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Members of Montana s American Indian Caucus on Tuesday released a statement supporting critical race theory, an academic movement centered on the idea that racism is systemic. The Indigenous lawmakers allege the inability to teach critical race theory will erode Indian Education For All, erase Indigenous identity and violate the state s constitution.
The two-and-a-half-page statement comes in response to Superintendent Elsie Arntzen and Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen, who have both expressed concern regarding critical race theory. Our schools should not be teaching debunked theories that twist and distort our history, and fringe philosophies that Americans have consistently rejected, Arntzen wrote in a May 12 blog post.
The Indigenous lawmakers allege the inability to teach critical race theory will erode Indian Education For All, erase Indigenous identity and violate the state's constitution.
The Montana Capitol
Native lawmakers in Montana say this year’s legislative session brought laws created without tribal government input.
The 2021 legislative session got off to an unusual and difficult start for everyone due to the pandemic. That unusual start meant lawmakers didn’t receive their regular orientation briefing from law school professors, including a lesson on the
Legislator’s Handbook that, “the best interests of Montana Tribes will be served by engaging in government-to-government relationships designed to recognize the rights, duties, and privileges of full citizenship that Indians are entitled to as citizens of this state.”
According to Todd Everts, the director of Legal Services at the state’s Legislative Services Division, this legal crash course was cut because the technology to allow law school professors to join remotely was not operational.
Democratic lawmakers from Montana’s American Indian Caucus entered the 2021 legislative session with the numbers stacked against them. Minorities within a minority party, Native American lawmakers often found themselves trying to snuff measures seeking to restrict voting access, limit the presence of wild bison on Montana lands, and rework public assistance programming. But there were successes, too. Native American lawmakers passed legislation to support Indigenous language education, and funding to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people was again approved by the Legislature and the governor. The caucus also found success working together on issues and presenting a unified message on social and natural resource issues.
The bills include:
HB 66 Rep. Terry Moore (R â Billings) Reauthorize securities restitution fund
HB 112 Rep. John Fuller (R - Whitefish) Require interscholastic athletes to participate under sex assigned at birth
HB 233 Rep. Fred Anderson (R - Great Falls) Revise funding for students with disabilities
HB 247 Rep. Marta Bertoglio (R â Clancy) Revise motor vehicle fleet registration
HB 257 Rep. Jedediah Hinkle (R â Belgrade) Revise laws relating to government mandates and businesses
HB 273 Rep. Derek Skees (R â Kalispell) Eliminate restrictions on nuclear facility development
HB 336 Rep. Brandon Ler (R â Savage) Interstate cooperative meatpacking compact
HB 426 Rep. Dennis Lenz (R - Billings) Revise laws regarding interactions between DPHHS and child and family ombudsman