DPHHS tribal health positions restored

The Montana Joint Subcommittee Section B voted 15 to 9 last Thursday to restore two tribal health positions within the Montana Department of Health and Human Services that were eliminated as part of House Bill 2 earlier in the session.

The positions, tribal relations manager, held by Blackfeet tribal member Lesa Evers, and director of American Indian health, held by Karen Cantrell, were scheduled to be officially eliminated at the end of this fiscal year.

Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy D-Box Elder., who lead the effort to restore these positions, said with this vote it will be like it never happened.

Windy Boy said these positions appeared to have been meaninglessly singled out among the thousands of positions within DPHHS. He said even if they weren’t consciously singled out, that is certainly what it looks like.

Opponents of Windy Boy’s legislation argued that these positions were duplicative, but he said these arguments, especially in the face of open opposition from DPHHS Director Adam Meier and countless people in Indian country, were weak.

He said these positions, one of which was created through negotiation between the tribes and the Bullock administration years ago, provide important guidance to tribal health organizations.

“For Rocky Boy and Fort Belknap, they call on the positions to give direction,” he said.

He said Chippewa Cree Business Committee Chair Harlan Gopher Baker, and Fort Belknap Indian Community Council President Andrew Werk Jr. were relieved by the vote.

Windy Boy said this is the most hyper-partisan session of his lifetime, just as bad as the federal level, and has been an uphill battle for the tribes of Montana with so many bills threatening effective tribal operations and sovereignty.

Especially concerning, he said, was the consistent lack of communication by bill sponsors with the tribes regarding many bills that affect them, something he said legislators are required by law to do.