceremonial cleansing act called smudging, creating a smoky
symbol of the space the Whitefish Democrat says he's opened
to Indians in state government.
''I don't know that I am more enlightened than the previous
22 governors, but I think it's the time,'' Schweitzer
said. ''I think the time has come, that Montanans finally
will accept that we are one, both Indian and non-Indian.''
Schweitzer's campaign for governor included promises to
reach out to Indian country. He often states that the
concerns of ''the first Montanans'' are close to his heart
and he's trying to open more doors to Indians in the state.
''I hold things of the earth in reverence, and maybe I
share that with native people,'' Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer has appointed Reno Charette, an enrolled Crow
tribal member, as coordinator of Indian Affairs. He has
also appointed Rhonda Whiting as a Montana representative
on the Northwest Power Planning Council and hired her
sister, Anna Whiting Sorrell as his family policy adviser.
Six enrolled tribal members - Sioux, Crow, Northern Cheyenne,
and Salish Kootenai - serve in Schweitzer's administration,
and he's made six Indian appointments to different state
boards and councils.
Whiting Sorrell said she knows that while she and her
sister are members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai
Tribes, that's not the sole reason they were hired.
''They made it clear that they wanted to have the Schweitzer
team look like Montana, old, young, male, female, cowboys
and Indians, but we were all there because of our belief
in a common vision and the ability to do that,'' she said.
William ''Allen'' Talks About, chairman of the Blackfeet
Tribal Council, recently questioned whether Schweitzer's
campaign promises would come to fruition in the form of
financial and other support for tribes. In response, Schweitzer
met with the council and other Blackfeet representatives.
The leaders gathered to smudge and pray before the meeting.
''To me, that's to bring us together and to call on the
Creator to take all the bad from us so that we can come
together,'' Talks About said.
After the meeting, Talks About said he was encouraged,
and that perhaps Schweitzer's leadership could help guide
the Legislature.
''We're hoping that something happens, a change in our
thinking, our understanding, that the first Montanans
are in need too,'' Talks About said.
Talks About fears the Legislature may not follow through
with support for programs like Indian education, as the
House has rejected one piece of legislation critical to
his tribe: a proposal to restore millions of dollars to
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a welfare program
that provides cash assistance to the poor.
Helping the administration implement TANF and other welfare
programs is part of Whiting Sorrell's job as family policy
adviser. Whiting Sorrell worked as National Native American
Outreach Coordinator for the John Kerry 2004 presidential
campaign. She said now it's refreshing to have other Indian
people to work with, as she was the lone representative
on Kerry's campaign.
After Kerry lost, she looked forward to going home to
Ronan, but felt she couldn't turn down the chance to work
for Schweitzer.
''I know that I'm not here for my own person but I'm here
for what I can do for other people,'' she said. ''I know
that I'm here because of the generations that came before
me and really opened the doors for me to be here, and
it's my responsibility to now protect that so that future
generations can come forward.''
For Rhonda Whiting, it's a chance to include Indian voices
in power planning, which involves resources that tribes
have a major interest in like water and fish.
''With many of the tribes the salmon were very much a
part of the culture of those tribes, and each one looks
at, culturally, some of the wildlife or all living things
the Creator brought to us, we all have a different perspective
on how we look at those,'' Whiting said.
Major Robinson, an enrolled Northern Cheyenne, works as
a senior economic development adviser for Schweitzer,
focusing on Indian country. He said Schweitzer has extended
a welcome that can be heard even on his remote reservation.
''People knew while he was running that he wanted to create
better relationships with the Montana tribes,'' Robinson
said. ''Many times the tribes are very skeptical about
that, but then once he got into office almost immediately
he started putting the word out to all the tribes that
he was looking for qualified Native Americans to work
in his administration. Once we started seeing him hire
a number of tribal members it began to show all of us
in Indian country that he was serious about it.''
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