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| Indian
Country! by Paul Richards, Candidate for U.S. Senate - Montana |
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When I was growing up in Helena, “South Main” was the
Indian and Chinese neighborhood. It was a tight-knit community, with
vibrant shops, theaters and grocery stores interwoven among homes
and apartments of residents. My father lived in the neighborhood in
a beautiful well-maintained brick home. The buildings of South Main were incomparable - built in the heyday of the gold and steamboat era. Helena had the most complete historical district of any city in the West. But, boosters got the idea the neighborhood should be subjected to Urban Renewal. The people of Helena voted Urban Renewal down two separate times, so the boosters went to the legislature and revoked the right of the people to vote on the project. Over the objections of an entire community, Urban Renewal became a reality. Or, a nightmare. Most of us called it “Urban Removal,” for all the big bucks federal project did was destroy. Hundreds of buildings, including the incomparable Marlow Theater and the Wheat Building were torn down to make way for parking lots. The neighborhood’s fruit trees and lilacs were all uprooted. The smooth slope of Fire Tower Hill was sliced wide open by a new four-lane freeway that went nowhere. To make room for the four-lane freeway that went nowhere, expert stone and brick masonry and ornate carpentry of the houses and apartments were all brutally disassembled by bulldozers. The debris was callously hauled away to the city dump. What happened to the people? Most of South Main’s residents were renters, like my father. The landlords got huge property settlements from Urban Renewal. The renters just had to go elsewhere. My dad moved to Washington, D.C. The Indians of our community, many lacking the upward mobility of an urban professional such as my father, had to go to Great Falls. In one heavy-handed obliteration, most of Helena’s Indian community was forcibly relocated out of town. In the Pioneer Days, it was pretty much OK to shoot Indians, if they strayed from the reservations or got into any kind of trouble. Racism was rampant. Most “respectable” businesses sported “No Dogs or Indians” signs. Many whites, rather than holding deep respect and gratitude for Indians, hated any reminders that those Indians had long lived here. Indians were expected to remain out of sight and out of mind. So, the Indians got locked up on the reservations. Thankfully, many of the reservations were resource-rich, so the Indians still had a chance at economic viability. The U.S. government, through the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, administered the Indians’ lands. Timber was cut, oil drilled, grass grazed, and coal strip-mined. But, instead of the revenue going to the Indians, the money disappeared. We’re not talking millions of dollars here. We are talking billions. Banker Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet Nation estimates the theft at $176 billion! That’s right - $176 billion! The money rightfully belongs to over a half million Native American landowners whose resources were taken. Cobell and others are suing the Department of Interior to get their money back. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) is introducing legislation that attempts to fix this economic train wreck. His bill will try to provide sound accounting for monies owed individual Indians and tribes alike. However, instead of $176 billion, the government is offering a $27 billion settlement. Cobell says the Indians’ lawsuit will continue, with special emphases on historical accounting. As Montana’s new United States Senator, I will have no higher priority than the settlement of this issue. I will work with the Senate, the National Congress of American Indians, all other Indian organizations, tribes, and individuals to get a fair accounting and dispersement of the $176 billion. I will make sure the Department of Interior follows sound trust fund principles. If the tribes so request, I will help them to ensure the money reaches those to whom it belongs, helping spark a rural renaissance across the West. Back to Top |
| Paul
Richards 2006 • Richards for U.S. Senate P.O. Box 422 • Boulder, MT 59632 406-225-4235 paul@richards2006.us |