News from Indian Country
Pqge 10 Spilyqy Tytnoo September 29, 2005
New York
museum
showcases
Native art
NFW YORK (A 1) - It was
originally meant to be one show
- a survey of contemporary
Native American artists from
arouiul the country, showcased
at the Museum of Arts anil
Design.
It took about six weeks for
the organizers to realize there
was no way they could fit all the
work they were finding into one
exhibit.
"We had no idea how rich the
territory was in terms of artists,"
co-curator David McFadden
said.
So the one show was broken
into three, divided by geography.
The first show, which opened in
2002, focused on the Southwest,
the four states of Arizona, Colo
rado, New Mexico and Utah.
"Changing I lands: Art Without
Reservation 2: Contemporary
Native North American Art
from the West, Northwest &
Pacific" opened this week and
runs through Jan. 22. A third
show, focusing on art from the
area cast of the Mississippi, is
planned for 2008 or 2009.
The exhibit, which covers
three floors in the museum's
midtown Manhattan location,
features more than 300 works
in a variety of media from just
under 200 artists, said
Mcl'adden, who curated with
Ellen Taubman.
"It's everything," McFadden
said. "That is one of the really
exciting things: We found clay,
glass, ceramics, bcadwork, mct
alwork jewelry, costumes. It ab
solutely opened up every con
ceivable territory."
There are, examples of intri
cate bcadwork, on purses and
belts and even sneakers; one
piece is the ultimate game of
cowboys and Indians on a
chess board, on which the
castles on the cowboys' side are
a fort and an outhouse and on
the Indians' side are teepees.
Another offering is a take on the
iconic packaging for Land
O'Lakes butter, with its kneel
ing Indian maiden, delving into
issues of stereotypes by label
ing it "Land O'Fakes."
There are masks done in the
style of the Haida people of the
Pacific Northwest but in shapes
and with images that aren't tra
ditional. The show is divided into four
sections:
One deals with the influence
and inspiration of nature, an
other with social identity and the
human condition, a third with
how materials are used and the
fourth with an object's form and
function.
One thing the show doesn't
deal with is the artists' tribal af
filiations, McFadden said, be
cause that's not what the cura
tors want viewers to concentrate
on.
"We want them to look at
what the art says about culture
in general, about issues in gen
eral, and not to get all hung up
on whether or not someone is a
Zuni or Hopi or whatever," he
said. "It's not important."
McFadden said he hopes the
show's audience comes away
with a sense of the vitality of
Native American art.
"Indian art is not dead," he
said. "It s continuing to change,
and our ideas about Indian art
have to be reformulated."
The show will travel exten
sively after its New York run. It
will be exhibited in Santa Fe,
N.M, Indianapolis, Naples, Fla.,
Tulsa, ( )kla.. Anchorage, Alaska,
and Minneapolis.
Also, other sites may be
added.
Feds, Northern Arapaho agree on
Clli;Yi:NNi:,Wyo.(AP)
- The U.S. Department of
the Interior has signed docu
ments allowing the Northern
Arapaho Tribe to begin of
fering Las Vegas-style gam
bling. Jim Conrad, chief execu
tive officer of the Wind
River Casino, said Thursday
there were still a few proce
dural hoops the tribe had to
jump through, but he ex
pected to have Class III ma
chines and the first blackjack
tables installed in the tribe's
existing binge park r within 60
days.
James Cason, Associate
Deputy Secretary of the In
terior, signed the agreement
on Wednesday, according to
Nedra Darling, a spokes
woman for the Bureau of In
Rachel Talmadge photo for the Spllyay
Warm Springs Elementary School students Denise Herkshan, Sharena Warner and
Adrianna Switzler (from left) gave a dance demonstration at the Festival of Nations
celebration earlier this month at Cascade Locks.
Court rules
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -Gov.
Jennifer Granholm should
not have been allowed to rene
gotiate a deal related to Ameri
can Indian casino profits with
out getting the changes approved
by state lawmakers, according to
a Michigan Court of Appeals
ruling released last week.
The case specifically involves
one northern Michigan tribe -
Official faces
banishment
after conviction
CONCHO, Okk (AP)-An
elected official with the Chey
enne and Arapaho tribe faces
banishment after being con
victed in tribal court of embez
zling more than $55,000 from
a Waronga casino.
Roy Dean Bullcoming, 51,
also was sentenced this week to
a four-year jail term and ordered
to pay full restitution.
Bullcoming was charged in
April with 15 counts of em
bezzlement totaling $69,030.
The money was taken from the
Feather Warrior Casino in
Watonga between July 2004 and
January 2005, the charges allege.
Tribal Judge Charles Tripp
found Bullcoming guilty on all
but one charge. In that case,
vault receipts couldn't be found
to verify the alleged theft of
$14,015.
