More News from Indian Country
Pgge 9
Cherokee sign amended gambling pact
R A L E IG H , N.C. (AP) -
The Eastern Band o f Chero
kee Indians and Gov. Beverly
Perdue signed an updated edi
tion to its new agreement to
allow live-dealer poker and
o th e r tab le gam es at th e
trib e ’s casino, a m ove de
signed to ease concerns o f
more state lawmakers.
Perdue and Eastern Band
Principal Chief Mich ell Hicks
signed the amended compact
in Perdue’s office, nearly six
m onths after they signed one
to let the tribe offer games
beyond the electronic and
video games now available at
its w estern N o rth Carolina
casino.
Ancient
burial
mounds
looted,
driven over
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Ancient
A m erican In d ia n b u rial
m ounds in southern Illinois
have been damaged and pos
sibly looted, prom pting the
state’s historical agency to call
for the pubhc’s help in identi
fying the culprits.
Last m onth, someone dug
holes in a portion o f Kincaid
M ounds State H istoric Site,
a town and religious center o f
the Mississippian culture o f
1,000 years ago in what is now
rural Massac and Pope coun
ties, the Illinois Historic Pres
ervation Agency said.
The culprits were probably
searching for “grave goods”
that Native Americans buried
with their dead, although it’s
u nclear if any artifacts or
hum an remains were taken,
the agency said. More dam
age was done to the site re-
cendy when an all-terrain ve
hicle or truck was driven on
one o f the m ounds, w here
“N o Trespassing” signs are
posted and ATVs are prohib
ited, the agency said.
“The criminal disturbance
o f these hum an burials in
K incaid M ounds is un co n
scionable,” said Amy Martin,
th e agency’s director. “We
hope to apprehend those who
are responsible, w hich will
serve as a deterrent to others
who may be considering the
d esecratio n o f o u r sta te ’s
heritage.”
The site, about 170 miles
southeast o f St. Louis, has
b e e n ta rg e te d b e fo re . In
2008, three holes several feet
wide and deep appeared in the
side o f o n e o f th e n in e
m ounds,' w ith tw o o f the
holes in spots looters had
struck the previous year.
T h e d istu rb an ce o f a r
chaeological sites or skeletal
remains on state-owned prop
erty can be a m isdem eanor
punishable by up to a year in
jail, a $10,000 fine, repara
tions and forfeiture o f any
vehicles or equipment used in
the m isdeed. U nsettling o f
burial .sites on public land
also may be a felony carrying
a three-year prison term and
$25,000 fine. Listed on the
National Register o f Historic
Places, K incaid M ounds is
sig n ifican t as o n e o f tw o
major political centers o f the
M ississippian period in the
lower O hio River Valley and
was one o f the first areas in
southern Illinois where inten
sive, large-scale agriculture
was developed.
The agreement will create
400 new jobs, Perdue said.
The state also will get a cut
o f th e p ro ceed s fro m the
new g am es, w h ich c o u ld
reach as high as $90 million
through the life o f the 30-
year compact.
The General Assembly will
have to alter state gambling
laws before the compact can
be carried out.
Legislative leaders and at
torneys had raised questions
about the N ovem ber com
pact because it directed how
the state’s share o f revenues
would go to school districts
fo r classro o m in stru ctio n .
They said the state constitu-
tion give the Legislature the
p o w er to decide o v er th e
compact’s life how the money
is spent, not any compact.
A bill to help im plement
the law and approved by the
Senate last w eek still ear
marks the money for school
district expenditures. T he up
dated edition to the compact
expresses “the hope o f both
the governor and the Chero
kee that the fund will continue
to be used for education in
the future,” Perdue’s office
said in a news release.
T his change and others
were the result o f negotiations
w ith le g isla to rs, P e rd u e
spokesm an M ark Jo h n so n
said. T he H ouse still m ust
agree to the bill.
“I look forward to w ork
ing with the General Assem
bly to. make sure this agree
m en t 2s finalized,” Perdue
said in a prepared statement.
P erd u e’s office said the
u p d a te d sig n ed c o m p a c t
makes clear the kind o f live
games that could be now be
o ffe re d by th e H a r r a h ’s
Cherokee Casino and Hotel,
such as poker, roulette, craps
and blackjack. The compact
also limits the Eastern Band
from one. day offering two
additional casinos on tribal
lan d s b ey o n d th e c u rre n t
H arrah’s casino.
Northwest Cycle hosted
the Native Thunder Show
and Shine Poker Run
earlierthis month.
Proceeds from the event,
held at Indian Head
Casino, help the Warm
Springs Boys and Girls
Club.
Spilygy Tyruoo
Mgy 30, 2012
17 indicted for drug
offenses on Pine Ridge
P IN E R ID G E , S.D. (AP)
w A federal grand jury has in
dicted 17 people for distrib
uting drugs in and around the
Pine Ridge Indian Reserva
tion.
T he individuals range in
age from 23 to 60. All o f the
individuals reside in South
D ak o ta or N ebraska. T h e
charges include conspiracy to
distribute marijuana, cocaine
and methamphetamine.
The investigation was con
ducted by the Oglala Sioux
tribe's D epartm ent o f Public
Safety and several federal and
state agencies.
Comanche tribe makes
Depp honorary member
A LB U Q U ER Q U E, New
Mexico (AP) —Johnny D epp
has been made an honorary
m em ber o f the C om anche
tribe.
D epp is in New Mexico,
shooting the film adaptation
o f “T he Lone Ranger.” H e
plays “ R a n g e r” sidekick
Tonto in the film.
Com anche N ation tribal
m em b er L a D o n n a H arris
said that the tribal chairman
presented D epp with a proc
lamation at her Albuquerque
home.
She says the C om anche
adoption tradition means she
now considers D epp her son.
