Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, chairman of the Idaho Indian Affairs Council, has put out a guest opinion on the flap over proposed legislation from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe regarding cross-deputization, after a three-year dispute between the tribe and the Benewah County Sheriff. "The purpose of this guest opinion is not to discuss the merits of the proposed legislation," Jorgenson writes. "It is to address the inflammatory and patently untrue claims of its opponents now circulating.  Statements by groups such as the Idaho Eagle Forum and the North Idaho Citizens Alliance,  generally considered a radical Anti-Indian activist group, do a substantial injustice to Idaho Indian Tribes and are stoking unwarranted fears in local citizens."

Jorgenson said claims that the still-to-be-introduced legislation would remove sheriffs' authority or subject non-tribal members to tribal courts are false, and he bemoaned anti-Indian rhetoric he's seen about the issue on the Internet. "The individuals who are making these false claims do great damage to reputation of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, which has successfully integrated itself as a positive part of the fabric and well-being of our entire community," Jorgenson writes; you can read his full commentary here.    

---

---