2021 Jestin Dupree for Tribal Chairman

I wanted to share a few reasons as to why I, Jestin Dupree, chose to run for the Fort Peck Tribal Chairman position. I was born and raised in Poplar, MT, graduated from the Poplar High School, and joined the United States Army in 1998. I was a combat veteran who served our country for over 16 years and did 5 tours of duty overseas as an infantryman. I ended my military career in 2014 with a rank in the US Army as a senior non-commissioned officer. While I served my country, I had a chance to live in many places such as Fort Drum, New York; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Benning, Georgia; and various parts of Iraq along with rough parts of Afghanistan, and Northern Bosnia. It was in these places that I had a chance to meet some great individuals who helped me to build my leadership skills, which would later benefit me in my role as a leader serving on tribal council. In the end I wanted to return home to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation to not only use my military background as a tool, but to be able to make a difference for my people including my two girls, Emma and Kaylee, who I love with all my heart.

Once home, I became a tribal police officer working in the Poplar School District as a school resource officer before becoming a council member for the Fort Peck Tribes. I had been fortunate enough to be elected to our council for the past 6 years, one term as the Sergeant-at-Arms and two terms as a tribal council member. This experience has given me a chance to be able to learn from our former and present leaders about the complex situations our tribal government has had to encounter.

To begin with, there are several accomplishments that our current tribal government has done well while I have been on council. In this article, I can share a few but not all. The first being our current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mr. Randy Redpath who has done an exemplary job. He began working with us in 2016. Mr. Redpath is a Montana Native who has worked with other reservations prior to coming to the Fort Peck Tribes. He manages several departments and oversees financial controls for our 638 programs. By 2019, we passed our yearly audit with no findings. That alone is an accomplishment for the Fort Peck Tribes as it shows that our financial department is functioning successfully. In 2020, the Fort Peck Tribes had another perfect audit making it two years in a row. This speaks volumes for our tribes, mainly because once the internal financial controls were reviewed, no deficiencies were found. Recognition of this fact seems to go unnoticed and I would like to commend Mr. Redpath for his continual and tremendous effort.

Another accomplishment is our ability to adapt and overcome whatever situations may arise or find a way to come to a compromise, as a whole, to deal with the many difficult circumstances. One such circumstance has been how we have been able to deal with COVID 19. This was a situation no one could have foreseen, including the federal and state governments. As a tribe, not only did we brace ourselves for the pandemic, we excelled to the point where several other reservation leaders have called upon the Fort Peck Tribes for our set precedents. In turn, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the lives of those 54 tribal members who we lost to COVID 19.

I have thought a lot about positive changes, especially in this last year of a government divide. I believe that simple changes could be implemented to improve our government function. One important change would be to continually keep the lines of communication open for all stakeholders involved. I believe interaction within the tribal executive board (TEB), our tribal directors and our tribal members is key to a successful government.

Now speaking of the government divide, I am sure that all of you are aware of the weekly newspaper articles in the Fort Peck Journal submitted by our current chairman. I want to address this issue. We have no control over what the chairman chooses to print. At first, almost all of us wanted to respond to these letters and in fact some of us have. Each week, action taken by the council has been twisted and so many untruths by the chairman are put to press. If we counter these accusations, more untruths are put to print which generates more negativity. The fact is, these untruths should never have been published unless every accusation was backed by a fact. Those of us tribal executive members who are under attack in these articles have just decided to carry out our daily duties in the best way we can and by trying to address each accusation prior to elections. The current chairman refuses to interact with us on a daily basis except through a few random emails and by chairing our bi-weekly executive meetings. What is confusing is how the chairman can print such accusations when he is not actively participating in these meetings or at least asking questions to understand what action was taken and why?

I take my position as councilman for the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes seriously. Public statements as a whole should be printed as an elected government, not as the opinion of one elected official. These accusations and untruths that Chairman Floyd Azure is publishing are an embarrassment, ridiculous, and need to stop. Our public recordings of actual meetings are the real truth and we will not stop the recordings.

If you vote for me, these are the changes I feel could eliminate any discord in the future: 1) DAILY MEETINGS WITH THE TRIBAL EXECUTIVE BOARD - There should be a constant flow of communication between the TEB and the chairman’s office. The chairman’s office should always have an open door with the TEB members, directors, our tribal members, and everyone in between. Our tribal chairman should be speaking with our council on what tasks they are wanting to accomplish at the beginning of the day and following up at the end of the day. These open communication lines are not currently taking place and our current Tribal Chairman is not making this happen.

2) COMMUNITY MEETINGS – Each town on our reservation deserves to be informed and updated. I would like to continue the practice that I have been doing when I am able to physically come to each town's community hall and have an open discussion with our tribal members. I started out after this last term and had community meetings in each community. The turnout was rather low, but we did have meetings regardless of how many attended. Then of course the Covid 19 virus hit here. I would like to accomplish this task every 4-6 months, if allowed. Our current Tribal Chairman is not making this happen.

3) DIRECTOR MEETINGS – One of the big components of our tribal organization would have to be our directors and their staff members who make our programs function. A great deal of credit should go to these directors and staff because they are the heartbeat of our organization. We need to have director’s meetings in order to keep everyone apprised and motivated to operate. Our current Tribal Chairman is not making this happen.

