News from Indian Country p9 5 027,2005
Indians challenge county voting system
ClinvnNNR, Wyo. (AP) -A
federal lawsuit filed last week
by five American Indians chal
lenging the system of at-largc
elections in Wyoming's Fremont
County is part of a continuing,
nationwide effort by Indians to
assert their voting rights, attor
neys say.
Five members of the East
ern Shoshone and Northern
Arapaho tribes charge that Fre
mont County's system of at
largc elections dilutes the Indian
vote. Although nearly 20 percent
of Fremont County's 35,800
residents arc Indian, none of the
five county commissioners is
Indian.
The plaintiffs arc represented
by local lawyers and Atlanta law
yers with the American Civil
Liberties Union.
Bryan Sells, staff attorney
for the ACLU's Voting Rights
Project in Atlanta, said Friday
the ACLU already has success
fully represented Indians in chal
lenging at-large elections in
Montana and South Dakota.
"It think it's undeniable that
Native Americans are really be
Tribe to brild casino near Detroit Airport
ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) -With
the roar of jet engines in
the background, a northern
Michigan American Indian tribe
Thursday announced plans to
build a $243 million casino and
hotel complex just north of
Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
The Hannahville Indian
Community, which already owns
a casino in Michigan's Upper
Peninsula, says the 24-acre com
plex would create 3,300 new
jobs and bring in more than
$300 million in annual revenue.
The tribe is partnering on the
proposed casino with
Sweetwater Gaming Inc. of
Naples, Fla.
But the casino project faces
formidable obstacles. It must be
approved by the U.S. Depart
ment of Interior, which has not'
allowed an off-reservation ca
sino since 2000. Then, the gov
ernor must agree to the proposal.
Police can't
find body
after reported
killing
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP)
A teenager is being held for
investigation in a shooting
death even though police
have been unable to find
the body of the apparent
victim.
Police called off the
search for Julio Munguia,
20, on Tuesday after de
ploying divers, boats and
planes in and around Sarg
Hubbard Park and the
Yakima River.
Kevin James Perez, 18,
the son of Munguia's girl
friend, remained in custody
for investigation of murder
with bail set at $1 million.
Police Capt. Jeffrey
Schneider said investigators
are convinced that Munguia
was shot to death in his car
Friday night after he and his
girlfriend, Michelle Harris,
36, got into a fight in front
of her son.
The car was found "full
of blood" and bloody drag
marks were found at the
park after Perez told inves
tigators that he shot
Munguia when the older
man began choking his
mother, police said.
coming more interested and
energized about their rights to
vote. And this is part of that
effort," Sells said.
Sells said there are parallels
between the ongoing efforts of
American Indians to secure their
voting rights and the efforts of
black Americans in the South
during the civil rights movement
of the 1950s and 1960s.
"The ways to discriminate
against whatever minority of
voters you've got, they're pretty
tried and true," Sells said. "So
there are very distinct parallels
between some of what is still
going on in Indian Country and
what happened in the South. It
just happens, it's 30 years, or in
some cases 20 years, later."
Fremont County Attorney
Ed Newell said Friday he hadn't
seen the lawsuit and couldn't
comment on it. But Scott
Detamore, an attorney with the
Lakcwood, Colo.-based Moun
tain States Legal Foundation
who has defended against simi
lar lawsuits in Montana, said the
ACLU files such suits in small
Western counties because of
Gov. Jennifer Granholm "has
long had serious concerns about
off-reservation tribal gaming,"
said Liz Boyd, her spokes
woman. "Part of it involves
tribes operating casinos great
distances from their reservation
and their governmental centers."
Boyd, however, would not
comment on the Hannahville
community's proposal.
Generally, it takes 212 years
for a casino to gain approval
from the secretary of the inte
rior, said Gary Garrison, Bureau
of Indian Affairs spokesman.
Only three off-reservation ca
sinos have been approved since
they were allowed by Congress
in 1988, he said.
"There's a lot of desire to do
it, but there hasn't been a whole
lot of success," he said.
