FUTURE GENERATIONS OF RANCH CHILDREN ENDANGERED HUMAN SPECIES

In 1893 there were 500 Blackfeet brands, 25,000 Blackfeet owned cattle, cash for all needful things, rations, supplies, equipment and the people were self-sufficient. Today there are few Blackfeet ranchers, few Blackfeet owned cattle, and a system in place that exploits trust landowners in favor of white ranchers and third-party leasers who garner profits Blackfeet ranchers and landowners are entitled to under the 1896 Agreement/Article 5 reserving the entire reservation for the exclusive use and occupancy of Blackfeet ranchers. Glacier county land base is made of stolen Blackfeet allotted lands except for two townships on the eastern boundary and Pondera county land base is entirely on the reservation except for two townships on the southern boundary, and each county has over 500 ranches and farms located primarily on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. White men have stolen and usurped Blackfeet treaty rights to graze Blackfeet-owned cattle on the reservation. A lease policy enacted by the tribal council and BIA allows third-party Blackfeet to front for white men in obtaining leases under Indian preference. "Citizenship of cattle" is the issue here because when Blackfeet owned cattle grazed the reservation in 1893 the Indian ranchers obtained self-sufficiency. Under the current lease policy white ranchers in Glacier county profit $67,000,000 in sales of cows and crops while white ranchers in Pondera county profit $75,000,000 in sales of cows and crops. How much does the tribal council and BIA lease policy profit for Blackfeet ranchers and trust landowners? I worked at the boarding school where many ranch kids lived during the school year but they did not have a future in ranching because of the tribal council and BIA lease policy favoring white men and third-party Blackfeet lessors. It is a criminal scheme and I have requested an investigation by the new Secretary of the Interior Zinke to correct the Bureau of Indian Affairs lease policy and to investigate third-party schemes to defraud the trust landowners of lease money and ranchers of their treaty right to graze Blackfeet-owned cattle on the reservation. The knowledge obtained by generations of Blackfeet ranchers on managing the range and water systems to become self-sufficient in production of basic foods and to produce a surplus to generate cash for all needful things. We live in a global economy and Chinese Government Purchasers came to the tribal council to offer to buy Blackfeet beef products and rated our beef superior to all other ranches in the United States. The tribal council and BIA are operating a century old exploitation of Blackfeet grazing lands for the white man. Chief White Calf protested the BIA turning our reservation into a white man's cow pasture. In the 'return on investment' of the lease policy trust landowners suffer under the BIA, we get 1/2 of one percent of the returns white men and third-party Blackfeet profit from leasing tribal and allotted lands. That is stealing the grass and treaty rights of the Blackfeet Indians. And, that is how the white man profits $67,000,000 and $75,000,000 from leasing our remaining lands and stealing 605 Blackfeet allotments in the forced patents cases. All of our problems stem from white men and crooked BIA and tribal council members usurpation of treaty rights of the Blackfeet people. In addition to all of these crimes the tribal council approved the water compact without any input from Blackfeet ranchers, trust landowners, or water rights owners and extinguished our allotted land claims. How will we able to function in the future if we lose all of our treaty rights and stolen lands? Vote no on the water compact it will give the white man title to our stolen lands and water rights, forever! Let us meet and discuss the issues before we vote on the water compact. What do we, the people, want from the water compact, and how can we secure the future for our coming generations. What changes do we want from the BIA and tribal council including funding Blackfeet cattle ranchers. Let us meet in a general council of the people as we did before we became white men under tribal democracy. Bob Juneau Sr.