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your homegrown newspaper December 10, 2025
Vol. 22, No. 14
CSKT Tribal Council candidates speak on issues at forum By Joyce Lobeck for the Valley Journal
Submerged vehicle pg. 5
Giving trees pg. 6
Sports pg. 14
FLATHEAD RESERVATION — Members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation will go to the polls Saturday, Dec. 13, to elect councilmembers to represent four districts and one at-large councilmember. People can vote now in the main tribal headquarters, or they can vote on election day Dec. 13 at all the tribal senior centers across the reservation. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Districts to elect new councilmembers include Polson, Ronan, Elmo and Arlee. Voters at all polling places may vote for the at-large councilman. To make people more informed about the 10 candidates, a candidate forum was held Dec. 3. Danielle Matt, Dixon representative on Tribal Council who is head of the election committee, opened the event. Questions were asked by Ruth Swaney, tribal budget
SUMMER GODDARD / VALLEY JOURNAL PHOTO
The tribal complex building in Pablo is headquarters for the CSKT government. Five CSKT Tribal Council members will be elected this Saturday, Dec. 13.
director, and Robert McDonald, CSKT communications director. Candidates were asked a wide range of questions on such issues as top priorities, drug-affected children, preserving the homeland, council transparency and accountability, addressing addiction
and homelessness, convincing 18- to 25-yearolds to vote and engaging Generation Z. At-large Tom McDonald, incumbent: He would like to see the tribe provide a free trade school so people would gain the skills w w w.va l le yj our na l.net
to get good paying jobs in trades that are vital. He stressed the need to respect and protect the land and the peoples’ culture from outside influence and to preserve native language. He also emphasized the importance of giving back. “Try to be a role model.” As
for Generation Z, technology is such a big part of their lives. “We need to maximize that.” Sam Barnaby, challenger: He believes all struggle because of the hierarchy of people getting high dollars, leaving little see page 2