News from Indian Country 4
*? Spilydy Tyrooo
Montana tribe upbeat about
new casino, despite slow start
B R O W N IN G ,
M o n t.
(A P)— O n an icy D e ce m b e r
day, Carol Vielle bathes in the
w arm , p u lsa tin g lights o f a
video bingo m achine.
“W ish m e luck, eh,” says
Vielle, 54, as she makes penny
bets with the push o f a glowing
plastic button.
V ielle p ic k ed th e “ Mr.
Cashman” game from a sea o f
500 electronic bingo machines
at the B lackfeet T rib e ’s new
Glacier Peaks Casino. This ma
chine tempts with a payout o f
some $30,000. While payouts at
off-reservation casinos in M on
tana are capped at $800, jack
pots for video bingo— available
only on Indian reservations—
can reach into the hundreds o f
thousands o f dollars.
“I ’m trying to win the big
one,” Vielle said. She is part of
a m uch larger gamble on the
Blackfeet Reservation.
H er tribe invested more than
$7 million to open the 33,000-
square-foot, Vegas-style casino
in Browning. Mired in poverty
and joblessness, the Blackfeet
w ant a piece o f the boom ing
$22.6 billion Indian gaming in
dustry that is bringing wealth to
tribes across the United States.
“Casinos have a good history
o f helping tribes get out o f pov
erty,” said Rodney G ervais, a
tribal councilman and member
o f Siyeh Corp., the tribe’s eco
nom ic developm ent arm that
built Glacier Peaks. “We have
really high hopes for the casino.”
The Blackfeet’s entry into the
world o f big-time casinos saw a
few hitches.
The tribe hoped to open Gla
cier Peaks in late spring 2006,
but construction delays pushed
that back, forcing the casino into
the long winter w ithout reserves
from the summer tourist season.
Then tragedy.
A t the casino’s glitzy grand
opening in late Septem ber, a
skydiver dressed as Elvis suffered
fatal injuries in a hard landing.
N ow financial issues— in
cluding layoffs, an across-the-
b o a rd pay cut, and a re c en t
cash flow sh o rta g e th a t r e
quired a $50,000 loan from the
trib e— have raised questions
about G lacier Peaks’ viability.
Patience, urges Siyeh board
m em ber Virgil Edw ards. The
troubles are the same ones ex
perienced by many startup busi
nesses, he says. T he original
staff o f roughly 270 was cut
back to roughly 128 to adjust
for the winter season. That and
other adjustments are expected
to keep th e casino on solid
ground until tourists return this
spring, he said.
“ I f we sta ff properly, it’s
going to make a lot o f money
for the tribe,” Edwards said.
Rags-to-riches stories like that
of Michigan’s Saginaw Chippewa,
whose Soaring Eagle Casino and
Resort pulled the tribe out o f deep
poverty to become one o f the
nation’s wealthiest reservations,
have made headlines in recent
years. A dult m em bers o f the
Michigan tribe receive annual pay
ments topping $50,000 from ca
sino earnings. Nationwide, Indian
gaming directly created 171,000
jobs in 2005, according to a new
re p o rt from the W ashington,
D.C.-based National Indian Gam
ing Association.
But not everyone’s cashing in.
A 2003 analysis o f Indian
c asin o re v e n u e s by th e
Fedgazette looked at 42 reser
vations in the N in th Federal
Reserve District. The area cov
ers Minnesota, M ontana, N orth
Dakota, South Dakota and parts
o f Wisconsin and Michigan.
T he study fo u n d th a t the
w e a lth ie s t fiv e trib e s a c
counted for 54 percent o f ca
sino revenue, b u t less than 6
percent o f the population.
Some o f the m ost success
ful casinos are near m etropoli
tan areas.
C asinos w o n ’t m ake rural
tribes like the Blackfeet rich,
said N IG A Executive Director
Mark Van Norm an.
“It’s maybe one stick out o f
a bundle o f sticks that you re
ally need,” Van N orm an said.
“But it can be the one that cre
ates capital that you need as a
catalyst to get other economic
development going.”
A lack o f entertainment op
tions in rural communities makes
Indian casinos popular, even on
relatively rem ote reservations,
said Van Norman, a member of
the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
in South Dakota, where several
rural casinos are thriving.
The Rosebud Sioux built a
successful casino on the South
Dakota-Nebraska border hours
from the nearest big cities o f
Sioux Falls and Omaha.
W ith roughly 250 machines,
it’s about half the size o f Gla
cier Peaks. The tribe uses casino
earnings to buy school clothes
for children.
