The problem with law enforcement and governing matters on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation is you often only get one side of the story. And there’s a good reason for that. It’s only one side doing the talking.
This latest instance, in which a Great Falls man was arrested for posting critical comments of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council on Facebook, is a perfect example. Bryon Scott Farmer had been jailed since July 12 for violating Tribal Ordinance 67 – an unusual law that protects the council from “allegations of threats, slanderous material and misleading information” – and we wanted to know why.
When the Blackfeet’s chief prosecutor was reached by phone, the same man who signed the warrant for Farmer’s arrest, he said the tribe had “no more comments on the case” before hanging up. Calls made to other council members also went nowhere.
Only after we published the piece, citing court records that referenced a relatively tame Facebook post and the ordinance violation, did Blackfeet Tribal Business Council Chairman Willie Sharp Jr. call and say Farmer’s offense was worse than it looks. He accused Farmer of trying to incite violence at the July 13 North American Indian Days in Browning.
Perusing Farmer’s Facebook posts, that claim seems like a stretch. He wrote that he planned on building a float for the annual parade that would depict the tribal council in unflattering light, including comparisons to Hitler. “We are not planning anything violent or illegal,” Farmer added.
The council or parade organizers could have certainly prevented Farmer’s participation without locking him up for four days (he was released July 16, after his bail was reduced from $5,000 to $500).
Its most recent actions aside, getting any sort of response, much less an explanation, from the governing body of the Blackfeet is extremely difficult. And that would be less problematic if the questions involved more mundane municipal matters – say, planning and zoning disputes. But they don’t.
In May, Glacier County authorities accused Democratic state Sen. Shannon Augare, who is also a tribal councilman, of fleeing a sheriff’s deputy who said he smelled alcohol in Augare’s vehicle. Augare allegedly told the officer that he had no jurisdiction in the area.
Augare, an elected official, has repeatedly refused to comment on the matter. The tribe’s chief prosecutor, while adding that he wasn’t downplaying the allegations, said tribal police have “more serious things to take care of.” Apparently, that includes arresting rogue parade participants.
Eventually, after a number of stories were published, Augare’s case was turned over to federal prosecutors, which charged him with drunken driving and obstructing a peace officer.
Political unrest has gripped the reservation since last summer when four tribal councilors accused of violating the Blackfeet Constitution were suspended and the remaining five members declared a state of emergency over fears of violence and protests. At least one of the members was suspended for violating Ordinance No. 67, the same rule that landed Farmer in jail.
Perhaps the ongoing controversy can be attributed to a loud, but small, group of tribal members who relentlessly accuse the government of corruption, as the remaining Blackfeet councilors have previously contended.
But elected officials who arrest people for critical Facebook comments; suspend nearly half the tribal council without replacing them; and flee traffic stops over jurisdiction disputes, should probably expect some scrutiny.
And when they don’t respond, they only leave their government open to even more scrutiny.