Tribes Say Chenoweth Ignores Them Some Members Are Still Steamed About Her Remarks Last Spring

U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth is the only member of Idaho’s congressional delegation who won’t meet with Idaho’s Indian tribes and ignores their concerns, tribal leaders said Monday.

Chenoweth said in a recent interview she’s willing to meet with tribes any time. “The only time anyone’s number was left, it must’ve been a car phone or a cellular phone. There never was an answer.”

But tribal leaders who gathered in Boise on Monday said they’ve had little luck getting through to her. Several still are stinging from a comment she made last spring, when speaking out against the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s proposed National Indian Lottery.

Chenoweth called the Coeur d’Alenes one of “my Indian tribes” and said, “We don’t want them to be twinkle-dusted off into something that allows them to be used by a very large company.”

Ernie Stensgar, Coeur d’Alene tribal chairman, said, “It’s very difficult to respond to someone who refers to us as ‘their Indians.’ We’re not anyone’s little Indians. We’re a tribal people and we want to maintain our integrity.”

Stensgar said the Coeur d’Alenes were shocked when Chenoweth decided to co-sponsor legislation from a New Jersey congressman banning new Indian gaming ventures like the national lottery.

“She was siding with them against Idaho tribes and against an Idaho constituency,” he said. “We thought, ‘How could you, without talking to us?”’

Chenoweth said, “I think the lottery and gaming should be a states’ rights issue … I think it should remain in the state’s hands.”

Chenoweth also has clashed with tribes over tribal involvement in wolf reintroduction, and interceded in a land dispute between Nez Perce tribal members and non-Indians.

Chenoweth said her goal there was just to “even the playing field a little bit,” because the tribal members had access to Legal Aid services and the non-Indians “had run out of money.” She persuaded a property rights group in Washington, D.C., to represent the non-Indians.

“The point with the wolves is the issue of state sovereignty,” Chenoweth said. “My interest was simply states’ rights.”

She added, “I think we’re going to have to address that question for everyone’s peace of mind: Are they a sovereign nation or aren’t they? If they are a sovereign nation, can a state contract with a tribe for something that in the state is illegal?”

She contends the wolf reintroduction process is illegal in Idaho. State Fish & Game officials offer a different interpretation. Under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has jurisdiction over all endangered species, including wolves, said Jon Rachael, a Fish & Game wildlife biologist. A state law prevents the Fish & Game Department from participating in wolf reintroduction.

Chenoweth, Stensgar said, “has made some outlandish statements we can only appraise as talking out of ignorance. I don’t think she understands the federal-tribal relationship.”

When Coeur d’Alene tribal representatives go to Washington, D.C., they try to schedule meetings with congressional representatives along with their other business.

Chenoweth said she met with Nez Perce tribal members in Washington, D.C., when she first took office. She’s never met with the other tribes in the 1st Congressional District.

“That kind of rapport, we’ve always had that in the past,” Stensgar said. “We haven’t been able to get those appointments with our congress lady.”

, DataTimes