Regarding your story "Power to the First People," in Montana in the 2006 election, it was the seven counties with reservations which assured Democrat Jon Tester his narrow victory over incumbent GOP Sen. Conrad Burns, a charlatan good ol' boy tainted by his associations with lobbyist Jack Abramoff (HCN, 10/27/08). The Democrats should never forget this help from the poorest, most maligned people of the state. But they will. The arrogance of Democratic politicians reinforces the illusion that they are somehow immune from the realities of connecting with their fellow human beings who have been subjected to the absolute worse of Euro-American ethnocentrism. Instead of gratitude, our Native peoples receive only more ignorant neglect.

Hank Plummer