The Blackfeet Water Compact does not allow the Blackfeet Trust Landowners to market allotted lands water rights "off-reservation" and when we get a bid on Blackfeet water development from China or Las Vegas Casinos, both of whom have been in meetings with the tribal council but nothing came of those meetings although the Chinese Government Purchasers offered to purchase Blackfeet water, beef, oil or any other product the Blackfeet have to offer, and the Chinese representatives called us Blackfeet "relatives" and were very friendly toward the tribe. On the other hand, the Montana Legislature has sent trade missions to China with little success in selling wheat, or beef to Chinese Government markets. The Blackfeet Indians were not included in state of Montana trade missions, and our Senator did nothing for the Blackfeet in opening up trade with China, the biggest global market for drinking water. Why do we care about Montana? In the water compact there is the handicap prohibiting off-reservation marketing of Blackfeet products and the "first right of refusal" clause in the water compact agreed to by the tribal council without any consultation with tribal landowners effectively giving white landowners on the reservation the opportunity to drain our allotted lands because the reservation is checker-boarded with white fee lands due to the forced patents cases. The tribal council refused to include allotted Blackfeet landowners to have a say in the negotiations although the council is illiterate in treaty and agreement rights and just do what white men and BIA tell them to do, and foolishly signed away tribal water rights for a cash endowment for tribal council members to spend on themselves and their families way into the future. Vote no on the water compact until we get our land and water rights back and our cash payment of $600 million due to thousands of Blackfeet heirs to original Blackfeet allottees robbed in the forced patents cases tossed away by the tribal council in the water compact. What are the allotted water rights worth?
Valuation Formula for Blackfeet "glacial" waters flowing to the reservation from Glacier Park.
One Acre Foot of water contains 325,850 gallons of water, and let us estimate the value @ $1.00 per gallon =$325,850 per acre foot of Blackfeet drinking water. We own 1.3 million acres of allotted Blackfeet lands. Tell me the value! I need a math major to count that high but you can see it is worth many millions per year. Exterminate Restrictions in off-reservation water marketing, the state cannot stop us from selling our water to China and I doubt the compact would survive a class-action lawsuit by tribal land owners for defrauding us by the BTBC-state of Montana, and the Federal Bureau of Reclamation water compact. The Supreme Court ruled the tribe cannot sue for doing a stupid business deal, so we are stuck with that water compact forever, and poor forever if it is approved. I am trying to solicit bids for our waters so we can prove the worth of our water in global water markets. There are opportunities for reservation-based bottled water plant facility, food & beverage processing plants which need a dependable source of clean water for corporations, but if we do the compact the way it is written all business opportunities will be usurped by white men as usual.
Bob Juneau Sr. Blackfeet patriot, we need a tribal water compact hearing on allotted water rights.
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