When you consider the history of oppression against Native Americans, it’s understandable that they would resist any attempt to weaken their sovereignty on tribal lands. Why give up more than they already have?

But tribal sovereignty appears to be muddled in the strange case of Tribal Councilman and Democratic Sen. Shannon Augare, who a Glacier County sheriff’s deputy pulled over last month after responding to a report of an erratic driver on U.S. Highway 2 about nine miles west of Cut Bank and within the reservation’s boundaries. Augare looked impaired and smelled like alcohol, according to police reports. But when the deputy attempted to take his keys, Augare told him he had no jurisdiction to make an arrest and drove away. And it appears that was within his right.

The deputy did not pursue the state senator, saying he wanted to avoid a high-speed chase, and instead contacted Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services. But based on the agency’s track record, the chances of Augare being cited for drunken driving appear slim. Perhaps Augare wasn’t drunk, he was simply exercising his sovereignty. Nonetheless, there must be a better way to prosecute drunken drivers on the state’s seven reservations, where, according to the Montana Department of Transportation, 67 percent of fatal crashes involving Native Americans are related to drunken driving.