4) DIRECTOR EVALUATIONS – Our Director’s deserve to be evaluated properly and evaluated a few times a year. This is important for professional, personal, and developmental growth for our individual authority figures. Their individual growth reflects back on their departmental employees, which in turn would enhance our programs. I feel that our tribal members and our business associates deserve the best product we can offer. Currently our Tribal Chairman hand writes an evaluation and no follow up is ever sought.

5) LAW AND JUSTICE UPDATES – Our tribal members and non-tribal members deserve to be updated on all events pertaining to this discussion. Currently we are not getting any public service announcements pertaining to what goes on in our Law & Justice System. We should be informing our tribal members of constant things our tribal police officers, jails, and court systems are doing and keep them updated on the numerous things they are doing well. When it comes time for discipline that should be held professionally and fair. Our current Tribal Chairman is not making this happen.

6) BETTER COMMUNICATION WITH OUR SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES / AGENCIES – We have neighbors around our reservation who work and live near or on our tribal lands. We should always have an open door for these neighbors to feel welcomed on our tribal lands and that should go both ways. There are some good people that border our reservations and our students attend their schools and live in those respective communities. I believe that our Tribal Chairman should make an effort to meet with their community leaders in order to establish good working relationships. This does not happen.

7) CONTINUED TRANSPARENCY – One of the key things I have come to learn is that our tribal members deserve to be informed and updated. This is a challenging discussion on how to accomplish this task, but I feel this is something I have been doing for the past 6 years while serving as an elected official for the Fort Peck Tribes. It is important for our tribal members to know what your government is doing and you deserve that information. Currently our Tribal Chairman makes no attempt to update our membership on any matters pertaining to the tribe, even though it is written in the constitution. When is the last time you have heard our current Chairman give an update on our full board meetings when the Chairman’s report comes up on what is happening with our Tribes? This current Chairman will not give any updates and will just go to whatever agency is reporting for that day.

TESTIFYING – A privilege that we as legislators for the Fort Peck Tribes is to be able to testify at the local, state, and federal levels on issues that affect Indian Country. This past Montana Legislative Session was not favorable to our Montana Tribes. Many referendums and house bills threatened to infringe on various rights as Indian people and our sovereignty as Tribes. Every Tribe sent representation to voice their opposition and/or negotiate outcomes of these many issues that are so important. The difficult part of this task is traveling to these locations in order to testify on behalf of our tribal members and their interests. I have traveled to Helena, Washington DC, and various other places to advocate for our rights. Our current Tribal Chairman failed to accomplish this task and would rather not show up and do his diligence in these areas and I feel that is unacceptable.

9) BOARDS I HAVE PARTICIPATED ON – Our current Tribal Chairman does not have any other tasks or boards to serve on that I am aware of.

FORT PECK TRIBES EXECUTIVE BOARD – I have been elected to the Council for the last 6 years. My first term I ran for Sgt. At Arms and was successful. I have been a councilman for the last two terms. I currently serve as the Law and Justice Committee Chairman and Finance Chairman. For our last term I was able to serve as the Vice Chairman for the Law and Justice Committee and the Economic Development Vice Chairman.

POPLAR SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE – I have been elected to this position going on my 2nd term and have been on for the last 4 years. I have been able to serve on the Indian School Board Caucus as well as a school board delegate assembly member.

FORT PECK COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS – I have been fortunate to have served on the FPCC Board of Directors for the last two terms.

FORT PECK TRIBES INTERTRIBAL BUFFALO COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE – I have been able to serve in this capacity for the last two years.

NORTHERN TRIBES DUI TASK FORCE – I have been able to have been a part of this task force for the last two terms. This is a task force that has multiple tribes involved along with state agencies to assist with this task.

MONTANA STATE-TRIBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – I have been able to be involved with this commission for the last few years. This is a board that stays involved with the tribal planning departments in order to get economic development projects going.

ROOSEVELT COUNTY 911 BOARD – I am a council representative for the county 911 board. We are able to meet and get local and state agencies on the same page.

VA / IHS NATIONAL CARE COORDINATING TEAM COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE – I have been placed on this committee, as I am a combat veteran and will always work for our veterans to receive better care.

NATIONAL VETERANS AFFAIRS TRIBAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER - I was recently nominated for this committee and am waiting on the approval.

MONTANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY – I am the tribal representative for all Montana Tribes for this organization.

There will be more discussion when the time comes, but I feel I have learned what a tribal chairman’s task and purpose is. I commend our current tribal chairman and our former leaders for their service to our Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes, but it is time for a fair change. Our tribal members deserve to have a professional, functioning government.

Please support the following Candidates seeking a position within our tribal council: Wayne Martell (New Candidate) Robert “Bob” Welch (New Candidate) Michael “Mike” Youngman Sr., Vice Chairman (New Candidate) Emerson Young (Incumbent) Frank L. Gourneau Jr. (Incumbent) Patt Iron Cloud Runs Through (Incumbent) Carolyn Bighorn Brugh (Incumbent) Kaci Wallette (Incumbent) Pete “Tonto” Dupree (New Candidate) Sean Bighorn (New Candidate) Thanks for your time and please feel free to reach out with any ideas or recommendations. I look forward to being your Tribal Chairman and serving our tribes as I always have. Respectfully, Jestin Dupree