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About Char-Koosta News (Pablo, Mont.) 1985-current | View This Issue
Char-Koosta News (Pablo, Mont.), 11 July 1985, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn87001367/1985-07-11/ed-1/seq-5/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
BETWEEN THE UNES conclude some job descriptions of livestock enforcement officers to share, and many questions to ask, such as should an already employed Tribal Fish and Game officer have his duties expanded, or should a full-time compliance officer be hired? The effort is needed to stop trespass find creative leasing of Tribal grazing land (“Creative leasing” is what we call the practice of Tribal members leasing property and unethically allowing cows they don’t actually own to graze there) ________________ P o stscript _______________ The Char-Koosta News took another shot from Kevin Howlett June 25 when he said the Tribal people aren’t very well informed about current affairs, in part because the paper is so ineffective. Our first reaction was, “ Well, he’s only one o f 3,200 voices (3,200 being the number o f people who get the paper), so let’s not sweat it.” Our second thought was that he’s partly right. The majority o f the Tribal membership is appallingly uninformed, mostly because, we think they’re appall ingly uncaring about Tribal affairs in general unless there’s a free dollar to be had. W e do our best here at The Char-Koosta News to get information into the membership’s hands. What they do with it is up to them. If most o f our readers look at the photos, scan the headlines for those magic words “ per capita” , see who’s been in jail, then toss their Char-Koosta into the fireplace, there’s not one blessed thing we can do about it. There may be a light on the horizon, however. The Tribes is applying for a grant that, if approved, will pay for a study o f public awareness and a resultant “ public relations strategy” to improve communication be tween the Tribal government and everyone else. Sounds like an interesting task. Maybe the study will say the Indian p eople here need a daily paper written by college-trained journalists - or a Tribal radio or TV station. Maybe the study will turn up a cure for apathy. Between then and now, folks read your Char-Koosta. If it puts you to sleep, read it in the morning with a cup o f coffee. W e realize The Char-Koosta is in no immediate danger o f winning a Pulitzer Prize. It’s better than some reservations have, though. On some reservations, the Tribal government actively works against the people’s right to know what’s going on, by not helping fund a newspaper, or by exercising censorship precisely because they do fund the paper. On some reservations, the people don’t know when their council meets, or what it talks about. On some reservations, the people don’t even know for sure who their council is. Here on the Flathead, a sincere effort is made every two weeks to see that the Tribal people are given the chance to be in the know. If y ou’ve got some serious problems with our cover age o f Indian news, let us know and we’ll either change something or give you an imaginative reason why we won’t or can’t change. Someone sent us their completed Blue Bay ques tionnaire (which we forwarded to Tribal Realty) ac companied by a comment that he or she was glad to be able to share an opinion. W e were asked to have more questionnaires. W e like that idea, because people might feel more inclined to share their feelings if they can do so anonymously. On the down side, though, our experience in the past with surveys and the like causes us to believe almost no one cares to answer them, for a variety o f reasons — the biggest one being apathy. Nevertheless, we’ll no doubt have others in the future because even only 90 responses from 3,200 are better than no public input at all. This rather boring photograph represents over 2 0 0 man-hours o f work. This is what The Char- K o o s t a N e w s looks like after 8 8 hours o f research, writing, editing and taking pictures; 3 2 hours o f typ e s e ttin g (at least); 4 8 hours o f layout, p a s te up, proofreading and correcting; 8 hours o f darkroom tmd stripping work; 8 -1 2 hours o f p r e sstim e ; 8 hours o f cutting, collating, stitching and folding the finished p a g e s ; and 8 hours o f labelling and bund ling f o r delivery to the p o s t office e v e r y tw o w eeks. Then there’s the time s p e n t doing the bookkeep ing, subscription-file maintenance, ad selling, letter answering, ruffled-feather sm o o thing . . . All to keep you, our readers, p o s ted on what’s happening in Indian Country. July 11,1985 CSKTs Char-Koosta News, Pablo, MT Page 5
