MAY 1996
From: Delores Pigsley
We were all thrilled with the
Grand Opening of our temporary
facility - our "mini" gaming center - but
the June 28th Grand opening of the
Chinook
Winds
Gaming
and
Convention Center - our permanent
center - will be a thrilling event of even
greater significance to our Tribe. Once
again, I refer you to Jessie Davis'
gaming project update found elsewhere
in this issue of the Newsletter.
With the construction of Chinook
Winds nearing completion and the
Grand Opening less than two months
away, our main attention has been,
understandably, on gaming.
However,
as
historic
and
significant as Chinook Winds is, and as
much attention as it commands, we do
have other issues and activities of
importance to our Tribe.
Coordinating federal programs
through a BIA compact
We have been exploring with
other federal agencies the possibility of
coordinating,
through
the
BIA
compacting process, various human
resources programs and services, i.e.,
Alcohol and Drug programs, JTPA,
Youth Services, Head Start, USDA's
food distribution, etc.
There has been, (typical of all
other tribes), a need to better
coordinate these disparate non-BIA
federal programs which has naturally
resulted in the fragmentation of
services. Based on our self-govemarice
program experience, the Bureau's
compacting process is an excellent
vehicle by which to achieve a
comprehensive,
well
coordinated,
human resources program.
This means that . funds from
these individual federal programs
would
be
funnelled
thru,
and
coordinated by, the Tribe resulting in
more effective services to our members.
We will keep you informed of the
progress of this effort.
Strengthening of the Siletz Agency
The BIA's Siletz Indian Agency is
at a crossroads. Once, all five tribes
served by the Agency required basically
the same type of service. Times have
changed and the needs of the Tribes in
terms of BIA services have also
changed. There are tribes operating
mainly under BIA and IHS Compacts;
others under BIA and IHS contracts
and grants; while still others receive a
predominance of services directly from
BIA and IHS.
We are working with Area
Director Stan Speaks in putting
together a Siletz Agency with the
versatility and capacity of providing
effective services to the five tribes.
After all, the tribes vary widely in the
nature of their relationships with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and from each
other.
This restructuring will take some
time but is necessary in view of cuts in
federal funding.
We will keep you
informed.
Tribal Council meets with Atalanta
Sosnoff officials and tours Foxwood
During April 12th thru the 14th,
six members of the Tribal Council in
addition to tribal staff met in New York
with officials of Atalanta Sosnoff, the
firm with which the Tribe has invested
it's funds, met with Mashantucket
Pequot Tribal officials, toured and held
a retreat at Foxwood.
At Atalanta Sosnoff, the Council
had an opportunity to visit the firm's
headquarters and to learn about A/S's
money management operations. Mae
Mar, who has been our main
consultant in the Tribe's successful
investment program, arranged and
hosted the Council to a tour of the
internal operations of the New York
Stock Exchange.
The
Council
also
visited
Foxwood, the gigantic resort complex in
Connecticut, now nationally recognized
as the largest in the country.
The
beautiful resort which includes a
casino with over 4,000 slot machines,
four first class restaurants, a hotel,
etc.# is owned and operated by the
Mashantucket Pequot Tribe.
Our
Council had the opportunity of meeting
with Tribal Council Officials’ and was
given a tour of the sprawling,
magnificent resort complex.
We also met with various
managers of Pequot tribal programs
and received some valuable information
on how their programs and facilities
are conducted and coordinated.
It
should be pointed out that the Siletz
Tribe has an official relationship with
the Pequot Tribe whereby, under our
tribal self-insurance program the
Pequot
Tribe
provides
to
us
pharmaceutical insurance services.
Gaming Report
From Jessie Davis,
Chairman Ad Hoc Gaming Committee
Planning for the use of gaming
revenues
During the past month, Tribal
members had an opportunity to offer
their ideas on how the revenues
generated from the gaming enterprise
should be used.
Notices
of
the
community
meetings held for this purpose were
published in the Chinook Winds
Bulletin and distributed by first class
mail to all adult members of the Tribe.
Personal, first class letters were also
sent by Tribal Chairman Dee notifying
tribal members of these meetings and
urging tribal input.
The ideas generated at these
meetings are being compiled for
publication in the next issue of the
Bulletin. Tribal members will have an
opportunity to
submit
additional
comments and suggestions at any time
during the next several months.
The major funding categories
used by the working group in it's
preliminary
planning
were
those
specified in the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act (Tribal Government,
General Welfare, Economic Develop
ment,
and
Investments
< and
Miscellaneous Government). Instead of
identifying specific uses for gaming
revenues, it was the working group's
decision to recommend percentage
allocations to the Council and to
provide for maximum tribal input in
identifying specific needs and revenue
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