Tribal Chairman Kenneth
Meshigaud said he hopes for
Boost for Makah whaling
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP)
- The House Resources Com
mittee has given a boost to the
Makah Tribe's bid to resume
whale hunting off the coast of
Washington state.
The panel approved a non
binding resolution urging the
Bush administration to uphold
whaling rights guaranteed to the
tribe under an 1855 treaty with
the federal government.
The resolution, sponsored by
the panel's chairman, Rep. Ri
chard Pombo, R-Calif., calls a
waiver process required by the
National Marine Fisheries Ser
vice "burdensome, costly and
tantamount to a denial of the
tribe's treaty rights."
The resolution goes on to
urge Congress to express "its
disapproval of the 'abrogation
of the tribe's treaty rights, and
that the government of the
United States should uphold the
treaty rights of the Makah
Tribe."
The Republican-led panel
approved the measure 21-6,
with five Democrats joining 16
Republicans to vote in favor.
Five Democrats, including
Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington,
voted against the measure.
Inslee ridiculed the resolution as
a "political statement" with no
legal impact, introduced by an
out-of-state lawmaker,
"This effort is clearly not a
their small populations and
without proof of discrimina
tion. "They come in, particularly
the federal government, with this
great big stick, and say, 'Change
your system,"' Detamore said.
"What often happens is these
counties say that, 'It will break
the treasury to defend this thing.
All right, we'll change the sys
tern. F'rcmont County voters in
1992 turned down a ballot ini
tiative to create five separate
commission districts.
The lawsuit asks US. District
Judge Alan Johnson of Chey
enne to block Fremont County
from holding any more at-largc
elections and to order the
county to develop a redistrict
ing plan. The plaintiffs arc James
E. Large, Gary Collins, Emma
Lucille McAdams, Patricia
Bcrgie and Pete Calhoun. At
tempts to reach them for com
ment on Friday were unsuccess
ful. Scott Crichton, executive di
rector ACLU of Montana, said
F'riday that Indians in his state
quick approval from the federal
government.
"We feel that this is a good
project. It's ig a good location
and has overwhelming commu
nity support," Meshigaud said at
a news conference at the site in
Romulus, about 25 miles west
of Detroit.
Romulus voters in 2003
passed a referendum for a new
casino, with 56.6 percent in fa
vor. Garrison said such approval
would help the proposal.
Another obstacle is a bill
sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike
Rogers, R-Brighton, that would
ban off-reservation casinos. The
measure is in the House Re
sources Committee and likely
will have a hearing in Novem
ber, said Sylvia Warner, spokes
woman for Rogers.
Casino supporters, including
Romulus Mayor Alan R. Lam
bert, say market studies show
serious effort by Chairman
Pombo to look into an impor
tant issue. It's just asking us to
make a political statement" in
favor of the tribe, Inslee said.
Inslee said he supports the
tribe's treaty rights, but said he
also wants to uphold the Marine
Mammal Protection Act, which
outlaws whaling in the United
States.
The tribe is proposing to har
vest as many as 20 gray whales
during a five-year period, with
a maximum of five whales
killed in any one year.
"This is a very complicated
issue and we ought to have hear
ings on it," Inslee said.
After the federal government
removed the gray whale from the
endangered species list in 1994,
the Makah took steps to hunt
again in waters off its reservation
at the tip of Washington's Olym
pic Peninsula.
In 1999, tribal members
killed their first whale in more
than 70 years.
Animal welfare activists soon
sued the tribe and its federal
backers, leading to the court
order that resulted in the Feb
ruary request for a waiver.
Rick Marks, a lobbyist for
the tribe, hailed the vote as an
important statement.
The Resources panel over
sees Indian issues in the House
of Representatives.
have prevailed in similar court
challenges to at-largc voting.
"Essentially, what they were
finding were practices not dis
similar to the Jim Crow South,"
Crichton said of the Montana
cases. "I don't know the factual
pattern in Wyoming, so 1 can't
speak to that. But there were
systematic ways of keeping
Native Americans from register
ing and participating in the po
litical process."