In N orth Dakota, the Stand
ing Rock Sioux are drawing crowds
to their Prairie Knights Casino and
Lodge in Fort Yates, roughly 50
miles south o f Bismarck.
Country acts, dining and ac
cess to golf and a marina on the
M issouri R iver draw patrons
fro m a g re a t d ista n c e , V an
N orm an said.
“I think (the Blackfeet) will
be very successful based on the
experience o f other rural areas,”
he said. “People want other en
tertainment venues.”
Glacier Peaks plans to build
a hotel this spring, and has ex
panded the plan from 60 rooms
to m ore than 100.
The tribe also plans to bring
m ore horse racing events to its
tra c k n e x t to th e casin o to
draw interest.
And unlike other rural casinos,
Glacier Peaks has the advantage
o f neighboring Glacier National
Park, which can draw more than
2 million visitors a year.
D uring the summer, G reen
plans to station casino buses at
strategic points across the park.
An advertising blitz is planned
this spring.
In the o ff season, G reen is
betting on business from M on
tanans and Albertans.
A thirst for something differ
ent will draw patrons from across
the region, Green said.
£CW hen you walk in here it’s
not what you expect in a Mon
tana casino,” he said. “I’ve got an
Elvis im personator w ho walks
around. I’ve got show girls.”
Kole Larson, 25, sings “All
Shook U p ” as he roam s the
casino flo o r in a late-m odel
Elvis getup. The Elvis gig— 40
hours a week at $10 an hour—
is a vast improvement from his
$6.50-an-hour job as a custodian
at the tribe’s old bingo hall.
“I always w anted to be an
actor,” says Larson, his voice
still in a deep Elvis bass.
B ut the cuts to o k G lacier
Peak employees— Larson wasn’t
am ong them — started talk o f
financial trouble at the casino.
Late payments to vendors and
pay cuts only added to worries.
The tribe made a $50,000, 30-
day loan to Glacier Peaks to help
it bridge a gap in cash-on-hand
available for jackpot payouts.
Green said the measures are
balancing the budget.
“We’ve got to realize it’s not
an o v e rn ig h t su cc e ss,” said
Roger Running Crane, a tribal
councilman and longtime advo
cate o f the Blackfeet’s gaming
enterprises. “We’re experiencing
growing pains as we go along.”
W hen to u rists re tu rn this
spring, Edwards estimates the
casino will rake in $2 million a
m onth on machine play alone.
Tribal Treasurer Joe Gervais
lauded Green’s cost-cutting mea
sures, saying they’re a sign the
casino is well managed.
He also supported the short
term loan.
“Right now there’s a learning
curve that went on there the first
few months and they had to make
the adjustments,” Gervais said. “I
think everybody, especially the
(tribal council), is committed to
see the thing be a success.”
Though the layoffs sparked
rumors and left form er employ
ees and th e ir fam ilies d is
gruntled, the casino appears to
have broad community support.
I f there is concern on moral
grounds about bringing a large-
scale gambling operation to the
reservation, it has been quiet in
recent months.
“Gambling has always been in
the Native American culture, like
playing stick games and all those
forms o f gambling and cards and
stu ff like that,” said H erm an
Whitegrass, a state-licensed addic
tions counselor at the Crystal
Creek Lodge, the tribe’s chemical
dependency center.
T h o u g h people should be
mindful that gambling cap be
com e a p ro b lem , the casino
w on’t make a significant differ
ence in addiction levels, he said.
“Addictions are addictions and
they will always be here in our
society,” on the reservation and
off, Whitegrass said
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January 18, 2 007
Family of man killed by
park police files lawsuit
N EW A R K , N.J. (AP)—
The family o f a Ramapough
Lenape Indian fatally shot by
a state park police officer last
year plan to file a civil rights
lawsuit Thursday against the
officer, the state and others,
claiming they used excessive
force against an u n arm ed
man.
The family o f Emil Mann
plans to hold a news confer
ence o u tsid e th e B erg en
County C ourthouse T hurs
day afternoon after its law
yers file the suit in state Su
p erio r C ourt. It will nam e
P ark Police O ffic e r C had
Walder, other officers at the
scene, the state D epartm ent
o f Environmental Protection
and the state o f N ew Jersey
as defendants, said attorney
Eric Hecker.
“ T h is w as ex cessiv e
force,” Hecker said. “He was
unarmed. They were no t in
any p h y sical a lte rc a tio n ,
much less struggle.”
H e declined to discuss de
tails about the lawsuit.
