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News from Indian Country
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Pdge 9 Spilydy Tymoo September- 21, 2011
Navajos seek tribal-dominated district
PHOENIX (AP) - As the
Hopi Tribe signaled a new will
ingness to share representation
in Washington, the Navajo Na
tion proposed last week that
Arizona’s new congressional dis
tricts include one with enough
Native Americans to elect one
of their own to Congress.
The Navajo and Hopi tribes
in the past have had cool and
even bitter relations, but Hopi
Chairman LeRoy Shingoitewa
said it makes sense for the two
groups to be in the same district
in order to have more collective
clout on issues of common con
cern.
“The concept is what is good
for tribes, not just one tribe,”
Shingoitewa said.
Leonard Gorman, executive
director of the Navajo Nation’s
human rights commission pre
sented the state’s redistricting
commission with several propos
als that if implemented would
dramatically redraw the land
scape of much of rural Arizona.
Both o f the N avajos’ two
congressional proposals would
create a rural-dominated district
Gallup builds
‘world’s largest
Navajo taco’
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) - Resi
dents in Gallup have set the
record for world’s largest Na
vajo taco using 150 pieces of
fry bread and, of course, more
than 30 pounds of green chile,
New Mexico officials and or
ganizers said Monday.
According to volunteers and
state officials, the Navajo taco
created Saturday was more than
10 feet in diam eter and also
needed 65 pounds of ground
beef, 65 pounds of beans, 50
pounds o f lettu ce and 90
pounds of cheese.
Bill Lee, executive director
of the Gallup McKinley County
Chamber o f Commerce, said
there was no record for the
world’s largest Navajo taco in
the Guinness Book of World
Record, so residents created
one. “We just decided we would
establish the record,” said Lee.
“There wasn’t anything on the
books officially.”
Lee said the objective was to
highlight tourism in Gallup, a
city located near the Navajo
Nation, and to bring residents
together for a cause.
Among those that help built
the massive taco were Gallup
Mayor Jackie M cKinney and
employees from area businesses.
M cK inney finished the con
struction by using a cherry-
picker truck to sprinkle diced
tomatoes in the taco’s center.
Afterward, residents and or
ganizers were treated to a free
lunch.
The event was part o f the
N ew
M exico
T ourism
Department’s “Catch the Kid”
summer travel promotion scav
enger hunt.
covering eastern Arizona and
much of northern Arizona, tak
ing in the N avajo, H opi,
H avasupai, H ualapai, W hite
M ountain A pache and San
Carlos Apache reservations.
Both versions would reach
southward to Cochise County
on the U.S.-Mexico border, with
one extending westward to in
clude the Tohono O’odham Na
tion in southern Arizona and the
oth er go in g through P inal
County to include the Gila River
Indian Community.
Such a district, Gorman said,
would put enough Native Ameri
cans in the district to ensure that
their voting rights are protected
and make it possible to have a
Native American elected to rep
resent Arizona in Congress for
the first time, Gorman said.
A separate proposal by the
Navajos would redraw the cur
rent legislative district that now
includes the reservation to in
clude less of Flagstaff and more
of Apache and Navajo counties
south of the reservation.
The Navajos 10 years ago
proposed similar redistricting
L
But the tribes’ relations since
have improved, and Shingoitewa
said he expects the Hopi Tribal
Council soon will consider a
resolution on forging a common
front with the Navajos on re
districting.
“T hings have ch an ged ,”
Shingoitew a said. “Life has
changed, and we live in a politi
cal world, and when you deal
with politics, you need strength
in numbers sometimes.”
Com m ission Chairwom an
Colleen Mathis later said a will
ingness by the Hopis to share a
district with the Navajos would
provide the commission with
more flexibility.
Asked about the feasibility of
drawing a congressional district
as envisioned by the Navajos,
Mathis said it would have to be
measured against the full set of
redistricting mandates. Those
include creating competitive dis
tricts and respecting undefined
communities of interest, as well
as protecting minorities’ voting
rights.
“It’s intriguing,” she said dur
ing an interview.
