News from Indian Country
Page 9 Spilyay Tymoo October 28, 2004
Artifacts may date to earliest
Indians of Rio Grande Valley
HARLINGEN, Texas (AP) - Ar
chaeologists have discovered a cache
of artifacts near South Padre Island
they say could be up to 5,000 years
old, potentially providing new clues
about early peoples of the Texas coast.
The items, found in a protective clay
dune about 6 feet underground, appear
to be part of a fishing camp for a no
madic group of hunter-gatherers, ar
chaeologist Robert Ricklis said. They
include fragments of shell tools,
chipped flint projectile points, and a fish
earbone, or otolith, that can be ana
lyzed for information about the bay
environment of the time.
Ricklis said the find was significant
because so little is known about the
ancient Rio Grande Valley. Most early
manmade items would have been
eroded by sand and sea air, or washed
out by the ever-changing course of the
waterways of the Rio Grande basin
near the Mexican border.
"We don't have a chronology for the
Rio Grande Delta," said Ricklis, who
works for Corpus Christi-based Coastal
Environments Inc. "We really have no
idea of what the culture's prehistory
was."
The artifacts were found in May
during an archaeological survey by
Coastal Environments of the Bahia
Grande, a 6,000-acre lowland between
; Brownsville and Port Isabel. The sur
vey was required before the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service proceeds with plans
to restore wetlands lost to the digging
of the Brownsville Ship Channel dur
ing the 1930s.
Geologists say the Gulf of Mexico
once reached as far west as Starr
County and the Mexican state of
Coahuila. Paleo-Indians - the term for
ancient peoples who roamed the South
west - may have seen the Gulfs final
rise and retreat about 10,000 years ago,
said Tony Zavaleta, an anthropologist
at the University of Texas-Brownsville.
Ricklis said he believes the artifacts
come from a later group of peoples
who belonged to the archaic period,
7,500 B.C to 750 A.D., which is char
acterized by grinding tools and certain
types of projectile points.
The artifacts have not yet been car
bon dated, so Ricklis bases his estimate
on the shape of the projectile point and
what's known about the Laguna Madre,
the bay between South Padre Island
and the mainland. He said the items
were at least 1,000 years old, and he
believes more study will determine they
are even older than that. He has rec
ommended more digging be done.
Zavaleta agreed that the area is one
of the most historically significant, yet
neglected, sites in Texas.
Andrew Elliott Anderson, one of the
few archeologists to concentrate on the
area, documented nearly 400 Indian site
locations between 1908 and 1944.
When the ship channel was being
dug, Anderson scooped artifacts that
fell from the mud, including fossil frag
ments of mammals from the Pleis
tocene era (1.5 million to 11,000 years
ago) and a bright red pot with the cre
mated remains of a child.
Anthropologists know roaming
groups such as the Coahuiltecans regu
larly visited the area to hunt, fish and
gather fruits and berries, and that by
the time Spanish explorers arrived, there
were thriving villages. But scientists
know little about earlier peoples.
"Once you get to five thousand and
beyond that you get into a whole dif
ferent type of archaeology," Zavaleta
said.
Tom Hester of the University of
Texas-Austin, considered the authority
on South Texas archaeology, said the
early days of the Rio Grande Valley
are full of mysteries, including evidence
of cemeteries for otherwise wander
ing peoples.
"Why did they return to a special
site to bury the dead? Was it their way
of defining territory?" he asked.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife has decided to
move at least one of the planned flood
ing channels so as not to disturb the
site.
"We want to take a more detailed
look at it to make sure there wasn't
something missed," said John Wallace,
manager of the Laguna Atascosa Na
tional Wildlife Refuge.
"The intent is to find a spot free of
artifacts."
Former tribal official's trial begins
DEL RIO, Texas (AP) - The former head of the Kickapoo tribe's
health care program is accused of stealing money and laundering checks,
a prosecutor says in the woman's federal trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Harris told jurors in his opening statement
last week that Maricela Mendoza allegedly wrote phony checks to Mexi
can doctors, to a variety of vendors, and even to herself, some as large as
$15,000. Harris said she converted many of these at a check-cashing
outlet in Eagle Pass.
But Greg Torres, Mendoza's defense lawyer, said the 48-year-old woman
is liable only for sloppy record-keeping and caring too much about her
Indian clients. He said the Kickapoo Indians, who live in Maverick County :
and northern Mexico, have unusual health care needs, and meeting them
came at a personal cost to Mendoza.
Mendoza, former director of Kickapoo Community Health Services
in Eagle Pass, was arrested in November on accusations that she stole
about $259,000 from the program over a two-year period ending in Octo
ber 2002.
Land transfer to restore sacred sites
ACOMA PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced
a land transfer last week to return sites considered sacred and minerals rights to
the Pueblo of Acoma.
Norton visited the Pueblo's Sky City to return the deeds to mineral rights on
more than 74,000 acres of land.
