 Dr.
Katherine Vandemoer ("Lady Operator"), a highly trained hydrologist,
previously served as Special Assistant to Ada Deer, the former
Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior (“DOI”) and
the Director of its Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”). Ms. Deer was
known for her significant reorganization of the BIA under
Clinton-Babbitt.
Among the BIA’s primary mission objectives, was the development and
implementation of a federal Indian policy that promoted tribal
self-governance, self-determination and sovereignty. This policy
entitles "federally recognized tribal entities" (a/k/a “federally
recognized tribes”) to numerous regulatory, tax and other benefits
and preferences at the public’s cost and expense, which the BIA and
some left-leaning courts consider a 'benign' form of racial
discrimination. These include:
| 1) Exemptions, waivers and
derogations from numerous federal regulatory requirements to
which ordinary private parties would otherwise be subject; |
| |
| 2) Receipt of $billions of
perpetual federal funding through congressional
appropriations to the federal Indian Trust Fund Accounts of
the governing bodies of federally recognized tribes, at the
expense of tribal members; and |
| |
| 3) Perpetual preferential
contracts issued by various federal agencies, such as the
BIA, FWS, EPA, NOAA, HHS, DOD, etc., to perform governmental
and nongovernmental functions including, but not limited to,
the: a) transmission of electricity to the public and
maintenance of transmission infrastructure; b)
implementation and enforcement of federal fish, environment
and wildlife laws and regulations both on and off Indian
reservations; c) provision of public health services; and d)
fulfillment of military goods and services procurement
agreements. |
"Federally recognized tribal entity" status deems tribes as
financially dependent 'sovereign' nations considered to predate the
U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Interior Secretary, on behalf of the
U.S. government, including Congress, assumes a fiduciary trust
responsibility to protect the tangible and intangible interests of
federally recognized tribal entities, which are NOT considered to be
subject to the U.S. Constitution as are U.S. States.
The only way Congress can control these "financially dependent
'sovereigns'" is through the power of the purse. The tribes cannot
survive without congressionally appropriated monies.
Since federal jurisprudence did not permit tribal governments to
have physical jurisdiction over nontribal members off reservation,
the courts and the DOI-BIA pushed mechanisms such as the EPA
"treatment as states" (“TAS”) program and “638 contracts” that
federally recognized tribal entities would enter into with numerous
federal agencies, as noted above. These arrangements bestowed newly
found legal jurisdiction upon federally recognized tribal entities
enabling them to regulate nontribal activities off as well as on
reservations in order to protect reservation-related tribal
aboriginal land, water and wildlife rights. Since this often
dovetails with the environmentalists’ agenda (e.g., Agenda 21), the
enviros usually go along with it. There have been exceptions,
however, as where battles arise over the rights of ocean-based fish
vs. those of upper watershed fresh water fish.
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian
Reservation in northwestern Montana (CSKT) are among the first
federally recognized tribes. They also participate in EPA's TAS
program, multiple DOI-FWS “638 contracts,” and many federally
appropriated DOD contracts. For example, in 2014, the CSKT were
awarded a $1billion defense contract, in addition to many other
contracts it has secured with the domestic and foreign military
services to produce military hardware, including missiles and other
incendiaries. For example, the CSKT produce such devices for the
Saudi Airforce. And, for a number of years, the CSKT have
specialized in performing military contracts for the cleanup of
uranium mill tailings spills on military bases. The CSKT's
involvement with manufacture of military weaponry and its expertise
in uranium spill cleanups should raise red flags when one considers
how the Government of Turkey has expressed public interest in
pursuing business relations, including building construction and
leasing activities, leading to work with the CSKT on the Flathead
Reservation. Turkey also has expressed such interest in entering
into building construction, leasing and other business activities
with numerous other federally recognized tribes on their
reservations.
Lady Operator's job at BIA was to promote enhanced tribal
self-governance, self-determination and sovereignty in
implementation of these policies around the country, especially in
the West and Pacific Northwest. Although she worked primarily in
DOI-BIA, she also had been assigned temporarily (i.e., “detailed
to”) to EPA and to NOAA's Columbia River Basin Unit in Washington
and Oregon.
Since retiring from the U.S. government in 2002 (i.e., likely forced
out during the early part of the Bush '43 administration), she has
performed consulting work for Indian tribal governments located in
multiple western states. This enables her to continue to promote the
policies for which she was previously held responsible. It also
broadens her resume, so that, in the event Hillary Clinton is
elected president, she would likely be placed on a short list of
potential candidates capable of assuming directorship of BIA.
For the past 3-4 years, Lady Operator has played mind manipulation
games in Montana in an effort to secure passage in the MT
legislature of a precedent-setting Water Compact entered into
between the CSKT, the State of Montana and DOI. This water compact
effectively cedes state-sanctioned consumptive and non-consumptive
instream water rights owned, used and held by irrigators on and
appurtenant to the Flathead Reservation, including those flowing
through the Kerr Dam, to the U.S. government and/or the CSKT. The
Water Compact also serves to codify controversial legal
jurisprudence that reaffirms the Tribes' time-immemorial reserved
aboriginal rights to land, water,
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