Blackfeet Tribal Council Votes to Banish Drug Dealers

To address a growing drug problem on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, the tribal council is reviving an historic punishment to banish dealers and suppliers.

On Sept. 3, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council unanimously passed a motion to ban all known drug dealers, or “undesirables,” from the reservation. Chairman Harry Barnes said banishment has been used as a punishment on the reservation before and they will start using it against accused drug dealers because federal law enforcement officials are not doing enough to prosecute them.

“The intention is to banish known drug dealers from the reservation by having law enforcement escort them to the reservation boundaries and informing them that if they come back they will be arrested,” he said.

http://flatheadbeacon.com/2015/09/04/blackfeet-tribal-council-votes-to-banish-drug-dealers/