Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 2004)
News from Indian Country P$ge 9 Spilyqy Tymoo . August 5, 2004 Winnebagos position for Nebraska casino Remains of 24 from EMERSON, Neb. (AP)-On the main street of this tiny north east Nebraska town of 800 people, sandwiched between a 1 medical clinic and an abandoned store front, sits the Iron Horse Bar & Casino. Inside, past the bar and its half-dozen tables, Greg Werners , punches buttons on the Cash Cow electronic bingo machine and tests his luck. A couple other locals are positioned at two of the 38 other similar machines , lined up around the cramped J room. "If it hits me pretty good, I j like it," said Werners, a brick layer from Fremont, explaining j how he decides where to sit. The nickel games he and the others are playing look like slot machines found in casinos in Las Vegas and in states across the ( country, but they are not Those machines are illegal in Nebraska. The bingo machines at the Iron Horse are classified as a different form of gaming that is legal. Slot machines, roulette wheels, blackjack tables and the other forms of gambling cur rently against the law in Ne braska would be legalized if voters approve a proposed con stitutional amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot. Nebraska's Winnebago Tribe is carefully eyeing that vote. The Iron Horse, which opened July 9, is owned by the Beadwork connects past to the future LAWTON, Okla. (AP) - To a curious 6-year-old, there's something mesmerizing about watching nimble fingers create art with tiny, multicolored beads. When Paul McDaniels was 6, he remembers watching his grandmother make round me dallions from hundreds of tiny beads. He remembers thinking, "I want to do that someday." Although typically beadwork is done by the small hands of women, some men have also acquired the interest and per fected the craft. "My sister and I sat and watched as Grandma placed one bead in the center of a medal lion and then surrounded it with seven," McDaniels said. "We watched her so closely she was afraid she might stick us with one of her needles, so she started us on our own medal lions. I've been doing it ever since." I The opportunity to watch his I grandmother and learn the craft j came when, at age 3, he and his jj parents, Paul McDaniels Sr. and ij Maude Mausape McDaniels, I and his siblings, Cruz, Gina and jj Pam, all moved back to jlAnadarko from Cortez, Colo., where McDaniels was born. The days he spent watching his grandmother ignited some thing in the young boy and he developed a lifelong interest and knack for beadwork. McDaniels said beadwork came much easier and much quicker for his sister, but that eventually, he caught on. He dabbled and worked at it. He had a lot of help from those around him. Luckily, his life experiences led him to experts. The knowledge and love he developed for the craft fully developed around 1980. Before then, he worked at it, but knew he had things to learn. "It was just something I re ally wanted to learn to do," he said. "My desire to learn how to do it just made me more per sistent, even though I was slow at it I wanted my work to be perfect My sister and I learned it together. We worked closely together." tribe. It is one of two Indian casinos with bingo machines in the state. The other, run by the Santee Sioux, has been operat ing since 1996. The tribes know if expanded gambling is approved in Novem ber, the stakes become a lot higher. A legislative plan on the bal lot would legalize two casinos, located anywhere in Nebraska. Another gambling measure, which would authorize two ca sinos in Omaha and slot ma chines at bars and restaurants across the state, also likely will be on the ballot. Petition signa tures submitted to get the issue before voters are in the process of being verified. Under either plan, the state's four American Indian tribes -Winnebago, Omaha, Santee Sioux and Ponca - would be able to compact with the state to operate full-fledged casinos on their land. But that's not where the real money is. Because the high rollers are likely to shun the out-of-the-way reservations, and instead gamble in glitzier casinos expected to be built in Omaha, the Indian casi nos are in danger of being at best an area attraction. The Winnebago are deter mined not to have that happen. The tribe is putting together a plan to make a push to run a casino off reservation land, most likely in downtown Omaha. In the early 1980s, McDaniels received his most valuable instruction. His big break came when he went to work for Kugee Supernaw's In dian Store in Anadarko. While employed there, McDaniels learned about beads and techniques for making dif ficult pieces. "Kugee taught me while I worked in his store," McDaniels said. "I was in high school at the time. He taught me about dif ferent kinds of beads. He used beads imported from Czecho slovakia." It was there that he started doing his work seriously. "I sat down and made my first medallion with him and it took eight to 10 hours to do 10 rounds of beads. After I made my first medallion, everything fell into place for me after that," McDaniels said. "You have to learn how to thread the needle the right way; that's really the biggest part of learning to do beadwork. Every thing has to be just right." Today, he works much faster. He has obtained knowledge that guides him through his work. He can create a 2-inch set of earrings in about three hours. He spends much longer on more detailed projects. "I like creativity," McDaniels said. "I like to take the time to do it right I've just gotten much better at it. I like pieces that will mean something to the people I make them for. I go out and learn about their lives and get designs from their background. This