M an n , 45, o f M o n ro e ,
N.Y., was shot to death on
A p ril 1, 2006 o n th e
m ountain top near the N ew
York border after a confron
tation with Walder under cir
cum stances that rem ain in
dispute.
Tribe members say Mann
was trying to break up a fight
between a cousin and a dif
fe re n t p ark p olice o fficer
w ho was issuing tickets to
people for illegally riding all-
terrain vehicles in a prohib
ited area.
T h e B erg en C o u n ty
Prosecutor’s Office is still in
vestigating the shooting. The
D epartm ent o f Environm en
tal Protection, which oversees
the park police, had no com
m ent Wednesday.
Shortly after the shooting,
Gov. Jon S. Corzine m et with
R am ap o u g h le ad e rs and
p ro m ised an in vestigation
into the killing. H e also ap
p o in te d a c o m m issio n to
study American Indian com
munities in N ew Jersey re
garding civil rights, access to
education, fair housing, infra
structure, em ploym ent and
health care.
Documentary focuses
on Navajo water rights
CO YO TE CANYON, N.M.
(AP)— Mark Tsosie rises each
morning at dawn and travels six
miles to haul water for his fam
ily and livestock.
T he 77-year-old is am ong
70,000 people who live without
running w ater on the Navajo
■ Nation, the country’s largest In
dian reservation.
“He continues to do this ev
eryday because there’s no other
way,” said his daughter, Sharon
William. “T here’s no t another
alternative. I believe the govern
m ent forgot us down here.”
Tsosie’s story is featured in
“The Water Haulers,” a docu
mentary that premiers Friday on
PBS television station KNM E.
The program was funded in
part by the Navajo N ation Wa
te r R ights C o m m issio n , the
H ealy F o u n d a tio n , th e state
engineer’s office and the Inter
state Stream C om m ission. It
explores the challenges facing a
culture w hen a basic hum an
right, such as access to water, is
unobtainable.
Navajo families interviewed
for the documentary said they
have been prom ised for years
that a series o f pipelines would
be built to provide water. They
now are looking to Congress to
make that a reality.
“We’re 30 years behind the
times, 30 years behind the main
stream,” Navajo President Joe
Shirley Jr. said.
In tow ns th a t b o rd e r the
sprawling reservation, hom es
have three or four bathrooms,
Shirley said.
“T hen you come out here to
Navajoland and you find grand
mas and grandpas in this one-
ro o m house and no ru n n in g
water,” he said.
In addition to Navajos w ith
out running water, the documen
tary features interview s w ith
w a te r rig h ts e x p e rts an d
p o licy m ak ers.
Sen.
Jeff
Bingaman, D-N.M ., talks about
legislation that would settle the
tribe’s water rights claims in the
San Juan River Basin.
T he state o f N ew M exico
and the tribe have signed a settle
m ent agreem ent that resolves
the tribe’s w ater claims in the
basin. But before it can be offi
cially settled, C ongress m ust
enact legislation.
T he legislation in tro duced
Bingaman would recognize that
about 600,000 acre-feet per year
w ould go to the N avajos for
agriculture, industrial, municipal,
dom estic and stock w atering
purposes. The measure also au
thorizes federal funding for the
Navajo-Gallup pipeline project.
A similar measure has been
introduced in the House by Rep.
Tom Udall, D-N.M.
Cigarette wholesalers, tribes
claim victory with court ruling
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)— A
state law intended to make
non-Indians pay tax on ciga
rettes they buy from Indian
retailers is not in effect be
cause N ew York has yet to
come up with a way to imple
m ent it, a judge ruled.
State Supreme Court Jus
tice Rose Sconiers issued a pre
liminary injunction barring
New York from enforcing the
law that has been a source of
confusion since it went on the
books last March.
The Jan. 2 trial court deci
sion was a victory for cigarette
wholesalers and Indian retail
ers, who have argued that the
state has not given them to the
tools to comply with the law.
For example, the statute ex
empts Indian customers from
paying the state tax through
special coupons, but no cou
pons have been issued.
“While the intent o f the
statute is to require that non-
Indians who purchase ciga
rettes on Indian reservations
pay th e N ew Y ork state
stam p tax, the statute can
only function if it properly
exempts Indians purchasing
c ig a re tte s u n d e r c irc u m
stances where they are not
lawfully required to pay such
taxes,” the decision said.
Lawyers for the state had
argued that if Indian custom
ers paid taxes in error, they
could apply fo r a refu nd.
H ow ever, the judge c o u n
tered that there is no system
in place to process those re
funds.