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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 2007)
More News from Indian Country Pgge9 Proposal for Indian casino in downtown Kansas City moves ahead KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP)— W yandotte C o u n ty ’s U nified Government has endorsed a rev enue-sharing agreement with an American Indian tribe that wants to build a casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan. The agreement comes even as the state is appealing a fed eral court ruling that allowed the Wyandotte Nation o f Oklahoma to open a casino in a form er M asonic tem ple, a fter m o re than a decade o f controversy. “We believe it is reckless to proceed w ith Class II gaming b efore all legal issues are re solved,” said Ashley P. Anstaett, spokeswoman forKansas A ttor ney General Paul Morrison. Anstaett said current law pto- hibits the tribe from conducting gambling on the site if it is no t gaming-eligible Indian land. The state contends th at w hen the tribe bought the half-acre site in 1996, it used federal money not allowed for such purposes, dis qualifying the land for a casino, f T he 10'th Circuit C ourt o f Appeals in D e n v e r has heard arguments in the case, and law yers say a ruling is expected soon. H al Walker, chief Counsel for the Unified G overnm ent o f W yandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., said the agreement approved Thursday was nego tiated with the assumption that the slate will lose its appeal. “The consensus among attor neys in all parties is ... that it’s very probable, alm ost w ithout doubt, that (the tribe is) going to win the appeal,” Walker said. U nder th e ag reem ent ap proved Thursday; th e W yan dotte N ation would reimburse the U nified G o vernm ent fo r w ater, police, fire and o th e r municipal services to its p ro posed $20 million casino. Any casino opehed at the site would be restricted to provid ing only Class II games, which play like slot machines b ut pit players against each other in net works based on bingo odds. The city has agreed to support the tribe if it tries to get state ap proval to add traditional games such as* craps and blackjack. The tribal casino is separate from a proposal to open a State- ow ned Casino in W yandotte County. T hat casino would be owned by the state and operated by a private developer. The Wyandotte tribe briefly offered slots in mobile units on the site, b u t in 2004, the N a tional Indian G aming Commis sio n said th e lan d th e trib e claimed in dow ntow n Kansas City, K an., did n o t qualify as tribal land for gambling p u r poses. That decision was overturned last sum m er by U.S. D istrict Judge Julie Robinson, and it is that ruling the state is appealing. As the court case goes on, the tribe has hired contractors to resume remodeling w ork to convert the Masonic Lodge into a casino with around 400 slots and a steakhouse. “T he people o f K C K will never be sorry the Wyandottes are p art o f their community,” W y an d o tte N a tio n C h ie f Leaford Bearskin said Thursday. "It will be g o o d for both o f us.” Thursday’s agreement would give the Unified G overnm ent 3.5 percent o f the first $10 mil lion in casino revenue, 1 percent from the next $10 million and one-third o f a percent from the third $10 million. The Unified Government V otild get nothing from revenue exceeding $30 million. The city also agreed to pro vide free parking in city lots to casino customers. The agreement also requires the tribe to follow zoning, build ing and public safety codes simi lar to those enforced by the City. I f the state wins its appeal, Walker said the casino could not operate. The tribe could still ne gotiate a formal compact w ith the state to open a full-scale Class; II I casino o n th e site, which the Unified G overnm ent has agreed to support. Indian tribe watches its history erode ; E D IS T O IS L A N D ,. S.C. (AP)— The Spanish M ount shell m idden is all b u t gone. T he Edistow tribe that built it, lost. All except for Indian Mary. ' H e id i V arn er, o f th e W assam asaw ' T rib e of V arnertow n Indians, thoug h t about that as she looked over the eroding, oyster shell-riddled .fr^nk o f F ish in g Edisto Islatid f e c e n ^ Sh€ and other younger m em bers have been struggling to re-establish the heritage o f the Berkeley? County tribe whose .people for generations wouldn’t acknowl edge it. ’ ’? “We have our history hefe,’v" Varner said. ]tn records from the ISOQs, “Indian Mary,” w ho m arried into a V arnertown family, iden tified h erself as • an Edistow. T h a t m akes th e in la n d Wassamasaw people possibly the last Hving link to the coastal tribe thought to have been wiped out two- centuries ago. V arn er an d fo rm e r trib a l chief Chris Weik were at Edisto Beach State Park talking with visitors and cultural educators for tile park and other natural and cultural sites along the boast. The presentation was part o f the South Carolina D epartm ent o f 'sénes. ■ ! Edisto is named for the tribe that once lived there. lik e other native Lowcountry names, it is a strand in the weave o f the place., T h e w eavers are little more than mysteries. “ we know a lot about