At Fort Belknap, Native voices are claiming their seat at the table | Rep. Donavon Hawk

In Montana politics, tribal communities are too often treated like an afterthought. Candidates arrive near Election Day, shake hands, serve burgers or dogs, ask for your votes, and then fade away until the next cycle.

Native Montanans deserve better. That is why the Montana Democratic Party’s new Tribal Central Committee at Fort Belknap is so important.

As a Montana native of Crow and Lakota descent, I understand what it means to walk into spaces where decisions affecting Native people are being made, but too few Native voices are present. Representation is not ceremonial. It is not a box to check or a meme to post. It means having the power to shape priorities, choose leaders and hold political parties accountable.

The Fort Belknap Tribal Central Committee will give members of the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes a formal role in the Democratic Party. More importantly, it creates a place where the people who know Fort Belknap best can organize around the issues affecting their communities.

Those issues are not abstract. They include access to clean water, quality healthcare, safe roads, good schools, housing and jobs that allow young people to build their lives close to home. Integrity is crucial in a functioning society and something deeply rooted in our culture. They include protecting tribal sovereignty and demanding that state and federal leaders honor their treaty and trust responsibilities.

A committee alone will not solve these challenges. Its success will depend on whether the party listens when committee members speak, provides the resources needed to organize and continues showing up after Election Day. Native participation must be treated as a partnership, not a political transaction.

This committee can also help develop the next generation of Native leaders. A young person at Fort Belknap should be able to see a clear path from volunteering in their community to helping write the party platform, leading a campaign or running for office themselves.

Montana Democrats cannot build a lasting statewide coalition without tribal communities helping lead it. Native voters should not merely be asked to support someone else’s vision for Montana. They should have the power to help create that vision.

The Fort Belknap Tribal Committee is a meaningful step forward. Now comes the harder and more important work: listening, following through and proving that this new seat at the table comes with a real voice.

That is how trust is built. And that is how a party becomes worthy of the people it hopes to represent.