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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2012)
r: News from Indian Country Page 9 Spilyay T y m o o M arch 7, 2 0 1 2 Wampanoags plan Taunton casino TA U N TO N , Mass. (AP) B The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has entered into an option to buy land in Taunton on which it in tends to build a resort casino, the tribal chairman and mayor said last week. The announcement “is a tan gible step toward our goal o f eco n o m ic self-su fficien cy ,” Chairman Cedric Cromwell said on the tribal website. U nder the state’s new gam ing law, the tribe must get ap proval for a casino from voters in the southeastern Massachu setts city and also reach an agree ment with state officials. The Cape C od-based tribe intends to build a destination casino, including hotels, restau rants, entertainment space and other amenities on one o f sev eral tracts o f land the tribe is lo o k in g at alo n g R o u te 24, Cromwell said. The resort w ould, cost at least $500 million. “This is the beginning o f many conversations to bring a world-class, best-in-class desti nation resort casino to the city o f T a u n to n ,” an excited Cromwell said at a City Hall news conference. “I can say I have goose bumps.” “This could potentially be a Elwhas won’t release hatchery steelhead shot in the arm our city needs to once again be the gem o f southeastern M assachusetts,” said Mayor Thomas Hoye, who said a casino could provide thou sands o f jobs and create revenue streams that could be used to improve city schools and public safety. Previous tribal efforts to b u ild a casin o in Middleborough and Fall River have fallen through. TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe has agreed not to re lease any h atch ery -raised steelhead into the Olympic Peninsula’s Elwha River this year. The tribe is facing a law suit brought by the WUd Fish C o n serv an cy and o th e r groups arguing that the non native steelhead wEl hurt the recovery o f protected native salmon once the river's two dams are removed. The dam removal began late last year and is the larg est dam removal project in Natives strive for homemade businesses P IE R R E , S.D. (AP) — N othing has been easy about Charlotte Almanza’s work as the owner o f Char’s Café. A few m o n th s ago a fire forced her Peever-based busi ness out o f its building. Fortu nately she had insurance, and she’s preparing to open in a new space. But maintaining the business before the fire was a challenge as well. When Almanza wanted to make some improvements, she needed a loan— and her at tem pts w ith her local banker were not heartening. “It w asn’t m uch m oney I needed,” said Almanza, who be longs to the Sisseton Wahpeton O yate trib e in n o rth e a ste rn South Dakota. “I was asking for $5,000. W hen you don’t have that support o f people believ ing in you, it really discourages you.” But Almanza, who Eves just outside the border o f the reser v a tio n fo r th e S isseto n Wahpeton Oyate, found another Source. She to o k o u t a loan from a Native community de velopm ent financial institution (CDFI) caUed the Four Bands Business AlEance has recently produced an expansive report chronichng some problem s— and solutions— encountered by Native American entrepreneurs on the reservations. “We noticed the mainstream business development programs, especially the mainstream fed eral program s— we just kept seeing a trend that there was Etde or no activity on the nine reser vations,” said Tanya Fiddler, the SDIBA chair. Fiddler is also the executive director o f Four Bands Com m u n ity F u n d , a n o n p ro f it founded especiaUy to assist en trepreneurs o f the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. The CDFI is one type o f re source recom m ended by the SDIBA, which came together in 2007. CD FIs can provide much- needed financial training, and they can also issue loans and help Native American business own ers— or would-be owners— es- tabEsh credit. Fiddler said there are about six Native American CDFIs in the state. O ne issue that looms espe cially large is estabEshing the credit to start a business in the Community Fund, and her busi first place. Fiddler said the op ness was on track. T he South D akota Indian portunity to estabEsh credit in extremely rural parts o f the state can be slim. O n the reservations, the task is even tougher since the banks often do n o t rep o rt to credit bureaus. The cost and the po tential EabiEty involved in re porting credit, Fiddler said, are factors that make reporting dif ficult for the banks. T he SDIBA’s rep o rt notes other obstacles Native Ameri cans can face when they try to obtain loans. O ne is the trust status o f land on the reserva tions, which prevents it from being used as collateral when taking out loans. Because reser vation land is held in trust sta tus by the federal government, the land cannot be repossessed by banks offering loans. T hat means Native Americans Eving on reservations lack a source o f coUateral available to others who might