News & Commentary

In January 2017, after traveling nearly 90 miles to cheer on their children, Brandy and Elsworth GoesAhead, Whitney Holds, and Emerine Whiteplume — known as the Pryor Four — were denied entrance to the Reed Point gymnasium by Athletic Director Teresa Bare. Waiting outside the school in cold winter weather, the Pryor Four knocked on the door seeking entrance.  Ms. Bare opened the door for another individual and announced, “we don’t have any workers yet, so we are only letting white people in.” Read more about their lawsuit. 

Many commentators express astonishment that deliberate misinformation and broken promises are now the hallmarks of American government. Indigenous communities and individuals, however, don’t share that surprise. For them, the last two hundred years are filled with broken promises and deliberate misinformation from a government hell-bent on occupying every corner of the continent. This fall, the United States Supreme Court has a chance to finally hold the government accountable for the promises that it made to the Crow Tribe in Montana. Those promises, ratified in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, guarantee the right of the Crow to hunt and fish on all “unoccupied lands” of the United States.

I was traveling along HWY 12 to Helena from Missoula. My coworker was driving our rental vehicle, and we were headed there for meetings. About five miles outside of Avon, a Montana Highway Patrol car driving in the opposite direction made a swift U-turn in the middle of the highway after passing us. The patrol car’s lights flashed. We knew we were about to be stopped.

As organizations who work tirelessly to combat racial discrimination in Montana, we share the concerns of the Indigenous community regarding the racially inflammatory costumes and behavior displayed during the Helena Vigilante Day Parade. The perpetuation of Native American stereotypes exemplified by the Buffalo Jump float in the parade is unacceptable. We are calling on the Helena Public Schools administration to review and update their approval policy for floats in order to provide for adequate vetting.

The movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline or, on social media #NoDAPL, has been a Native-led, organized effort. Indigenous activists, lawyers, and media have taken to social media so make people aware of the civil rights violations happening under the watchful eye of the North Dakota Governor and the Morton County Police Department.Although #NoDAPL is miles away in another state, Montanans feel very passionate in showing solidarity with them. Here are a few events that ACLU of Montana has been involved in:In October, in partnership with The Montana Racial Equity Project based in Bozeman, we organized “Montana Stands with Standing Rock,” an event at the Headwaters of the Missouri River. Indigenous leaders prayed and blessed the headwaters and Indigenous activists and community le

The movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline or, on social media #NoDAPL, has been a Native-led, organized effort. Indigenous activists, lawyers, and media have taken to social media so make people aware of the civil rights violations happening under the watchful eye of the North Dakota Governor and the Morton County Police Department.Although #NoDAPL is miles away in another state, Montanans feel very passionate in showing solidarity with them. Here are a few events that ACLU of Montana has been involved in:In October, in partnership with The Montana Racial Equity Project based in Bozeman, we organized “Montana Stands with Standing Rock,” an event at the Headwaters of the Missouri River. Indigenous leaders prayed and blessed the headwaters and Indigenous activists and community le