Blue Ray Technologies plans expansion on Blackfeet land

Spokane, WA-based Blue Ray Technologies, the largest U.S. indie Blu-ray manufacturer, is planning to build a plant on Blackfeet Indian land in Montana, said representatives for the tribe and the company. 

The company plans to build plants on Indian land in the hopes of helping the Blackfeet Nation and soon other tribes to develop a technological source of income and educational skills.

“This is about ‘No American left behind,’” said DVD pioneer and Blue Ray Technologies founder Erick Hansen. “Schools, especially those on tribal lands, are just not preparing kids for the future. It’s not only the outsourcing to China and India in the new tech industries, it is more important. No American left behind. Period.”

Read more about it here.

Blackfeet vote on constitutional overhaul

The Blackfeet Nation will vote tomorrow on whether to overhaul the tribe’s constitution to restructure the Blackfeet government, the first such restructuring of the Blackfeet government since the constitution was first adopted through the Indian Reorganization Act of 1935.

Though the constitution has been amended 11 times, it has never included a separation of powers. If approved, Tuesday’s referendum, will allow for three branches of government – executive, legislative and judicial. Such checks and balances would limit the amount of power the tribal business council holds. Read more about it here.