"The deeds do more than restore sacred ground. This action represents the
respect President Bush and I have for tribal sovereignty. The transfer represents
our continued commitment to renewing the living legacies of Native Americans
in New Mexico and across the nation," Norton said.
Acoma Pueblo Gov. Fred Vallo Sr. accepted the deeds saying the land is of
profound spiritual meaning and has been divided in ownership between the
people of Acoma and a private company.
"Today, the federal government has righted a great wrong, made our land
whole and ensured that we will be able to protect the lands and sites that have
been sacred to our people from time immemorial," he said.
Vallo thanked former Rep. Joe Skecn, who died last year, for sponsoring the
legislation a few years ago to transfer the land back to the pueblo.
He also thanked New Mexico's current congressional delegation for support
ing the bill.
Tree-thinning
wood to go to
Pine Ridge
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -Wood
from tree-thinning at
Mount Rushmore National Me
morial is being given as winter fuel
for the Pine Ridge Indian Reser
vation. Staff members from the Na
tional Park Service said they
would load and stack the wood
on trucks and a trailer and de
liver it on Friday in the Eagle Nest
District. More wood could be
delivered Monday.
The Park Service is thinning
trees to make the forest safer
from wildland fires, said Duane
Buback, park facility manager at
Mount Rushmore. The ponde
rosa pine timber and slash were
sorted for use as fuel. "We wanted
to put it to good use," he said.
"It's this year's cut, and it needs
to dry out and cure," Buback said.
Six cords of wood were to be
hauled to the reservation. A cord
of wood is 4 feet wide, 4 feet
high and 8 feet long. Reservation
officials say the wood could help
at least 18 families and will assist
people who sometimes must
choose between feeding their chil
dren and buying propane.
Pawlenty has figure for tribes to ponder: $350 million
ST. PAUL (AP) - Gov. Tim Pawlenty
has a dollar amount to go along with
the pressure he has been exerting on
Indian tribes to share some of their
gambling profits: $350 million.
In a letter sent to tribal leaders Oct.
(12, Pawlenty asked them to meet with
him on Oct. 27 to discuss a new agree
ment that would, for the first time, re
quire Minnesota tribes to turn over a
portion of their gambling revenues to
the state.
The figure Pawlenty suggested
amounts to one-fourth of the tribes'
casino profits, according to his admin
istration. Pawlenty is developing other options
if the tribes refuse, Dan McElroy, his
chief of staff, said Thursday. McElroy
met two weeks ago with representatives
of three major casino concerns in Las
Vegas: Harrah's, MGM Grand and
Mandalay Bay. They are "very inter
ested in Minnesota," he said.
Several tribal leaders said they are
not going to attend the meeting with
Pawlenty.
"The governor knows full well where
this community stands," said Helen
Blue-Redner, chairwoman of the Up
per Sioux Community. "He's trying to
use this as a de facto tax on tribes. This
is not allowed within the bounds of the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988,
and he knows it." ; -A
In return for the $350 million pay-'
ment, tribes would be given exclusive
casino gambling rights for a "time pe
riod to be agreed upon," the letter said.
Pawlenty proposes that the tribes re
ceive a written guarantee of exclusiv
ity. To put the dollar amount in per
spective, $350 million would be more
than half the amount that all corpora
tions in Minnesota were projected to
pay in corporate income taxes for 2004.
It is more than the amount generated
by the motor vehicle sales tax charged
on all vehicles sold in the state.
Since 1989, tribes have operated
under compacts negotiated with Min
nesota that gave them the right to ca
sino gambling but did not specifically
guarantee exclusivity. The tribes have
always argued that exclusivity was im-
...the tribes viewed the
letter "not as an invitation,
but more like a summons.
t That's not very good proto
col for government-to-gov- ,
ernment relations. "
plied, a point the governor disputes. The
compacts had no termination date.
John McCarthy, executive director
of the Minnesota Indian Gaming As
sociation, said the tribes viewed the let
ter "not as an invitation, but more like
a summons. That's not very good pro
tocol for government-to-government
relations."
He said the tribal leaders are send
ing individual responses to Pawlenty,
but "I'm not aware of anyone from
our association who's going." The as
sociation is made up of nine of the
state's 1 1 tribes and includes those with
the most lucrative casinos.
McCarthy called the request for
$350 million a year "laughable," and
said, "there isn't that kind of money
here."
The offer, he said, "isn't real nego
tiation. I think he's made up his mind
he wants Vegas in Minnesota, and all
of this is just window dressing." .
'' 'A recent Minnesota Lottery report
estimated total wagers for casino gam
bling in the state at $10 billion annu
ally, and $350 million is the
administration's calculation of what 25
percent of net profits would be for the
industry in Minnesota.
