The Fort Peck Court Complex in Poplar, Montana. Photo from FPTC
The tragic death of a one-year-old girl and the kidnapping and assault of a four-year-old girl are just the tip of the iceberg for the Fort Peck Tribes of Montana. Chairman Floyd Azure previously linked both incidents to substance abuse on the reservation. He now says the desire for drugs is contributing to sex trafficking. "We're in crisis mode," Azure told Reuters. "We have mothers giving their children away for sexual favors for drugs. We have teenagers and young girls giving away sexual favors for drugs." The main problem appears to be methamphetamine. During a two-week period in April, six newborns tested positive for the drug and were taken for treatment elsewhere, the local Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent told Reuters. The conditions on the reservation were brought up during a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on Wednesday. Tribal police are constantly responding to domestic violence calls and children are being increasingly exposed to violence, council member Dana Buckles said. He also said they are becoming victims themselves. "In 2015, our tribal court had 329 criminal cases involving crimes against children. These cases included aggravated sexual assault of a child, felony abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of child," Buckles told the committee. The tribe is prosecuting a 42-year-old woman for the death of Kenzley Olson in April as well as a 20-year-old man for the abduction of Maci Maelyn Lilley in February. Federal charges are possible in both cases but no indictments have been filed, based on a review of the Montana court's electronic records system. Buckles said the tribe supports S.2920, the Tribal Law and Order Reauthorization Act. The bill reauthorizes key provisions of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010. That law allows tribes to sentence offenders to more than one year at a time for separate crimes. The tribe also supports S.2785, the Tribal Youth and Community Protection Act. The bill expands on the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 by recognizing the "inherent authority" of tribes to arrest, prosecute and sentence any person -- regardless of race -- for drug crimes and domestic violence against children. Get the Story:
Fueled by drugs, sex trafficking reaches 'crisis' on Native American reservation (Reuters 5/17)
Sex Trafficking on American Indian Reservations-Old Problem, New Name (Reuters 5/18)
Factbox: American Indians on Reservation Battle Drug Abuse, Trafficking (Reuters 5/18)
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