BISMARCK, N.D. - Sen. Byron Dorgan asked North Dakota tribal leaders what they thought about federal budget proposals on American Indian programs, and he got an earful.
Dorgan, D-N.D., discussed budget issues Thursday with leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux, Spirit Lake Sioux, Three Affiliated Tribes and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa - North Dakota's four largest tribes.
Tex Hall, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes, said current funding allows for medical treatment for only about six months out of the year on reservations. He and Dorgan said more funding is available for prison health care.
"There is a joke on the reservations that if a person wants to get a surgery, they got to do a crime," Hall said.
Dorgan said the budget proposal sent to Congress earlier this month also cuts money for Indian housing, health and education programs. His staff said it cuts about $77 million from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and he called it "misguided" and "disappointing."
Tribal leaders said the proposal also slashes funding for police, fire and tribal courts.
They also seek more money for job development. Unemployment on Indian reservations in the Dakotas is about 75 percent, Hall said.
About 75 people attended the hearing Thursday at United Tribes Technical College, which faces a $3.5 million budget cut under the budget proposal. The cut represents about half of the college's current operating budget.
What I don't understand is why these tribes continue to expect a steady flow of tax dollars from the federal government. At every turn in the road the tribes stand on the "sovereignty" of their reservations. They want legalized gambling. In many cases they don't want our law enforcement officers to have jurisdiction on their land. They want their own license plates and autonomy to create their own laws. Yet, when it comes time to pay the bills, they always want Uncle Sam to open the checkbook.
Mr. Hall is absolutely correct when he describes the situation on the reservations. It is abhorrent. Sky-high unemployment rates (in the low 60's last time I checked), rampant substance abuse and low levels of education. But the question we should be asking ourselves is not "How do we get them more money." It is, "Why isn't what we've given in the past enough?"
For decades upon decades our government has poured billions of tax dollars into these reservations. Education programs. Economic development projects. Drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs. Medical aid programs. Housing programs. You name it, we've provided it. We've even gone so far as to allow the tribes to legalize gambling, something that was supposed to create jobs and a steady source of revenue for these reservations. And yet, things have never gotten better. The tax dollars continue to flow in, and if the tens of millions of dollars donated to politicians by tribal gambling interests through corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff tell us anything, the Indian casinos are doing just fine. So why is nothing changing?
Could it be that we've provided so much assistance that few of these Native Americans have had incentive to improve themselves? To achieve something beyond collecting on tax-funded entitlements? To raise above the level of abject poverty and nescience? I think that's likely.
There is no denying that the Native Americans were treated poorly by our government in the past. But that was generations and billions upon billions of tax dollars spent on restitution in the form of aid and development programs ago. Obviously, throwing money at this problem isn't working. Something else is wrong, and I think its the system itself.
I say it is high time we ended this system of Indian segregation. Lets end the reservation system and invite the people of these tribes to integrate with the rest of American society.
I think we'd all be better off.