McElroy said the administration
considers its offer "fair and reason
able." The 25 percent figure is one used
in several states, he said, and in New
York, the federal Bureau of Indian
Affairs ruled that "exclusivity has
value."
McElroy said that in his meeting
with officials from the various casinos,
he was told they would not lobby the
state directly but would be interested
in submitting a "request for proposal,"
which would be the beginning of the
bid process for casino development.
Washington addresses
Indian law in bar exam
j Native remains
j found at park
j AU GRES, Mich. (AP) - Two sets
i of human bones unearthed at an
j Arenac County Park appear to belong
j to the same person, who may have
j been a Chippewa from the time that
I the Indian tribe occupied the area, of
1 ficials say.
" Forensic anthropologists examined
the second set of remains this week -
a partial skull and some foot bones -and
said they are consistent with Ameri
can Indian bone structure and the pe
riod during which Chippewas lived in
Arenac County.
An excavator found a first set of
bones, a leg and jaw, on Oct 14 at the
county-owned beach site near Au Gres.
The sheriff and his deputies un
earthed the second set the following
day. Anthropologists from Michigan
State University identified both sets as
belonging to a child about 4 to 6 years
old and determined the bones were old
enough to correspond with the region's
American Indian settlements.
SEATTLE (AP) - The Washington
State Bar Association has decided to
address American Indian law in the
state bar exam beginning in the sum
mer of 2007.
The addition will make Washington
the second state after New Mexico to
address tribal issues in its bar exam.
The association's 12-member Board
of Governors made the decision Fri
day at a meeting in Richland after nearly
three hours of discussion. The panel
unanimously concluded that future law
yers must grasp the basics of tribal
sovereignty to practice law in this state.
The unanimous vote "was my big
gest shock," said Seattle attorney Gabe
Galanda, a member of California's
Round Valley Indian Confederation and
immediate past president of the North
west Indian Bar Association.
Galanda has been pressing for the
addition of Indian law to Washington's
bar exam since New Mexico made the
change in 2002.
The vote in Richland "was a funda
mental recognition of tribal sover
eignty," he said. "I was almost brought
to tears."
The state bar will work with law
schools and companies that offer bar
exam preparation courses to ensure the
issue is addressed, Galanda said.
"I credit the non-Indian bar ... for
carrying the water," he said. "Tribal law
yers brought it to their attention and,
ultimately, it was the general bar that
decided this was good policy."
Russell Means arrested at Pine Ridge
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Authorities arrested American Indian activist Russell
Means, 65, last Saturday for failing to appear in federal court a day earlier to
deal with some traffic tickets.
Means, one of two candidates for president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in the
Nov. 2 election, was ready to appear at a student rally at Billy Mills Hall in Pine
Ridge when "four cops and a (criminal investigator) come in asked him to step
outside, said Eileen Janis, who is a candidate for tribal vice president
He was freed on bond three hours later after friends drove to Manderson to
buy a $510 money order. After his release, Means said, "There's no excuse, I was
just campaigning too hard." Means said he is pleading not guilty to five traffic
tickets issued in Badlands National Park earlier this year.
States bet on gambling
in tough economic times
SEATTLE (AP) - California and Washington state are in the midst of a
high-stakes, election-year showdown with American Indian tribes over ca
sino gambling. Voters in both states will decide Nov. 2 whether to take a bite
out of tribal casinos' business by expanding non-tribal gambling to boost
state revenues and provide tax relief. Both sides are spending heavily to
defend their turf.
Four other states have gambling measures on the statewide ballot this
year - an attempt to cash in on the soaring popularity of gambling following
a decade that saw a rapid expansion of Indian casinos around the nation.
Experts say gambling money looks like a sure bet to initiative sponsors in
lean economic times - whether their goal is lowering taxes, improving edu
cation or simply shoring up a weak state budget. "Gambling is a very popu
lar way to go, very well accepted," said Las Vegas political consultant Nancy
Todd Tyner, who has worked on pro-gambling issues across the country.
"When you have budget shortfalls, it's a very easy fix."
In Washington state, voters will decide on a ballot initiative that would
allow up to 18,000 slot machines across the state. The populist twist is that
the 35 percent tax on the machines would pay for property-tax reduction.
Washington tribes have spent more than $5 million to defeat the initia
tive, supported by a broad coalition of civic and church leaders. A recent
poll showed voters about evenly split.
Down the coast in California, voters will decide on two competing gam
bling measures, but the smart money is on both failing. Proposition 68 would
force tribes to pay a quarter of their slot machine revenues to local govern
ments. If the tribes refused to pay, the state would let other businesses
operate up to 30,000 slot machines, taxed at 33 percent
Proposition 70, which is being pushed by a handful of casino-operating
tribes, would expand tribal casinos from small-scale gambling parlors to full
fledged Las Vegas-style casinos, complete with table games such as craps
and roulette. Proposition 68 proponents pulled back support of the mea
sure recently, citing confusion between the two proposals.