H arris Says D e p p seem ed
humbled.
His spokeswoman, Jayne
N go, co n firm e d the actor
participated in a cerem ony
but declined to provide de
tails.
Harris sayS she had read
interview s w ith D ep p that
said the actor identified him
se lf as b ein g p a rt N a tiv e
American, so she thought it
would be fun to adopt him.
She ran the idea by her adult
children, and they agreed.
H arris says she reached
out to the “D ark Shadows”
star through a friend w ho is
working as a cultural adviser
on the “Lone Ranger” set.
Feds reject tribe’s plan for
casino near Richmond
RICHM ON D, Calif. (AP)
3s- Federal officials have re
jected a N ativ e A m erican
tribe's plans to build a casino
near the San Francisco Bay
area city o f Richmond.
T he U.S. D epartm ent o f
Ojibw e Indian from Leech
Lake. Reservation in M inne Interior said that the -Scotts
sota, said there is a difference Valley Band o f Porno Indi
between Indian identity and ans had n ot demonstrated a
ancestry— y o u , can have one
significant historical connec
tion to the proposed casino
w ithout the other.
“A n In d ia n id e n tity is site.
The tribe had its federal
som eth in g som eone claims
fo r o neself; it is a m atter recognition restored in 1991.
o f ch o ice,” T reu er w ro te
in a W ashington P o st essay
title d , “E liz a b e th W arren
D ULUTH , Minn. (AP)
s a y s 's h e ’s N ativ e A m e ri
— A district court judge has
can. So she is.”
T h ere are 566 federally
rejected an attem pt by the
city o f D uluth to block
recognized Native American
th e F o n d du Lac B and
tribes, each with its own rules
for membership, according to
from using a dow ntow n
the federal Bureau o f Indian
hotel for its casino opera
tions.
Affairs, or BIA.
S om e trib e s re q u ire a
T h e L ake S u p e rio r
“blood quantum ” m easure
Chippewa band has asked
m en t o f as m u ch as one-
the U.S. Bureau o f Indian
h alf o r one-q u arter Indian
Affairs to place the Carter
ancestry; o th ers req u ire a
H o tel property in tribal
c e rta in p lace o f b ir th o r
trust. Sixth D istrict Court
residence.
Judge M ark M unger re
W ho’s a n A m e ric a n Indian? Case stirs query
W h at, exactly, m akes
som eone American Indian?
E v e n In d ia n s th em selv es
don’t agree as they debate the
case o f S e n a te .c a n d id a te
Elizabeth Warren, whose dis
puted claim o f Native Ameri
can identity is shining a rare
spotlight on th e malleable
nature o f Indian heritage and
the long history o f murky
claims to such ancestry.
W arren, a H arvard Law
School professor and D em o
crat who is running in Mas
sachusetts against Republican
incum bent Sen. Scott Brown,
was listed as Native Ameri
can in several law school di
rectories, W arren has said
th a t her “ family lo re” d e
scribed Indian ancestors, and
the N ew England Genealogy
Association said it found in
dications— b ut n o t proof—
that Warren had a Cherokee
g re a t-g re a t-g re a t g ra n d
m other, which w ould make
her 1/32 Indian.
“I ’m p ro u d o f my heri
tage,” W arren said. A sked
how she knew it included
N ative A m ericans, she re
plied, “Because my m other
told me so.”
H er opponents question
w hether W arren chose this
heritage to gain advantages
available to Indians and other
underrepresented groups in
academia.
“W arren has zero evi-
dence that she is at all Native
American,” said Brown’s cam
paign manager, Jim Barnett.
The genealogy association ac
knowledges that it found only
se c o n d ary re fe re n c e s to
C herokee family m em bers,
not primary sources such as
m arriage, b irth o r census
records.
Among Native Americans,
the varying opinions demon-
.strate that Indian identity is
subjective even among Indi
ans themselves.
W h en D av id E u g en e
Wilkins first saw Warren in
terviewed during her nom i
nation to a federal post, he
was smitten by her intelligence
and politics. B ut w hen he
heard ab o u t h er claims o f
Indian ancestry, “I shook my
head and said, ‘O h no.’”
“For us it was always about
allegiance rather than biology
or ancestry,” said Wilkins, an
e n ro lle d m e m b e r o f th e
Lumbee tribe and professor
o f American Indian studies
at the University o f Minne
sota.
“It’s where you place your
political, cultural, emotional
allegiance. She lived her en
tire life and never had any
association w hatsoever with
any community. So something
doesn’t wash for me,” Wilkins
said.
B u t D av id T re u e r, an
aw ard-w inning w riter and
Failure to register as a sex offender
C h risto p h e r
A llen
Gemmell, 46, primary ad
dress unknown, has failed
to register as a convicted
sex offender with the Warm
Springs Sex Offender Reg
istration office. Physical
d e scrip tio n : 5 ’ 11" 160
pounds, blond hair blue
eyes. Contact the sex of
fender registry office with
Inform a tion,
54 1-5 53-
2214.
Although it is currently head
q u a rte re d a b o u t 80 m iles
away in Lake County, the site
near Richm ond would have
been its first reservation.
Tribal officials had argued
that their ancestral lands in
cluded the R ichm ond site.
But federal officials say they
failed to demonstrate that.
The D epartm ent o f Inte
rior on Friday did approve
the application o f the Ione
Band o f Miwok Indians for
a casino in A mador County.
Attempt to block tribal hotel fails
jected a tem porary injunc
tion so u g h t by the city.
M unger told the city it was
prem ature in seeking an
injunction.
The Fond du Lac Band
and the city have been at
odds since 2009 when the
band stopped sending a
p o rtio n of its F ond-du-
Luth Casino profits to the
city. A federal court has
upheld the band’s position.
The city has appealed the
case^
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