Crow Tribe’s Statement Regarding Head Start

Chairman Not Afraid recently commented on the recent Billings Gazette front-page article regarding Crow Head Start:

“I would like to address allegations made by the Billings Gazette. Let me be clear: I never authorized the use of Head Start funds to pay for anything other than Head Start.

Here are the facts that the Billings Gazette failed to consider before they published their gossip column on the front page of their “news” paper:

• The funds in question were never federal dollars. They were Tribal dollars “diverted”, as characterized in the Gazette article, by the Crow Legislature to pay for Head Start expenses. NOT the other way
• The Tribe paid for more than a year of the Crow Head Start program, without receiving reimbursement from the federal Head Start office in Washington, DC.
• That year amounted to close to $1 million in Head Start expenses, PAID FOR BY THE TRIBE.
• The funds in question within the quoted email were a reimbursement to the Tribe for the money that the Tribe “diverted” to Head
• Therefore, those funds were eventually reimbursed to the Tribe, as is right, proper and legal.
• Once those dollars became Tribal dollars, they were free to be used within the confines of the Crow Legislature’s annual
• One of those line-items included using Tribal funds to pay for Tribal pow wows and parades during Crow Fair, which

As with most issues in life, the truth is complicated. It takes real investigative journalism to get  to the truth – but it takes just one sentence in a newspaper to destroy reputations. Feeding off  of racist misconceptions about Indian Country, the Billings Gazette chose to write rumor, gossip and innuendo. They read it on the Internet, therefore they feel free to republish it, even though the allegations have been proven false. This is nothing more than campaigning at its worst, aimed at Crow for our continued support of the Trump Administration.

The Great Apsáalooke Nation: “Teepee Capital of the World”

Crow Tribe’s Statement Regarding Head Start Page 2 of 2

Whether you call it the drive-by media or fake news, the result is the same: it hurts real people who are working tirelessly to clean up our grant programs.

But I expect nothing less from a publication that announced that an unconstitutional vote had removed me from office…they didn’t get it right then, and refused to print my letter to the editor rebuking them for their failure to do their job well. And they didn’t get it right this time.

Further, it is a sad fact that in the past, Crow has relied heavily on federal programs to provide services to our People. During my time in office, I have sought to change that: enterprising  Crow men and women will always provide better services to Crow kids. When I realized that there were issues with the operation of the Crow Head Start, I realized that it had more to do with the fact that it was a government program and the crippling red tape that comes with it.  So I have been working to expand privately run pre-school alternatives for young kids who cannot be with their parents during an important time of their lives.

Crow parents are always the first and best option for young Crow kids. But when that is not possible, I seek Crow pre-school alternatives for our next generation, not a federal pre-school that has produced lack-luster results, especially for minority children. Our kids deserve better, and we all fight for better options for our kids.

 

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