© 2023 Concerned Citizens of Western Montana

This is part 3 of a series on the Tribal Inheritance.

Per Capita Payments to Tribal Members are “Corporate Dividends”

Section 8 of the CS&K tribe’s Corporate Charter is titled Corporate Dividends.  It provides that :

The tribe MAY issue to each of its members a non-transferable certificate of membership evidencing the equal share of each member in the assets of the tribe and MAY distribute per capita, among the recognized members of the tribe, all profits of corporate enterprises over and above sums necessary to defray corporate obligations to members of the tribe or to other persons and over and above all sums which may be devoted to the establishment of a reserve fund, the construction of public works, the costs of public enterprises, the expenses of tribal government, the needs of charity, or other corporate purpose. Any such distribution of profits in any 1 year amounting to a per capita cash payment of $100 or more, or amounting to a distribution of more than one-half of the accrued surplus, shall not be made without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

Per Capita Distributions

Corporate Dividends pertain to all per capita payments that are paid out to the membership, the annual per capita distributions as well as special distributions such as the $10,000 Cobell Settlement money that the members received in 2012.

The Tribal Council Minutes show that currently the annual per capita payments paid to tribal members are $1,200 per year as follows:

The Tribal Council minutes show that $400 payments are made to tribal members three times annually in December, April and August.

Minors:  The policy also provides that ½ of each per capita distribution for each minor enrolled child is issued to their parent or legal guardian and the remaining ½ is places in a BIA trust account to accumulate and earn interest until minor reaches legal age.

Reimbursements for debt owed to the Tribe: The Director of Financial Management is authorized to apply per capita funds against debts of a tribal member including judgments held by Tribal Court, assignments through Tribal Credit, and voluntary child support and to those accounts under the control of the Superintendent.    

The Per Capita is….

……SHRINKING

In 1954, the per capita payment to tribal members was $200, and in 2024, it is $1,200.  While that may seem like a nice increase, what if we told you that the dollar in 1954 was worth far more than a 2024 dollar and when you convert that $200 to today’s money, if nothing else changed, the per capita should now be $2,300?  That means that the $1,200 tribal members receive today have nearly 48% less purchasing power than the tribal members had in 1954.  On the other side of that coin, the $1,200 tribal members receive today equal $105 1954 dollars.  In other words in 2024 tribal members are receiving roughly half of the monetary value as tribal members received 70 years ago.

Here’s the Comparison:

Per Capita Comparison

Federal Spending on the Tribes is ……..

….GROWING

The 1954 Congressional Testimony for the termination of federal supervision over the Flathead Tribes showed that the federal budget for the tribe in 1954 was $150,000.  In today’s dollars that would be a little more than $1.7 million dollars.

For the last 10 years or so, federal spending on the CSKT each year equals $170.8 million if you exclude the tribes’ “Aerospace Contracts,” and is a WHOPPING $436.2 million dollars if you include the “Aerospace contract” money.  

Comparing that to the 1954 spending converted to 2024 dollars, the Feds are spending anywhere from 99 to 243 times more money on the tribes each year than it did in 1954!

No matter how you look at this kind of money, it cannot be called “self-determination.”

Avg Federal Spending

Tribal Corporate Enterprises

As a reminder, Section 8 of the CSKT Corporate says that the tribal government:

MAY distribute per capita, among the recognized members of the tribe, all profits of CORPORATE ENTERPRISES over and above sums necessary to defray corporate obligations to members of the tribe or to other persons and over and above all sums which may be devoted to the establishment of a reserve fund, the construction of public works, the costs of public enterprises, the expenses of tribal government, the needs of charity, or other corporate purpose.

The use of the word “May” means that the tribe can distribute the profits of its corporate enterprises, but it is not required to do so.

Since 1954, the number of corporate enterprises of the tribe has significantly grown as follows:

CSKT Corporate Enterprises

Is it possible that the per capita shrinkage over the past 70 years means that these tribal enterprises are all losing money?  One would think that with the ownership of Kerr Dam and two Casinos, that the tribe would be making money hand over fist and at least some of it would be shared with the membership of the tribe. If these corporations are as profitable as the tribal government wants its membership and the world to believe, then WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE THE PROFITS GOING?

Congressional Lobbying?  Attorneys? Embezzlement? Anywhere but to the tribal members?

Is it at all possible these corporations are little more than shell corporations established for the purpose of federal money laundering?  

Is there a multi-billion dollar tribal reserve fund sitting around somewhere and if so are its details shared with the tribal members?  After all, the tribe has an equal share in the tribal inheritance.

We fully expect that just like the tribe’s manipulation of net power revenues for Mission Valley Power to make sure the project could not be rehabbed for irrigators, the tribe also manipulates the profits of the tribal corporate enterprises so there are very little if any to have to share with the tribal members.

It is highly likely the tribal inheritance is being stolen right out from under them.

The tribal membership in 1954 had it right.  Federal supervision of the tribe should have been terminated and the assets of the tribe liquidated for distribution to the membership.

Had that happened in 1954, these people would already have the benefit of their inheritance and the ability to pass that inheritance down to their children and their families for far better lives than they have right now. Each person could have used that money for the purpose of charting their own self determination.  

Adding to this mix is the lack of transparency with respect to any public scrutiny of the tribe’s financial information   One thing we know for certain is that the tribe has multi millions and possibly billions of dollars flowing through its books.  Only the federal government knows for sure the value of the tribal assets and lands that are held in trust for the CSKT tribal membership. 

Perhaps the time has come to demand a full and independent accounting of the value of these assets and  funds so that tribal members can make an informed choice about freeing themselves, and everyone else, from the tyrannical chains that currently bind us all.

If you are interested, here is a copy of one chart listing the information isolated in this article. Click on the photo below for a pdf copy.

Updated financial summary

See Also:

Follow Our Blog

If you’d like to receive email notifications when we post something on the blog here’s how to do it:

To Follow the Blog:  While on any page of the blog, you will see a list of recent blog posts on the left side of the page.  Scroll down to just below the articles and you will see a section that says: 

Follow Western Montana Water Rights.

It should give you a choice to sign into wordpress or to allow you to enter your email address to follow the blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Simply enter your email address in the box provided and click the button that says FOLLOW.