Native Americans in general, b u t we know very little about Native Americans in the Lowcountry. A nything they can share i f v a lu a b le ,” sa id T hom as T hornton o f Charleston Parks and Recreation. A shell midden is a pile o f discarded oyster and clam shells, the leftovers o f feasts from as long as 4,000 years ago. Middens and shell rings can be found up and dow n the South Carolina co ast They are among the few visible remnants o f the pre-Co- lonial tribes there who tended to roam and built villages with ma terials that rotted away. . The middens, .and irings were long thought to be trash dumps. R ecent excavations suggest at least some o f the rings were lay ered and stru ctu red in o th e r words, built with a purpose. The Spanish M ount midden is in the Edi$to park along the creek behind Edisto Beach. Jt was mentioned in a 1630s Jour nal as being as tall as a tower, tall enough to be seen from the sea over the scrub duties that constituted the beach then. Ex cavations suggest that it, too, might have been built as a ring and collapsed .under its ow n weight * Today,.most o f the midden’s shells have fallen from the bluff into the creek. The rest jut like a fractured tooth from the bank m u d . T h e re m n a n ts are a sought-after cultural site on the island; park staff have stabilized the bank with riprap and built a wooden walkway down from the bluff to view it. It’s a pointed juxtaposition the shards o f an American-Indian structure so singular that a Co lonial explorer was struck by it, built by a tribe lost to colonial history, with the descendants o f both groping to restore that link. Weik, w ho was taught native pottery by his mother, laid out a challenge like: th a t fo r the people in Varnertown. “You know bits and pieces. They know bits and pièces. We can p u t.th o se pieces together and be a tribe again.” Tribes receive $6 million to battle drug abuse W A S H IN G T O N ' Montana and Wyoming tribes will receive almost $6 million in gov ernment grants ova: the next three years to battle substance abuse, M ontana’s congressional delega tion said Thursday., . T h e M o n tan a-W y o m in g Tribal Leaders Council will use the m oney to help A m erican In d ian s w ho need substance abuse treatm ent but can’t afford it. Priority will be given to those suffering fro m m etham phet- amine addiction, which has been a ram pant problem in Indian country. M ontana’s two D em ocratic senators, Max Baucus and Jo n T ester, an d R epublican Rep. D en n y R eh b erg p raised th e grants and council’s programs. “Tackling substance abuse problems with programs like this will lead to better opportunities for jobs, education, housing and law enforcement in Indian Coun try,” Tester said. Lessons of the past abound at Trail of Tears powwow H O P K IN S V IL L E , Ky. (AP)^—Colors swirled as voices melded into the drum beat and dancers zigzagged around the circle.,. O utside the circle, Lorinda Proctor o f Clarksville, Tenn., a spectator instead o f a competi tor this year, watched at the Trail p f Tears Intertribal PowwOw. . . “It’s so family-oriented and makes you feel like you’re so co n n ected w hen you corne,” P roctor said o f the powwow. H er father is an American Indian, and Proctor began go ing to powwows about 12 years ago as a way to become closer to her heritage. In past years, she has participated in the dancing competitions. “Coming to these powwows kind o f gives you back that heri tage,’’.she said. “I don’t think there are enough events like this.” ' Powwow C hairm an R oger Richey said that connection is why the powwow and the Trail o f Tears Park are so important. “ T h is is h oly g ro u n d fo r them,” he said, referring to the two Cherokee chiefs w ho are b u rie d a t th e p a rk in Hopkinsville, as well as the thou sands o f other people w ho died oti the forced march to Okla hom a beginning in 1838. “This is their celebration, and we’re happy we can give that back to the Cherokee Nation.” • A ttendance was dow n this year com pared w ith previous years, hitting bétween 4,000 and 5,000, Richey said. Attendance has dwindled since a 2003 crowd o f about 15,000. “We didn’t have a whole lot o f dancers, didn’t have a whole lot o f people, bu t we did have an outstanding powwow,” he said. N ext year, Richey hopes to fix that with a bigger powwow that should draw more people. H e hopes to bring in some dif ferent events, including the Az- tec fire dancers, an exhibition group th at perform ed at past powwows. C hristo p h er Baker, 11, o f Hopkinsville and his three co h o rts , 1'0-year-olds D e x te r Schuzer and Lance Baker and 8 -y e a r-o ld J o h n S c h u le r, seemed pretty excited, if slightly embarrassed, about joining the dance at the powwow, even if th e y Were th e re b ecau se o f schooL * ‘W e’re studying about Native Americans in social studies, and our teacher wanted us to come over th e w eekend and com e back and tell him all about it,” Christopher said. “We’re learn- ing about the samé thing in arts and humanities.” The boys are all in fifth grade at Belm ont Elementary where teacher Chris Bentzel gave the extra credit assignment o f go ing to the powwow. “I like th e pow w ow c o s tumes,” John said. T