Opinion: We do lots of talking about issues on reservations

Over the next three years, we are going to do a lot of talking about problems on the Indian reservations.

As a member of the U. S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Heidi Heitkamp has introduced legislation to create an 11-member, three-year Commission on Native Children.

Senator John Hoeven, and a number of other senators with large Indian constituencies, have joined Heitkamp on the proposal.

The panel would submit a report to Congress recommending ways to improve life for Indian children. Senator Heitkamp hopes this will produce a national plan for funding Indian education.

To do some fact-finding, Senator Heitkamp went to the Standing Rock Reservation south of Bismarck-Mandan. Accompanied by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler, she visited with tribal and school officials about the needs.

Tribal Council Member Jay Taken Alive was skeptical. If the commission is ever created and makes a report, he doubts that the federal government will ever provide the funds.