Ski Bowl
The area at Government
Camp that many people
from Warm Springs
remember as Tom, Dick, &
Harry has been developed
into a ski and adventure
resort known as Ski Bowl.
Kirk Hanna, owner of the
Ski Bowl, wants to open
this area that was once a
huckleberry picking
grounds for the river tribes.
Hanna has invited the
Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs back to the
area to continue their
traditions and to partner in
the development of an
Interpretive Center.
On Friday, Sept. 9 Ski
Bowl provided vans and
transported tribal
members wanting to pick
berries and enjoy the
mountain. Culture and
Heritage staff will be
partnering with the Ski
Bowl staff and the U.S.
Forest Service to create
an area where the 10,000
plus annual visitors can
learn about the history of
the mountain from the
perspective of Tribal
people.
Group picture taken after the blessing of the building that will house the interpretive center.
Lacy is set for sentencing in
D ecem ber. U.S. M agistrate
Judge Samuel Alba also sen
tenced two other people in the
ongoing trafficking case.
K evin Shum way, 58, o f
B landing was ordered to 12
months of probation for his role
in helping Lacy sell the artifacts.
The
R ulon
K ody
Sommerville, 50, of Monticello
was ordered to 12 months of
probation for selling a Native
American knife.
U N C A SV ILLE , Conn.
(AP) - The Mohegan Sun
says slot revenue plunged
10.6 percent in August.
The Indian-run casino said
Thursday that revenue was
$59.9 million, down from $67
million in August 2010.
It was the steepest drop in
m onths. R evenue at the
southeastern C onnecticut
casino dropped between 3
percent and 6 percent in the
p ast few m onths due to
w eak consum er spending
and increased competition in
the Northeast.
The Mohegan Sun did not
elaborate on why revenue in
August fell.
Okla. tribe’s commission
allows freedmen to vote
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The
Cherokee N atio n’s election
commission voted Wednesday
to allow descendants of slaves
once owned by tribal members
to cast ballots for principal
chief, but they’ll only count in
the event of a court order.
Federal officials objected to
a ruling last month by the tribe’s
highest court that found only
people of direct Cherokee an
cestry could be members of the
tribe and vote in the upcoming
election, essentially denying bal
lots to some 2,800 freedmen
descendants.
W hile
the
election
commission’s vote doesn’t di
rectly overturn the ruling by the
C herokee N ation Suprem e
Court, it does allow for freed
men to cast provisional ballots
in an effort to make the elec
tion results stand, regardless of
how the courts ultimately rule.
“If a court decides the freed
men descendants can vote we
will have the ability to certify
the election,” Election Commis
sion chairwoman Susan Plumb
said. “If the court decides they
cannot vote, we will still be able
to preserve the election.”
The longstanding dispute be
tween the tribe and the freed
men has only complicated the
Sept. 24 special election between
former Chief Chad Smith and
tribal council member Bill John
Baker.
Tribal Supreme Court jus
tices tossed results of the origi
nal June 25 election after find
ing the winner of the contest
couldn't be determined with a
mathematical certainty. A new
election was ordered.
The election has drawn na
tional interest because while the
tribe is based in Tahlequah,
many of its 300,000 members
live outside Oklahoma.
On Aug. 22, the tribe’s high
court overturned a tribal district
court ruling that nullified the
2007 constitutional amendment
on grounds that it violated an
1866 treaty between the tribe
and federal governm ent that
granted former slaves citizen
ship. The justices disagreed, say
ing the treaty never afforded
citizenship to the ex-slaves.
After the tribe sent out let
ters kicking freedmen descen
dants out of the tribe and strip
ping them of their voting rights
and benefits, the U.S. Depart
ment o f Housing and Urban
Development froze $33 million
in funds to the tribe. Earlier this
week, A ssistant Secretary for
Indian A ffairs L arry Echo
Hawk wrote a sternly worded
letter disagreeing with the tribal
court decision.