hroughout the daÿ, specta to rs like the boys were invited to' join the dance in betw een competitions, and the blue-jeaq- clad o f all ages danced right along with those in féathers and buckskin. D a n n y C h a p p e ll o f O a k G rove brought his daughter, 2- year-old Dayna, to introduce her to-their Cherokee background. “ I t ’s always im p o rta n t to bring her ou t here and let her enjoy it,” he said. “To let her see w hat our relatives did in the p a st” Spílyay Tyrooo September 27, 2006 Minnesota tribal IDs aren't being recognized BEM IDJI, Minn. (AP)— Some American Indians in Minnesota say their tribal iden tification cards aren’t being ree-, ognized as legitimate forms o f ID off the reservation, despite a state law that says they can be used in place o f state driver’s licenses. T he law, passed last year, applies only to instances in which people are required by the state to show identifica tion, such as w hen buying tobacco o r alcohol, o r when pawning an item at a pawn shop. B ut even then, some businesses post signs by cash registers saying that tribal ID s aren’t accepted. Audrey Thayer, coordina tor o f the Greater Minnesota Justice Project, a program o f the American Civil Liberties Union o f Minnesota, said a lawsuit over tribal IDs has al ready been filed in Hennepin County and more suits could be on the way. ‘T m moving rather quickly now to negotiate, and work with the county and the cities in the areas up here so that we don’t have to have suits,” she said. “N o one wants to have suits filed against them.” Kevin Mahto, a m em ber o f the R ed Lake B and o f Ojibwe, knows all about get ting his ID rejected. H e lives near a Bemidji pawnshop, and knows owner D on Josefson by name. But w hen h e recently tried to pawn a full-length coat for $25, he couldn’t do it. Since J o s e fs o n ’s paw n shop is governm ent-regu lated, Josefson had to ask for an ID. H e can accept Cana- diaii ID s o r ID s from other states, but the com puter sys tem h e’s m andated to use doesn’t accept tribaLID. I .‘T h is is n o t N ew York City. This is Bemidji, Minne- sota,” Jqsefson said. “I know a good deal o f these people p erso n ally , an d u n less th ey ’ve b een lying to m e since they were 15, they are w ho they say they are. B ut I can’t do business with them, because they don’t have a Minnesota state-issued ID.” Josefson said he’s frustrated because he’s losing business, and because he thinks refus ing tribal ID s is wrong. Tribal governm ents may also run into problems. The new law says tribal ID s must contain security features that make them hard to duplicate o r tam per w ith, b u t m any tribal ID s may not meet those vague standards. Beltrami County Attorney Tim Faver said the security situation is confusing. He said state agencies are working with tribes to establish clear crite ria for secure IDs, but until there’s some uniformity, there will continue to be problems. “I t is really no t fair in my mind that a clerk in a con v e n ie n c e s to re o r, q u ite frankly, a city or county gov ernm ent, to be making the determination in a given case as to w hat ID card meets the requirements o f the statute,” Faver said. “I think those are standards th a t need to be further defined and set by the state.” American Indian tribes in M innesota w ould like to see full recognition o£ tribal ID s everywhere. Navajo Nation considering upgrading landing strips W IN D O W R O C K , A riz. (AP) — The Navajo N ation is considering upgrades to seven air strips on the reservation. The tribe wants the strips at Crownpoint, Shiprock, Oljato, Tuba City, Chinle, Kayenta and Ganado to become airports, said the spokesman for the Navajo D epartm ent o f Transportation, Rutherford Ashley. “T he reservation is a vast place, and airports would make all these areas a little bit more accessible,” he said. ‘W e could start a shuttle service open to the public to fly from Tuba City to Crownpoint, and the airports would generate funds that would benefit the tribe.” A n airport at W indow Rock, the capital o f the Navajo N a tion, is the only air strip on the reservation with a terminal, han gar an d nav ig atio n system s, Ashley said. In Shiprock, for example, the air strip is powered by a genera to r and has no running water, said Wilfred Brown, airport pro Wärm. gram supervisor .for the Navajo transportation agency. O n average, five planes land in Shiprock each week, Brown said. M ost flights are emergency medical evacuations. “There are no runway lights, water or sewer,” he said. “There are no buildings except for a shelter where patients wait for emergency flights.” T h e d e p a rtm e n t p lan s a meeting Wednesday in W indow Rock to discuss air travel on the reservation. Ashley said the transportation agency hopes to use grants from the state and the Federal Avia tion Administration to eventu ally improVe the strip and build a terminal. “People don't know there's a landing strip out there,” Ashley said. “ This could be the begin ning o f a better quality o f life, b e tte r access to h ealth care, m ore tourism and private busi nesses. This is going to generate revenue.” ' SpringM toktf Inclito. ArÇs to d C ràfy 2132 W&mSpmß Sii I Väm*Sjpmß, 0292761
