By Ed Kugler
Pardon Me ... But Aren't You Sovereign?
Every time I pick up a newspaper, the irony and hypocrisy of the idea of tribal sovereignty strikes me. I looked up the definition of sovereignty, and it has three key components.
· To possess supreme or ultimate authority, power, or independence, particularly in the context of governing oneself or a state without external control.
· It refers to a state or nation's ability to govern itself independently, free from external interference or control.
· A sovereign nation has the authority to make its own laws, manage its resources, and conduct foreign policy without being subject to another country's dominion.
So, a tribal government could fit into that, but it raises numerous questions. And in my twenty-plus years of living on or near Montana reservations, many of those questions our politicians avoid like the plague. Here are my top ten …
1. How can a sovereign nation legally exist within a sovereign nation? In a word, it's nonsense. I'm told the official government description is 'dependent sovereignty,' which is an oxymoron.
2. Article IX, Section 3, Subsection 3 of the 1972 Montana Constitution declares: "All surface, underground, flood, and atmospheric waters within the boundaries of the state are the property of the state for the use of its people and are subject to appropriation for beneficial uses as provided by law." How is it then that our Governor, State legislature and Congress violated the State's constitution and gave half of the State's water rights to the CSKT, located in Lake County?
3. And Congress handed the CSKT, who represent 6,000 tribal members, over $2,000,000,000 for the State of Montana's misuse of the State's water. There are things you can't make up. The sovereign tribe received damages, punishing the State that allowed them to exist. Why?
4. Why are sovereign tribes permitted to impose excise taxes on fuel and tobacco? That means non-tribal members are paying taxes to the tribe. Okay, it's their sovereign nation. On the other hand, state fuel taxes collected on the reservation are refunded to the reservation under a formula supposedly based on tribal membership. In Montana, gas taxes are earmarked for roads, and they have no roads to maintain? And, if you're sovereignty, isn't that your problem? For instance, Lake County, home to the CSKT, has approximately 26,000 residents. The CSKT has around 6,000 members. The total dollars returned by the State to the CSKT were higher than the amount returned to the County, and the County has roads to maintain. Things that make you wonder why?
5. Missing Indigenous women from our many reservations is a significant crisis. There is no dispute about the issue. However, if you're a sovereign nation, why is it a state or federal problem? Both the state and federal governments have allocated resources to aid in the search for missing women. Why should the State of Montana be burdened with the cost of a missing indigenous women task force?
6. As in Number 5 above, the same question pops up for drugs. If you're sovereign, then why is drug enforcement support needed from local, state, and federal resources? Why are others responsible for the problems of a sovereign people in charge of their government?
7. Think about healthcare. The sovereign tribes receive free healthcare from the Indian Health Service (IHS), which both the federal and State governments fund. Why? If you're a sovereign nation, then pay for it yourselves.
8. Every time I read a tribal newspaper, I see the schedule for representatives of the Veterans Administration to visit the reservation. Why? I'm a veteran, and for many years, I drove an hour to a clinic and then an additional four hours for treatment at Fort Harrison.
9. Why would the federal government force a private business to be sold to the CSKT and give them the option to pay taxes or not? In the case of the Kerr Dam, Lake County lost over a million dollars in taxes once the CSKT took ownership. Why? Not to mention that our sovereign nation gave a strategically critical asset, a major dam and an electricity producer, to another sovereign nation.
10. We all know there is far too much money in politics. Who could argue with that? But why do sovereign tribes get a pass from federal law? You see, a little-known fact is that tribal donations to candidates or PACs are not reportable under federal election laws by either the tribe or the candidate. What could possibly go wrong? Ever wonder why our crack Montana politicians defend all the nonsense listed 1 through 9 above? Wonder no longer. Who do we thank for this egregious ruling? The Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued a ruling, not a law, but Congress subsequently voted it into effect.
These are just a few questions to ponder in our troubled times.
I worked for nearly twenty years for Frito-Lay. In the late 80s, my peers presented me with the only award I've ever won. They called it the Can of Worms Award. The certificate reads, For the Fifth Consecutive Year of Asking Questions No One Wants to Answer.
I'm still asking after all these years.
by Ed Kugler”
 | A guest post by
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"How can a sovereign nation legally exist within a sovereign nation? In a word, it's nonsense."
It is completely okay not to know something. This is a big and complicated topic. But this statement overlooks a lot of important history that helps explain why things are the way they are.
Native American tribes have a specific kind of sovereignty that has been recognized for a long time. In the early 1800s, the U.S. Supreme Court described tribes as "domestic dependent nations." That means they have the right to govern themselves in many ways, but they still have a relationship with the federal government. It is not full independence like a foreign country, but it is also not the same as being a part of a state.
This form of sovereignty is grounded in treaties. These were real, formal agreements made between the United States and tribal nations. Those agreements are still legally binding. The structure has also been upheld again and again in federal courts.
So when someone says the idea is nonsense, it usually means they have not had the chance to learn the legal and historical context yet. And that is okay. But once you do understand it, you start to see that tribal sovereignty is not about special treatment. It is about keeping promises and recognizing that these nations existed long before the United States did.
Learning this might be surprising at first, but it opens the door to a more complete and fair understanding of how the country works, and how we live alongside others who were here long before us.