Tribe, State Sign Economic Development Pact

       


Members of the tribal legislature stand with Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont. Click here for more photos. (Photo by Jeff Garrard).

By Mary Hudetz
CrowNews.Net

The Crow Tribe and the state have become the first in the country to sign a compact that intends to make it


more feasible for banks to provide loans on the reservation. In the past, banks often shied away from financing business ventures and other interests in Crow Country.

Because of the sovereign nature of tribal governments, money-lending
transactions could not be secured by a lien as they are under state
law.

Loans were much harder to get, causing a severe lack of capital
and soaring interest rates in Crow communities, where businesses are
few and unemployment rates run high.

With the new compact, liens regarding loans on the reservation will
be filed in the secretary of state's office and be enforceable on the
reservation.

Lee Newspapers' Noelle Straub reports
that officials at the signing ceremony in Washington said other tribes
and states throughout the country are "following the Crow lead" and
preparing similar compacts.

Editor's note: Click here to read the compact.