Editor's note: Political reporter Leo Wolfson is on assignment in Montana covering the U.S. Senate race.
BILLINGS, Mont. — Montana tribal leaders say they’re not going to ignore comments Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy made about Native Americans being drunk in the morning.
An apology is all they’re asking for, said Bryce Kirk of the Fort Peck Tribes Assiniboine-Sioux at a press conference at Sacrifice Cliff in Billings on Thursday morning.
The site along the Yellowstone River holds significance for the Crow Tribe as a place of meditation and where the tribe confronted a smallpox pandemic and hunted elk.
“That’s the frustrating part,” Kirk said. “If it was just a simple sorry, OK let’s move forward. We can’t look at yesterday, we got to move forward today and the next day because we got a lot of things going on.”
The comments Sheehy made have become a notable development in the high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Sheehy and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. Sheehy, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has pulled ahead in recent polls, showing him with a lead of 6 percentage points over Tester.
Wyoming’s Republican congressional delegation has told Cowboy State Daily they view the race as highly significant because it will determine whether Republicans or Democrats take a majority of the Senate chamber.
Wyoming Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis brought Sheehy to Teton County in August to fundraise for his campaign.
Kirk is chairman for the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, which includes Wyoming’s Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribal councils.
Last week, the council sent a letter to Sheehy’s campaign telling him that "Native Americans are not your punchline” and asked for a formal apology.
Kirk said not only were Sheehy’s comments offensive for the Crow Tribe, but for all Native Americans, including those in Wyoming.
“If that letter is not strong enough — and that got sent to them, hand delivered to them — what is more stronger than that?” he questioned. “That letter is strong enough because it came from all tribes that are unified together.”
What Did He Say?
In an audio recording of comments Sheehy made at campaign events held in 2023, he repeatedly linked Native Americans to a negative stereotype of being alcohol abusers.
On four occasions, he was recorded describing people from the Crow Tribe as being "drunk at 8 a.m." and wanting to throw beer cans at him while on the Crow Reservation in Montana.
Kirk said the council has received no apology or communication from Sheehy. Sheehy also has made no public response or apology about his comments and did not respond to a Cowboy State Daily request for comment Thursday.
In one of the recordings, Sheehy said one of his ranching partners and “really good friends” is a Crow Indian and that they do ranching work together on the Crow Reservation.
Sheehy said he often does roping rodeo events on the reservation and brands cattle there annually.
"Great way to bond with all the Indians — while they're drunk at 8 a.m. and you're roping together," Sheehy said with a laugh in the recording,
At another event that Char-Koosta News said happened last November, Sheehy brought up his participation in the Crow Fair, and again made references to alcohol.
"Six weeks after our launch, one of the first things I did was I strapped a Sheehy sign to a horse and rode through the Crow Rez parade," Sheehy said. "And if you know a tough crowd, you want to go to Crow Rez."
As people in the audience can be heard laughing, Sheehy added: "Now, they let you know whether they like you or not. There's Coors Light cans flying by your head as you're riding by."
Kirk said the fact that people who were audibly laughing in the background was particularly hurtful considering the comments were made in Shelby, Montana, about 3 miles away from where around 200 Native American women and children were massacred in 1870.
In the recording, Sheehy then voiced thoughts of an imaginary Native American and argued he earned respect because he didn't react when beer cans were thrown at him.
"Man, I threw a beer can at his head and he didn't even flinch," Sheehy described the imaginary Native person thinking.
Members of the Black Whistle Singers perform "The Warrior Song" during Thursday's press conference. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily) 
Tom Rodgers, known as One Who Rides His Horse East and an enrolled Blackfeet tribal member, speaks during Thursday's press conference. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily)
Outreach Efforts
Sheehy met with Kirk’s Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board about two weeks before his comments surfaced, an event Kirk thought was meaningful but now wonders if it was all for show.
“It’s like checking a box off,” Kirk said.
When Trump came to Montana for a rally on behalf of Sheehy, Sheehy reached out to the Native American community in a speech.
“To our Native brothers and sisters, what have the Democrats done for you, what have the Democrats done for reservations and the tribes?” he asked. “Why do you continue to vote for them and send them back to office? I ask them to consider supporting our campaign because we will put you first.”
Sheehy mentioned the drastic increase in Fentanyl that has had a devastating effect on the reservations, which he blamed on President Joe Biden’s policies that Tester has supported.
Stereotypes And Facts
Sheehy’s comments play on the rampant substance abuse that’s devastated many Native American communities throughout the nation.
While Native Americans make up only a small part of the U.S. population, these people experience much higher rates of substance abuse compared to other racial and ethnic groups, according to the American Addiction Centers.
Findings from a 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that 10% of Native Americans have a substance use disorder, 7.1% of Native Americans have an alcohol use disorder, nearly 25% report binge drinking in the past month, and that Native Americans are more likely to report drug abuse in the past month or year than any other ethnic group.
Still, Kirk doesn’t believe the stereotype that Sheehy promoted has any basis and said that he should be instead promoting unity.
“It’s really frustrating that people out there still think that’s who we are as Indians are drunks, not knowing we have lawyers and doctors and educated people that do a lot of great stuff for Indian country,” he said.
Tom Rodgers, known as One Who Rides His Horse East and an enrolled Blackfeet tribal member, also worries that comments like the ones Sheehy made can perpetuate into reality.
“When you constantly denigrate a people, constantly, (you can) feel in some horrible dark way start (thinking), ‘well, maybe I’m not quite good enough,’” Rodgers said.
For The Race
It remains to be seen how Sheehy’s comments will impact his race with Tester as no major polls have been conducted since the recordings were released.
Native Americans make up around 6% of Montana’s population but were largely seen as already supportive of Tester and the Democratic Party.
“We know when we go to Washington, D.C., who works for Indian country, we know who has their doors open and starts to pass laws and stuff when it comes to Indian country,” Kirk said. “That is Jon Tester.”
If Sheehy doesn’t issue an apology, Kirk said the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board will consider formally endorsing Tester.
“When it comes to no apology, all options are on the table because he defamed a whole people,” Kirk said. “He defamed Indians in the whole United States.”
Rodgers also said they could sue Sheehy for defamation.
“We’re not going to go away, and that’s what they think they can to do us,” he said. “We’re not those people. We’ve been here for 10,000 years.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