makes it very special to those who pay for my work. It isn't just a piece, it means some thing to them and me." Besides his beadwork, McDaniels has acquired several other skills. "While I was still at Kugee's store, during high school, I saw a box of A-shaped metal pieces, McDaniels said. "With these I learned to make German silver cones." Several other people helped teach McDaniels their craft skills as welL "My mother taught me to do " see no reason why we should be stuck on the reservation like 100 j ears ago. " Lance Morgan Chief executive officer Ho-Chunk Inc. It is there, the largest city in Nebraska, where the money is to be made, not on the remote reservation in a county of 9,000 people, tribal leaders say. "I see no reason why we should be stuck on the reserva tion like 100 years ago," said Lance Morgan, chief executive officer of Ho-Chunk Inc., the tribe's business arm. The Winnebagos have had discussions about possibly team ing up with a large gaming com pany or a large gaming tribe, Morgan said. He declined to reveal any other details. State lawmakers were wowed by a presentation made at a leg islative hearing by Las Vegas's Venetian Casino, said Winnebago tribal chairman John Blackhawk, but it doesn't make sense to send casino profits back to Nevada. "Our message is pretty clear," Blackhawk said. "We want this for Nebraska. We want to keep the money here." It will be a hard sell. The Venetian casino was heavily involved in lobbying the loom work," McDaniels said. "I learned gourd stitch from Alice Chaddleson and featherwork from Max Silverhdrn :t; Around 1996, he began mak ing a buckskin dress, which took about three years to complete. "Like any artist, I hit dry spells, when I just can't do it," said McDaniels. "In 1998, 1 lost my father and my sister and I didn't do much for about a year." McDaniels' work has won many prizes over the years. "In my first show ever, I won a first place award," McDaniels said. "It was at the American Indian Expo in 1986. 1 also won Best of Show that year. In 1999, I entered the buckskin dress I spent three years on and won first place, again, in the expo show." McDaniels will create most any piece requested. He does beadwork logos for organiza tions such as the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, beaded dance ac cessories, including crowns, chokers and pins. He creates braid ties and all sorts of jewelry. yy - mmmm - mm - mmm tfMimmiimmmn,iv rnimoz (mums Legislature to put the gambling measure on the ballot. The casino's owner has said he wants to develop a casino and hotel for Omaha's riverfront property - an estimated $300 million in vestment - that he believes could attract as much as 75 per cent of Iowa casino patrons. The alternative petition drive was backed by Coast Casinos, also of Las Vegas. Its owner has also said he is considering build ing a casino in Omaha. The Winnebago think they can come up with a plan that will be competitive. State Sen. DiAnna Schimck of Lincoln, who tried for years to get gambling legalized for the tribes alone, hopes they can, but she remains skeptical. "That would take a lot of ' negotiating and a lot of minds would have to be opened," Schimck said. "I don't think the tribes will have the kind of clout to have something like that hap pen. Indian gambling is huge busi ness nationwide. It brought in more than $16.7 billion in 2003, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission report re leased in July. That is an increase of 13.7 percent from 2002. Twenty-three states have Indian run casinos. 15 off Dinette Sets Aug 1-31 No Foolin' - The Best Food in Town! ron vncienr era rouna PETERSBURG, Ky. (AP) -Archaeologists have found re mains of 24 Native Americans apparently dating back more than 400 years. The site is near the Ohio River, where historians say two occupations of Fort Ancient Indians settled from the 1200s to the 1500s. Petersburg sits on a bluff along the river in rural northwestern Boone County. "There's a good chance" more bones will be found, said David Pollack, an archaeologist with the Kentucky Heritage Council who is working at the site. The archaeologists converged on the site last week after a con struction crew digging out the foundation for a house uncov ered two leg bones. After deter mining the bones were ancient $1 million jackpot at casino WORLEY, Idaho (AP) -Coeur d'Alene Casino gave away its biggest jackpot ever when a Spokane, Wash., man won more than $1 million on a Megabucks machine. The lottery-type game con nects machines in about 150 American Indian casinos around the United States, Coeur d'Alene Casino officials said. Lift Chairs ill'-- ,yhn v Currently a special order item. Ralph's and not the result of foul play, archaeologists sealed the site and began digging deeper. Pollack, who is director of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, said Tuesday that what was first thought to be a family burial ground now appears to be the burial site for a community of Fort Ancient-era Native Americans dating back to the late 1500s. The remains are being taken to the University of Kentucky for further study. There, scien tists will likely spend months analyzing them, said Matt Becher, Boone County historic preservation planner. David and Mary Holdcraft, who own the property, said last week they hope to have their new house built by October. The man, whose name was not released, bet $3 on the ma chine while he was waiting for his tee time, according to a ca sino press release. "After only four days with this game, it's a great pleasure to have such a big winner," said Jerry Krieg, the casino's chief operating officer. Furniture & T.V. (541)475-2578 525 S.E. 5th St. Madras, OR 97741 Edward & Donna Hagedorn, owners
