CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
House legislative counsel at the request
of Congressman Darlene Hooley on
March 27. The House legislative
counsel’s draft bill was based on a draft
prepared by Grand Ronde and Siletz
tribal attorneys.
In order to ensure that the property
can be encumbered and eligible for bank
loans, both the House and Senate leg
islative counsel drafts must undergo
legal and financial review.
There are, therefore, specific steps
that must yet be taken before we can
see final congressional action on this bill.
McCain Amendments to
the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act
On March 29, Sen. John McCain's
Indian Affairs Committee unanimously
approved moving its bill to the Senate
floor which, if passed by the Senate,
would add new Indian gaming regula
tions to the Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act (IGRA) and limit off-reservation
gaming.
Specifically, Senate bill S-2078
would extend the National Indian Gam
ing Commission's (NIGC) authority to
regulate Class 111 gaming, require inter
nal control standards, expand personnel
subject to NIGC background checks,
and require the NIGC to approve all
gaming-related contracts and grants.
Because Sen. McCain has had a
priority concern about the proliferation
of tribes seeking off-reservation casi
nos, S-2078 includes a provision that
would end new off-reservation Indian
gaming, with an exception for restored
tribes. The bill would, however,
“grandfather” any tribe that filed an
application for off-reservation gaming
by April 15, 2006.
The Warm Springs Tribe, which sub
mitted a completed application months
ago to the secretary, would be covered
under this “grandfather” provision and
the tribe would be able to continue its
pursuit of a casino in Cascade Locks.
As I stated in my last article, a num
ber of wealthy tribes with large, excep
tionally lucrative casinos have been
actively campaigning to block the es
tablishment of competing casinos. And.
as many of you know by now, some
of these tribes have been implicated in
the Abramoff lobbying scandal. As
expected, they have been campaigning
against the inclusion of the “grandfa
ther” provision in S-2078.
Although Sen. Tom Coburn of
Oklahoma filed an amendment to re
move the “grandfather” section from
the bill, the provision was not included
in the mark-up.
I also should mention that the bill's
requirements are different for newly
restored or landless tribes seeking to
acquire land for gaming. Such tribes
must have “an historical and geographi
cal nexus to the land” and must meet
what is known as the secretarial two-
part determination: that the proposed
casino must be in the best interest of
the tribe and would “not create any sig
nificant unmitigated impacts on the
surrounding community.” The gov
ernor’s approval, however, would not
be required.
The Cowlitz Tribe, a relatively new
federally recognized landless tribe,
appears eligible for a casino under
S-2078, which may have at least some
economic impact on Oregon casinos.
On the House side, Resources
Committee Chairman Richard Pombo
held hearings to amend IGRA that
would have effectively killed any new
off-reservation gaming. His proposal
was the elimination of the two-part
Comments on Draft Probate-
Related Trust Regulations
Delores Pigsley
secretarial determination and no grand
father provision.
Vigorous lobbying by tribes will
continue for and against the “grand
father” provisions. Sen. McCain ex
pects to get these amendments passed
in this Congress.
Other Indian Issues of
National, Regional and
Local Importance
During the past month, the U.S.
Congress, the administration, and na
tional Indian organizations addressed
other important national Indian issues.
BIA Consultation on Off-
Reservation Regulations
In a March 27 press conference, the
BIA scheduled four consultation meet
ings on off-reservation gaming regu
lations. The first was held on March 30
and the others during April.
BIA-IHS 2007 Budget Hearings
Regarding the BIA and IHS
FY2007 budget, testimony was heard
by the House Appropriations Subcom
mittee for Interior.
Chairman Antone Minthorne of
Umatilla and Ron Suppah of Warm
Springs appeared before the commit
tee and appealed for increased contract
support funds and, among other needs,
for restoring to at least the previous
funding levels a variety of essential BIA
and IHS programs with critical needs.
Chemawa Station Land Bill
Still closer to home are actions
taken by legislators on the joint Grand
Ronde/Siletz tribal project known as
Chemawa Station, which involves de
veloping a restaurant, travel center,
possibly a hotel, and retail outlets.
