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YET ANOTHER LAND GRAB IN INDIAN COUNTRY

Burns' planned legislation was announced at the Montana Stock Growers Association annual meeting by his state director, Dwight McKay. McKay summarized what he termed a "discussion draft," saying that Burns plans to modify the proposal after receiving public comment. Republican State Senator Jay Stovall of Billings agreed to conduct the hearings. Stovall is a Crow tribal member. Burns apparently is choosing not to attend the public meetings.

Specifics on Burns' proposal are hard to pin down but an assessment of the legislation circulated by the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation says that Burns' proposal is a broad attack on tribal sovereignty. The proposal would remove tribal jurisdiction over non-tribal members in a number of areas. The Fort Peck analysis concludes that Burns' proposal would ". . . give full protection to all the claims of the non-Indians and destroy tribal sovereignty in Montana. In effect, the reservations would be abolished. Conflicts between two groups cannot be solved this way — by giving one group all, leaving the other nothing."

The first round of public comment occurred on January 28 in Billings. More than 1,000 people attended, the vast majority opposed to Burns' proposal. Proponents of Burns' efforts included Alan Mikkelson, unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate from the Flathead Reservation, representatives of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, the Big Horn Electric Cooperative, the Big Horn County Business Association and the Montana Farm Bureau.   

Tribal leaders led the opposition to the proposal, pointing out that the legislation appeared to be an effort to reverse court decisions that had been favorable to tribal governments. Mickey Pablo, Chairman of the Montana/Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, said that the tribes had been blind-sided by Burns' announcement. The Billings Gazette quoted Crow Tribal Chair Clara Nomee as saying, "If you really want to solve sovereignty and jurisdiction, you should ask for a big appropriation to buy out all the ranches on our reservation." 

Conrad's Record on Race

Following the hearing, Senator Burns was quoted in the Billings Gazette as saying, "non- constructive comments and charges of racism do not help in furthering the debate." Such a comment from Burns is ironic. Burns' history on race issue is insensitive at best and openly racist at worst. Consider the following:

  During his 1994 campaign, in a meeting with the editorial board of the Bozeman Chronicle, Burns told a story about a meeting with a constituent in which he was asked what it was like living in Washington, D.C., with all those "niggers." Burns' response? "It's a hell of a challenge."

  Burns' campaign employed two individuals who were active in racist groups in the Billings area. One of the men alleged that he worked under an assumed name with the full knowledge of Burns' campaign staff.

  In 1993 Burns was one of a small group of Senators to grant a renewed patent for the Daughters of the Confederacy to use the Confederate flag. This issue garnered national attention when Senator Mosely-Braun pointed out that the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism, "a cruel reminder that blacks were once considered property."

  In 1991 Burns told a group of civil rights lobbyists that he was "on his way to a slave auction" as he walked out of the Senate chambers following a floor vote on a civil rights bill. The incident was written about in newspapers around the country.

  In 1994 two Montana men reported that they had heard Burns telling a "Mississippi nigger" joke on a flight to Washington, D.C.