Justice has never flourished on the Colville Indian Reservation (CIR) for tribal members, although federal Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funds are intended for the very purpose of providing law and order for the benefit and protection of Colville Tribal Members (CTM).

Before I mention one major Colville Business Council-administered injustice, let me first show you how tribes may find justice from time to time: On page 3 of the Colville Tribal Tribune February 3, 2017, is a partial story of how Canadian company Teck Metals has been caught “red-handed” polluting the Columbia River. Teck lost its appeal to the 9th U.S. District Court of Federal Appeals, which was aimed to assist Teck at avoiding paying part of its damages the Tribes seek.

Despite it taking over 20 years for the Colville Business Clowncil to wake up and address the Teck problem, at least the task is beginning to gain ground favorable for CTMs, not to mention benefiting non-Indians also downstream of Teck.

But the justice balloon hasn’t even been properly inflated for CTMs. Since the initial federal grants for CIR law and justice around the 1960s, we’ve mostly seen law, not justice.

On pages 1 and 2 of the same Tribal Tribune edition was the piece about hardships under which Harry Bessette survives. He, too, was an accomplished Tribal Employment Rights Office enforcement officer serving CTMs. Truth be told, he was too successful and was wrongfully dismissed for enforcing rights for Tribal Employment. Harry courageously fought his dismissal after the kangaroo administrative law hearing broke about every rule possible to uphold said dismissal.

Harry then went to fight his case in Colville Tribal Court and his judge overturned his dismissal and faulty conclusions from the administrative law judge (ALJ). The Clowncil, for some reason, approved the request from the Office of Reservation Attorney (ORA) to appeal Harry’s tribal court victory. The ORA lost as the Court of Appeals upheld the tribal court, which overturned Harry’s dismissal.

For over four years, the Clowncil stubbornly refuses to pay out to Harry his long and hard-fought battle for fairness and justice, in the form of damages claims. Even though the Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s decision, after which the trial court reinstated the previous trial court decision to order a new hearing, the Clowncil, administration, and ORA and Human Resources have failed to administer final justice and due process for Harry Bessette. They all know! The trial court ordered a new ALJ hearing; Human Resources and the administration are just sitting on that order and not acting by scheduling an ALJ hearing, which was never scheduled after nearly five years to the day, pursuant to the Tribes Employee Policy Manual, immediately after the Tribes terminated Mr. Besette in December 2012.

This extends the cruelty against Harry Bessette. The Clowncil is intentionally trying to grind Harry into the dirt, without justice. Think about it, all the tribal employees and Clowncil who made false witness against Harry in order for the administrative law judge to dismiss his claim, should be held civilly and criminally liable for their individual and collective injustices delivered upon Harry. This is what employee lateral violence, tribal administrative, ORA and Clowncil bullying look like.

Yet, while the Clowncil is a crybaby in its own retrograde use of the courts for justice, it goes all in on being a coward and bully to its own Colville Tribal Members who seek justice for wrongs perpetrated by the Clowncil.

Lou Stone

Inchelium