Shed Racist Image Through Actions

Sat., Oct. 10, 1998

By D.F. Oliveria daveo@spokesman.com (509) 319-0354

So, Lewis County Commissioner Laurine Nightengale hates reading stories about the North Central Idaho Jurisdictional Alliance? She thinks the reports make non-Indians on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation look like racists?

Then she should do something about it.

She could start by telling the bull-headed county, town, school and road district officials in her group to communicate and cooperate with the Nez Perce Tribe - not litigate against it. The coalition doesn’t have the money - or much of a chance - to win its quixotic legal fight against the Nez Perce and Indian sovereignty.

Besides, the two sides have much to offer each other.

All Nightengale has to do is look to the neighboring Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation to see how a prospering tribe can help non-Indian neighbors.

In Plummer alone, the Coeur d’Alenes serve the region by operating a supermarket, shopping center, health and dental clinics, and an athletic club. The Coeur d’Alenes have used proceeds from their bingo casino to build a new tribal school and shore up funding for local public schools. They also plan to build a major recreation area and expand their Plummer headquarters.

Significantly, the Coeur d’Alenes are equal opportunity employers. A majority of their 700 employees are non-Indians. A good-paying job in a community that once depended on the depressed timber industry is invaluable. Money from those jobs supports restaurants, smoke shops and other businesses owned by Indians and non-Indians.

The Coeur d’Alenes also provide a model for their Indian Country neighbors, the Nez Perce.

Chairman Ernie Stensgar and other Coeur d’Alene leaders look for ways to extend a hand to their neighbors. Repeatedly, Stensgar has said he wants to create a national model that will show how Indian, state and local governments should work together.

The key word here is “governments.”

By treaty, the Coeur d’Alenes, Nez Perces and some 500 other American Indian tribes are recognized as sovereign governments within the United States. Somewhat like state government, Indian government has certain authority over an area (within reservation boundaries), yet is subject to the U.S. Constitution and federal law. The price American Indians paid for that limited authority was forfeiture of their ancestral lands.

We should respect our treaties.

Local journalism is essential.

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