Tripp accepted all of Attor
ney General Charles Morris'
recommended punishments ex
cept the proposed banishment
of 12 to 15 years. Tripp delayed
a decision on that request until
an Oct 21 formal sentencing.
dian Affairs.
"It was a day the tribe has
been working at for many years,
It's a major step," Conrad said.
"Now we have the opportunity
to go and start bringing in Class
III - 2 1 -tables, slot machines."
Hie Northern Arapaho is one
of just a handful of tribes that
have won federal approval for
Class III gambling - which
ranges from slot machines to
table games - without signing a
compact with an adjoining state.
The Arapahoes first asked the
state to enter negotiations in the
mid-1990s.
In November 2000, after
years of talks failed to produce
an agreement, the Arapahoes
sued Wyoming, saying the state
had failed to negotiate in good
faith and that the tribe should
be allowed to bypass the state
tom i
Mi'
compact was
the Little Traverse Bay Bands
of Odawa Indians - but could
have implications for any future
attempts to renegotiate other
tribal compacts.
The dispute centers on
changes made in 2003 to a com
pact first negotiated in 1998.
The 1998 compact included a
provision allowing the governor
to negotiate amendments on
1357 N.
' Om 0
The tribe has plans for
a $10.) Million casino
that would probably
hold 600 to 700
machines and ex
panded table offerings.
and open a casino.
Federal courts consistently
siiled with the tribe, and this
summer the 10th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals ruled that the
Northern Arapaho was entitled
to operate a full range of Class
III games.
Following that ruling, the
I Eastern Shoshone Tribe, which
shares the Wind River Indian
Reservation with the Northern
Arapahoes, announced its inten
1 k
. - 4 i, '
' 1 I ,.
improper
behalf of the state.
During negotiations with the
Odawa tribe, which runs a ca
sino in Petoskey, Granholm
agreed to let it build another one
in Mackinaw City. An appeals
court ruled the provision that
gave the governor power to re
negotiate the deal without state
lawmakers' approval violated
separation of powers doctrine.
Hwy. 97, Redmond, OR 97756
Phone (541) 504-1402
tion to operate a casino.
Gov. Dave I'reudenihal was
traveling Thursday and could
not be reached for comment.
Conrad said the agreement
signed Wednesday was based on
prior talks between the tribe and
the state and allowed only a lim
ited range of Class III games.
But he said the tribe would seek
an amendment, based on the
10th Circuit ruling, to allow all
Class III games.
"There's still a few hoops,"
Conrad said. "It's probably go
ing to take us 60 days to get
tables and slot machines in and
on the floor."
Conrad said the current fa
cility, formerly known as 789
Bingo, would probably house
between 300 and 400 Class III
machines.
They'll start with three black
Montana considers new
justice system for tribes
BOZF.MAN, Mont. (Al) -Gov.
Brian Schwcitxer has asked
corrections officials to explore
the idea of having the state's
tribes oversee their own justice
system for some crimes.
Such programs already exist
in Manitoba and Saskatchewan,
and they've markedly improved
corrections systems in both Ca
nadian provinces, Schweitzer
told the Montana Correctional
Association at a meeting here
Wednesday.
Schweitzer said Montana
needs "a system that is more
culturally appropriate for cor
rections in Indian country." he
said
Corrections officials met with
Blackfoot Nation representa
tives in Lethbridge, Alberta, on
Tuesday to learn about the sys
tem they use in Canada. Under
it, some offenders are sent to
"healing circles" composed of
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475-3157
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gaming
jack tables, then add more table
games as dealers are trained and
as the market demands.
The tribe also has plans for
a $10.3 million casino that
Conrad said would probably
hold 600 to 700 machines and
expanded table offerings.
Anthony A. Addison Sr., co
chairman of the Northern
Arapaho Business Council, said
the tribe snll hadn't determined
exactly how it would use its ca
sino revenue but said tribal
schools, housing and economic
development have been dis
cussed as options.
"The way we first looked at
it in pursuing this gaming was
those were the areas we needed
to look at to meet the needs of
the people," Addison said. "The
way we look at it, it's going to
be positive for us."
tribal elders who sentence them
to community service instead
of going to court.
When American Indians do
end up in court, there are na
tive court workers to help them
understand the legal process and
to help the court understand the
socio-economic factors on the
reservation.
Schweitzer said he'd also like
to see prerelease centers on the
reservations tailored to the cul
tural needs in those areas.
"We're going try to Find a
hybrid between the (American
Indian and Fluropean) cultures
that is more successful than the
models we're using today," he
said.. . ', .
The 'Blackfoot system does
not handle murder or drunken
driving cases or any crime that
could result in more than two
years in prison.
Just in time for firewood season.
Big sale on
saws!
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