Fort Belknap slates series of water rights meetings

The Fort Belknap Indian Community Council has set a series of meetings to talk with members of the Gros Ventre and Assinniboine tribes about water rights, including one set for tonight in Hays.

With a water compact approved by the Montana state government but stalled in Congress, the council has in recent years held meetings to educate people about the compacts and the importance of water rights.

The series started Sunday in Billings with the Billings Indian Community and continues tonight from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hays-Lodge Pole High School in Hays.

Tuesday, a meeting will have two sessions, both at the Fort Belknap Bingo Hall for the Fort Belknap Indian Community and tribal employees. The first session runs from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and the second from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

A meeting will also run Tuesday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Great Northern Inn in Havre, with a 6 to 8:30 p.m. meeting set Wednesday at the Lodge Pole Senior Center and from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Dodson Senior Center.

Topics for discussion at the meetings include:

• Why a water rights settlement is needed

• What rivers and creeks are included in the Fort Belknap tribes’ water rights

• How much water belongs to the tribes

• What is the economic gain from enforceable water rights

• What happened to land transfers

• What about Grinnell Lands

•  Answers to questions from people at the workshops.