be seeking loans to start new businesses. Fiddler said members o f the SDIBA noticed, in recent years, a dearth o f Native-owned busi nesses on reservations. She said T percent o f the businesses on the Cheyenne River Sioux Res ervation were owned by Native Americans in 2001. It’s a reser vation, she said, with a popula tion that is 80 percent Native American. Since that time, though, Fid dler said 100 N ativ e-o w n ed businesses have emerged. Fid dler noted training and techni cal assistance, access to capital and increased credit-worthiness as factors in helping the new businesses to develop. T h e inability to establish credit, Fiddler said, can affect everyday purchases as well as business development. “Indian people are poor for some reaUy good reasons,” she said. “N o t having access to af fo rd ab le p ro d u cts is one o f them.” Scarcity o f jobs is another. A nd for many N ative Ameri cans who Eve on or near reser vations across the state, the best path to a good job is not the road to the nearest large retailer. It’s creating a local business— or working for one that's recently surfaced. “This is a path out o f pov erty,” Fiddler said. F or A lmanza, th at path is strewn with home-cooked food. She’s hoping to reopen Char’s Café in April) and she’s especiaUy looking forward to rekindEng the café’s legendary “pie days.” “Everything is homemade,” she said, “and that’s what makes it good.” the country. Before the dams were built a century ago, the Elwha River had some o f the m ost impressive salmon runs in the Northwest. U nder an agreem ent in U.S. District Court in Tacoma this w eek, the tribe said it won’t release steelhead from its new C ham bers C reek hatchery this year as the law suit proceeds. An attorney for the Wild Fish Conservancy says that will give the sides more time to work out a settlement or for a judge to decide the merits o f the case. San Diego County tribe says sacred site bulldozed FALLBROOK, Calif. (AP) - A San Diego County tribe claims developers bulldozed a sacred site during construction o f a road. T h e P aum a B and o f Luiseno Indians has occupied lan d in F a llb ro o k w here P alom ar College is building H orse, R anch Creek Road to serve its future cam pus and three future housing and com mercial developments. Tribal officials say that buU- dozers cleared an area consid ered sacred before monitors re quired by state law arrived. The tribe says it’s guarding several uncleared sites where ancient human remains and ar tifacts were found. A college statem ent says it wEl work with the Native Ameri can community as the road work continues. 3 accused of embezzling $900,000 from Yuroks EUREKA, CaEf. (AP) - Two c o n tra c t b io lo g ists an d the former director o f forestry for the Yurok tribe are accused of embezzEng nearly $900,000 in money intended for spotted owl research over the p ast three years. Court documents indicate the m en conspired to charge the tribe for phony spotted owl sur veys on tribal forests, and the purchase of iPads, car repairs, gasoline, and cleaning suppEes. Totem pole to honor woodcarver SEATTLE (AP) - A me morial totem pole in honor o f J o h n T. W illiam s was raised at Seatde Center as a symbol o f justice and com munity. A procession o f hundreds o f community members car ried the totem pole from Pier 57 to the Seattle C enter, Calif, tribe faction takes over tribal office C O A R E S E G O L D , Calif. (AP) — The dispute between two factions o f a Central CaEfornia casino tribe has escalated. The Fresno Bee reports that a b o u t 40 su p p o rters o f one group in the fight at the Pica yune Rancheria o f Chukchansi Indians broke into a tribal of fice and refused to leave. T he group claims it repre sents the tribe, and its members were denied their rightful place on the tribal councE foEowing an election in December. Members o f the tribal coun cil currentiy in power dispute that. > The trib e ow ns th e C hukchansi G old R esort and Casino in the Sierra foothills near Yosemite National. Park. It has expeUed dozens o f m em bers since around November. ■ Madera County Sheriff’s of ficials say they are treating the dispute as a famEy matter and have not made any arrests. where it was gifted to the city o f Seattle. Jo h n WilEams was shot by Seatde poEce Officer Ian Birk in 2010. He had just crossed a street while holding a knife and a block o f w ood w hen Birk ord ered him to drop the knife and then shot him to death. The killing outraged many, who saw it as an unnecessary use o f force. Birk later re signed. W illiams’ b ro th er, Rick WilEams, and others carved the totem pole to honor the 5 0 -y ear-o ld an d N ativ e American and FEst Nations tradition. ***SKYN STYLE**** (Located At Plaza next to Deli} Open 7 Days a week! i! JULYAMSH POWWOW 10am-6pm M-F id-4 Sat & Sunday PRESENTS BLAZER TICKETS Painted Face American Indian ARE BACK!!!!!! ART SHOW & AUCTION Thursday - Sunday, July I 9 th-22nd, 2012 G re y h o u n d Stop by & Enter your name for a pair of Blazer tickets today! 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