As a result of a lawsuit end
ing at-largc voting in Montana's
Big I lorn County, Crichton said,
Indians are now represented on
the county commission and have
been elected to several county
offices.
And as a result of a lawsuit
the US. Justice Department filed
recently to end at-largc voting
in Blaine County, Mont.,
Crichton said, an Indian woman
was elected to the county com
mission. The Mountain States
Legal Foundation represented
Blaine County and appealed to
the U.S. Supreme Court. The
high court in August declined to
hear the appeal.
the new gambling site would not
take money from the three ca
sinos in Detroit or from one in
nearby Windsor, Ontario.
'There's been studies done to
show that there's plenty to go
around," said Lambert, who
added that the complex could
bring the city $15 million to $20
million in additional property tax
revenue that could be used to
cut taxes. - '
The casino would be part of
a larger complex near an Inter
state 94 freeway interchange that
includes a new horse track, re
tail mall and convention center.
Meshigaud said proximity to
the airport would help the 200
room hotel and casino draw
more than 5 million visitors per
year to its 2,400 slot machines
and 90 gaming tables. The
Hannahville Indian Community,
located in Wilson, has about 800
members, officials said.
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Osage Nation breaks
ground on rural
Bartlesville casino
BARTLESVILLE, Okla.
(AP) - The Osage Nation
broke ground on its new $11
million casino in the rural
hills west of the city.
Once open, the lodge
themed Million Dollar Elm
Casino is expected to bring
200 jobs to the area. The ca
sino will operate 24 hours a
day and feature more than
600 gaming machines, a res
taurant, bar, delicatessen and
parking for more than 700
cars.
Tribal officials said Thurs
day that building a new ca
sino miles out of town in an
area with limited infrastruc
ture will pay off.
One tribal councilor,
Harry Roy Red Eagle, said
the tribe will invest in new
roads and security at the 20
acre site before the casino's
completion next May.
"We're not here to take the
money and run," Red Eagle
said.
Jim Fram, Bartlesville
Chamber of Commerce
Arkansas panel rejects
Native American
recognition, wet-dry studies
LITTLE ROCK (AP)-The
prospect of Indian casinos in
Arkansas prompted legislators
to reject a proposal to study
granting state recognition to na
tive American tribes.
! Members of the House and
Senate committees on state
agencies and governmental af
fairs also declined to study pro
posed legislation that would
grant residents of dry counties
a vote on allowing mixed-drink
sales at private clubs.
Legislative committees rou
tinely look at study proposals
between sessions.
But a state Department of
Finance and Administration of
ficial pricked the interest of law
makers Thursday when he cau
tioned that state recognition of
Indian tribes and groups could
hasten federal recognition,
rmjftnftmjj
OO-IBOSftiinimi
Ralph's TV &
chief executive officer, said
the tribe has the backing of
city officials.
"We consider tourism a
major part of our economic
development," he said. "The
more destination things you
can cluster in an area the
bigger crowd it can draw."
Red Eagle sees the same
potential in the site.
"The feasibility studies
were very encouraging.
They showed us a heavily
populated area at Dewey,
Bartlesville and southern
Kansas ... and there is no
immediate gaming site in
their vicinity," he said.
The tribe worked to de
velop a Bartlesville casino
for several years. To solidify
the deal, the tribe entered
into a 25-ycar lease with the
Allen family of nearby
Pawhuska and I lominy.
The Aliens' allotment
property came with re
stricted land status, making
it a prime choice for the
tribe's plans, Red Eagle said.
which could open the door to
Indian casinos and smoke shops
on tribal land without the state's
consent
"That has never been my in
tention and will not be my in
tention. I would not be part ol
anything that would further 'any
thing along that line. I do be
lieve, however, that people have
a right to be heard," said Rep.
Preston Scroggin, D-Vilonia,
who said he brought the proposal
at the request of some of his
constituents and those of col
leagues in surrounding districts.
Washington historian and lob
byist Mike Lawson urged the
panel to consider recognizing
indigenous native American
tribes of Arkansas to honor
their history and acknowledge
their cultural contributions to the
state.
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