Blackfeet Opportunity!

Blackfeet people this is our opportunity to do a good turn for ourselves and re-start our Blackfeet cattle industry, which is a treaty-goal of the United States in the 1896 Agreement/Article Five. The white stockmen in Glacier County living on the stolen Blackfeet allotments produce upwards of $75 million per year in sales of cattle and small livestock and farm operations. The sales of Blackfeet bottled water are estimated to be billions of dollars in domestic and global markets including China and Las Vegas casinos, who were in the tribal office a few years ago offering to purchase Blackfeet beef and bottled water. First we need the services of a natural resources economist to inventory allotted water resources and to find markets for the bottled water and to find domestic food and beverage corporations to relocate to the reservation and establish a bottling plant or food processing operation. Coca Cola, Hunts Food, Del Monte, Budweiser, or Pepsi have a need to expand their operations and need a dependable source of water for their products. The trouble is nobody knows about us and our quality water sources. There would be profits and jobs for people to end the 80% unemployment rate. The state-tribal water compact signed by Earl Old Person and Sassy Running Crane simply gives the tribal council a cash payment from the state, which I saw on State.T.V. that the legislature set aside $150 million which will pay off the Blackfeet $15 million per year with the interest on the principal and cost the state nothing in the end. The tribal council is deep in debt and the money will go to pay off their debts and leave us with no cash and no water. I hate to be critical but that is a stupid deal. The Blackfeet landowners and allottees are roped into this deal and we get nothing. In addition the border-whites will have a first right of refusal to take over any business deal the Blackfeet develop, that is the white people on the reservation and Cut Bank, Conrad, and Valier, the very people who robbed us for 100 years. The Blackfeet Constitution and Charter give us the right to form tribal cooperatives, and tribal corporations made of Blackfeet landowners "to cut out the middleman" and market our own products. The water compact will be voted on by the Montana Legislature in 2015 and I am sure it will pass since it gives the white man our water for pennies, so time is short to organize ourselves. As I understand it the final say in approval or disapproval will be a tribal referendum conducted by the BIA. Compacts are forever, so we must do for ourselves what the BTBC and BIA have failed to do since 1935. I wonder if Lita Pepion will research planning grants in the Billings Area Office, and others will approach the tribal council for a planning grant to hire the experts we need to inventory our water resources prior to signing any compact. Once we know our facts then we can approach corporations to joint-venture with us and to re-start the cattle industry. We can do all of this without winning our land claims as we have 900,000 acres left, and as we organize we can work on our land claims with strength and wisdom. We need all of the people to pull together to get this done, I know there are lawyers and experts out there, please join us. I live in Missoula so I can go to the University Forestry Dept. for information on water marketing and the Indian Law Center for legal help. Everyone is welcome. Bob Juneau Sr.