“I urge you to consider care
fully the nation’s next steps in
proceeding with an election that
does not comply with federal
law,” Echo Hawk wrote in a let
ter Friday to acting Chief S. Joe
Crittenden. “The department
will not recognize any action
taken by the nation that is in
consistent with these principles
and does not accord its freed
men members full rights of citi
zenship.”
Former tribal business
council chair gets prison
Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay photos
Man pleads guilty in artifacts case
MOAB, U tah (AP) - A
so u th eastern U tah school
teacher has pleaded guilty to
charges that he illegally sold a
Native American turkey feather
b lan k et and a p reh isto ric
women’s apron.
Blanding resident David A.
Lacy entered the plea in U.S.
District Court as he faced three
misdemeanor counts of traffick
ing stolen artifacts. Prosecutors
say Lacy sold the artifacts to an
undercover informant in 2007.
plans, but were thwarted. A
form er com m ission member
from non-reservation areas of
Arizona succeeded in preserv
ing a legislative district that ex
cluded the Navajo Reservation,
which instead was placed in the
same district with Flagstaff.
The Navajo Reservation is
now part of Arizona’s 1st Con
gressional District, which in
cludes Prescott and Flagstaff
and most of east-central and
northeastern Arizona — but not
the Hopi Reservation though it
is surrounded by the much
larger Navajo Reservation.
At the time, the Hopis ob
jected to being in the same con
gressional district with the Na
vajos on grounds that the more
numerous Navajos would have
more clout in Washington on
land and other issues in dispute
between the two tribes.
That resulted in the last re
districting commission drawing
the congressional districts to
have one extend inside another
in order to place the Navajo and
Hopi reservations in separate
districts.
Mohegan Sun reports
steep revenue drop
Wampanoag Tribe gets justice grant
BOSTON (A P )-T h e U.S.
D epartment of Justice has
aw arded the W am panoag
Tribe o f Gay Heiad more
than half a million dollars for
its tribal justice system.
The Aquinnah Wampanoag
tribe of Martha’s Vineyard will
use the money to continue its
traditional tribal justice system,
designed to enable greater self-
governance and strengthen the
tribe’s economic and cultural
health.
U.S. A tto rn ey Carm en
O rtiz
announced
the
$567,000 award under the
Coordinated Tribal A ssis
tance Solicitation, an applica
tion for tribal-specific grant
programs offered by the Jus
tice Department. The depart
ment awarded $118.4 million
to nearly 150 American In
dian and Alaskan Native na
tions around the country.
GREAT FALLS, Mont.
(AP) - The U.S. attorney’s
o ffic e says the fo rm er
chairman of the Chippewa
Cree tribal business council
has been sentenced to more
than a year in prison and
o rd ered to p ay n e a rly
$59,000 in restitution for
using a tribal credit card for
personal use.
Raymond “Jake” Parker
Jr., was sentenced Monday in
Great Falls to 16 months in
prison after pleading guilty in
May to theft from an Indian
tribal organization. He will be
on supervised release for
three years after he finishes
his prison term.
Prosecutors allege Parker
used a tribal credit card to
make $22,000 in purchases.
M ost o f the purchases
were made at restaurants,
hotels and gas stations; and
he took out nearly $37,000
in cash advances, including
advances taken in Las Vegas
and Reno, Nev.
Teleco: quality service to tribes
(Continued from page 5)
Tribal lands are the most
underserved in the country.
W hile m ost o f A m erica has
about 95 percent telephone ser
vice available, most tribes have
about 60-65 percent o f their
population served by a tele
phone company.
Significantly fewer members
have access to broadband. This
cannot continue.
The NTTA has proposed
that in the reorganization of the
USF to the CAF, that there be a
particular pool of money desig
nated for tribal telcos.
This money would be used
to bring some level of equality
to the tribes that have been ig
nored and underserved by the
telephone companies that were
to bring service to these lands.
This is a very complicated is
sue. W ith the help o f the
NTTA and the filings that they
have made, we hope that the
FCC will recognize the special
needs of tribes, and this time,
help fund the subsidies that tribal
com panies, in clu d in g W arm
Springs Telecom, need to enable
better services for tribal lands.
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