I reported previously in Siletz News
on the difficulty the tribes have encoun
tered in obtaining the financing needed
for developing the property. We need
congressional help to obtain the financ
ing because of the reversionary clause
in the deed.
A Chemawa Station land bill ad
dressing this issue was reviewed by the
On Dec. 27, 2005. draft probate-
related trust regulations were distrib
uted by Associate Deputy Secretary
Jim Carson for tribal review and com
ment. The voluminous document
caught tribes off-guard.
The National Congress of American
Indians (NCAI), reflecting the views of
its member tribes, said it was disap
pointed tribes were not consulted when
the draft regulations were put together.
NCAI also stated, however, that since
it was understood the regs were still
very much “a work in progress,” NCAI
was counting on the department's
genuine desire to involve the tribes in
the preparation of final regs.
Trust reform and the Cobell case
have been explosive and emotionally
charged issues. NCAI said it was good
that the department has set Cobell apart
and was giving probate-related trust
regulations special tribal attention and
review.
Fractionation of land ownership,
the result of 100 years of neglect, also
is a basic trust problem. The American
Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA),
which was adopted as a result of col
laborative efforts of tribes and the DOI
and which takes effect June 20. 2006,
will help address the problem of frac
tionation when the act finally begins
to be implemented.
More controversy related to the
Cobell litigation likely will be generated
when regulations are addressed, i.e..
trust fund accounting and appeal, fees
for trust accounts, etc. NCALs proposal
is to work with the department on leas
ing and grazing and other trust-related
regulatory issues.
Because of our own Siletz history,
we understand and concur with NCAI's
position for the acquisition of land into
trust. According to NCAI, the adoption
and implementation of these regula
tions are central to tribal efforts to re
cover from more than a century of res
ervation loss and consequent negative
impacts on tribal self-determination.
NCAI has established a work-group
to develop comments on the land-to-
trust issue.
As for the body of the department's
draft regs, NCAI has put together a
comprehensive item-by-item response
on five specific categories: 1) Probate
of Indian Estates; 2) Tribal Probate
Codes; 3) Life Estate and Future Inter
ests; 4) Land Records and Title Docu
ments; 5) Conveyances of Trust and
Restricted Land. Removal of Trust or
Restricted Status.
The Siletz Tribal Council concurs
with NCAI’s detailed comments.
DOI plans to spend the month re
viewing comments and preparing the
AIPRA-related regs for publication in
the Federal Register. This will be followed
by a 60-day period for comments, in
cluding DOI consultation sessions in
Billings. Rapid City, and Minneapolis.
No firm dates have been set for these
sessions.
Open Your Home - and Your Heart -
to a Child in Need*
Every child deserves to grow up
in a safe, nurturing environment.
A number of foster care programs
and organizations nationwide are
dedicated to ensuring that foster chil
dren get the care and support they
need. These organizations can t do
it alone - they need the assistance of
people like you.
The need for foster parents cur
rently ranks among the most pressing
problems in the child welfare system.
Nearly every community in the nation
has a shortage of foster families. This
is true for the Confederated Tribes of
Siletz Indians, both locally and through
out the II-county service area.
Many people believe that only
married couples can become foster
parents. In fact, foster parents can be
single, married, or divorced. They
can be homeowners or live in an
apartment. They can be as young as
21 - or they can be retired.
Families who care for foster chil
dren receive payments that are in
tended to cover ordinary living ex
penses for the child, including food,
shelter, and daily supervision.
Each state has its own rules and
procedures for becoming a foster
parent. For information on fostering
a Siletz Tribal child, please contact
the tribe's Indian Child Welfare de
partment at:
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
Attn: Sandra Simmons. Foster Parent
Certifier/Case Manager III
Indian Child Welfare
P.O. Box 549
Siletz. OR 97380-0549
1-800-922-1399, ext. 1275
541-444-8275
*Used with permission of the
National Foster Parent Association,
1-800-55 7-5238, www. nfpainc.org.
May 2006
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Siletz News
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