Fueling the fires of racism - Montana deserves much better

Recently, a Guest View by Tammi Fisher posted in the Missoulian on September 18, 2022 expressed the author’s disdain of comments at a North Central Pachyderm meeting reported by the Havre Daily News, comments made by a former Montana legislator and current developer of a scorecard that the Montana GOP adopted to rank and comment on Montana legislators. Such scorecards are not for the purpose of determining best representation for Montana constituents, but to advance the agenda of the GOP machine. We thank Miss Fisher for bringing to light the latest racist comments and views which continue to plague our country.  

Ed Butcher’s comments are a reflection upon himself, his family, his community and the GOP. I am still trying to figure out how he can determine the intelligence of Native Americans? He surely cannot use himself as a frame of reference. His comments do bring up assessments such as “not being the brightest bulb in the pack” or being “one sandwich short of a picnic” or “not having both oars in the water.” Something tells me that he has heard these assessments during his lifetime. 

If the GOP has removed their acknowledgement of Native American constitutional rights, as Miss Fisher stated in her Sept. 18, 2022. Guest View, for an indigenous group that were here before Montana statehood and even before this new era of out-of-state migrants who feel they know what is best for the people of Montana, then it is their loss. And a loss for the people of Montana. For Native Americans have been teachers in American political ways, in farming, in sustaining the land, in war strategy and in living respectfully on this Earth. 

It comes as no surprise that there are still basic racists within Montana, as in any state in the union. What is always surprising and disappointing is when certain ill-advised and ill-spoken individuals display their miscreant behavior focused on an individual group of people, most of whom he has never met. Most of whom he will never meet. And we are better off for that.  

Mr. Butcher’s having to create a platform because he is no longer in the Montana Legislature shows his frustration and need for attention. Bullying propensities show when the individual is feeling out of control or a need to put someone down to feel better about themselves.  

There is an old adage “better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” If someone can find a third-grader to explain that to Ed Butcher, maybe he will understand that running down someone or a group of people does not make him a better or more knowledgeable person. Instead, it continues to highlight his ignorance, fear and hatred.

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Jeffrey Stiffarm is president of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council