October 1, 1998
News 3
Last minute Senate bill spells trouble for Tribes
By Oscar Johnson, Staff Reporter
While national attention remains
transfixed on the personal morals of
politicians, provisions and new
amendments harmful to Indian sov
ereignty and well-being await their .
fate in Senate debates over next
year's federal spending bilL
Provisions in the Senate Appropria
tions Bill that would wipe out tribal
claims on past due federal funds
needed to run Indian health, and a
rider pinned to the bill singling out
the Shakopee Indian nation for ex
emption from U.S. obligation to hold
land in trust currently hang in the leg
islative balance.
But one anti-Indian amendment
pinned as a "rider" to the 1999 Fis
cal Year Senate Appropriations Bill
the Enzi-Sessions Gaming amend
ment has already made its way
through the Senate. The Tort Liabil
ity amendment is well on its way also.
Following a brief forty-five minute
debate, the Senate passed the Enzi
Sessions gaming rider on Sept. 15.
This amendment to the 1999 Ap
propriations Bill gives states the final
say in future statetribal gaming com
pacts overriding both tribal sover
eignty to negotiate with states on
equal footing and the federal author
ity of the Secretary of Interior to ef
fectively mediate and approve such
agreements.
Native lobbyists say that Sen. Mike
Enzi (R-Wyo) and Sen. Jeff Sessions
(R-Ala), who drafted the amendment,
are pushing the agenda of the Las
Vegas gaming industry to stop the
Secretary from putting the 1998 In
dian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA)
into play.
The act was designed to settle dis
putes and stalemates between states
and Tribes over Indian gaming by
allowing states to have a role in regu
lating gaming in Indian Country with
out infringing on Native sovereignty.
Under IGRA the Secretary acts as
a third-party mediator who approves
the compacts. Only those few states
who refuse to negotiate in good faith
would be affected by IGRA because
the Secretary would enter in and ne
gotiate on their behalf.
A ban preventing the Secretary
from approving compacts between
states and Tribes is currently in ef
fect and due to expire within days. If
passed, the Enzi-Sessions amendment
would extend the moratorium stall
ing IGRA throughout next year.
The bill will now move on to a Senate-House
Conference Committee to
smooth out differences between the
House and Senate versions. Since the
House version of the bill does not
have a similar amendment, tribal lob
byists will attempt a last ditch effort
to have the amendment defeated dur
ing this process.
But the attempted legislative massa
cre does not stop with Indian gaming.
On this same day, Sen. Slade
Gorton (R-WA), in keeping with his
well earned reputation in Indian
Country, slipped yet another last
minute rider into the 1999 Appro
priations Bill.
Gorton's Tort Liability amendment
flies in the face of U.S. statutes, su
preme court decisions, and treaty
obligations by attempting to mandate
that tribes carry liability insurance to
cover accidents that occur on Indian
property. The bill ignores that most
tribes already have some type of li
ability coverage and have additional
coverage under the Federal Tort
Claims Act.
The eight-page rider also aims to
penalize tribes statistically the
nation's poorest minority to pay
the insurance for tribes failing to pro
vide proof of coverage. This will take
from grossly underfunded Tribal Pri
ority Allocation funds used for ser
vices such Indian health, education
and infrastructure.
"The National Congress of Ameri
can Indians (NCAI) and hundreds of
tribes have worked with the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs on this
issue and support the concept of a
careful study to determine if there are
any gaps in insurance coverage that
need to be remedied," states a recent
NCAI legislative report.
"Gorton, however, is using this
benign issue as a stalking horse for a
much more controversial goal," notes
the report, "removing tribal court ju
risdiction and placing that jurisdiction
in the federal courts."
September General
By Tracy Dugan, Editor
The first General Council meeting
of the year got underway on Septem
ber 13 with a report from Val Sheker,
Chair of the Election Board. She
spoke about the Council Election (on
September 5) and said that there were
1,171 votes this year, another new
record. There were 864 absentee
votes, 82 walk-ins, and 90 were not
counted because no registration was
received or on file.
The Grand Ronde Tribal Housing
Authority (GRTHA) and the Housing
staff gave their program report. Bob
Watson, GRTHA's Chairman, gave
an overview of the housing projects
currently being pursued by the Tribe,
and programs that will be imple
mented in the future, and said that the
Tribe is beginning to "fulfill its prom
ise to develop our homeland for our
people." Grand Meadows is com
plete, Elders' Housing is underway,
and more single family dwellings will
come after that. Watson said that the
Tribe's housing program has been
chosen to participate in a pilot hous
ing project which will be used as a
model for the entire country, and that
in this area, the Tribe has set some
positive examples for other tribes to
emulate.
"We were one of the first tribes to
get its Housing Plan approved," he
said. "Many tribes have a long-term
goal to move away from government
housing and build quality, substantial
homes that last for families. Our tribe
has already been able to do that."
meeting: Progress in
Housing Director Linda Layden said
that there will be a new Housing Sur
vey coming up, where she and her staff
will be looking at the rate of homeless
tribal members and what can be done
to help them find housing.
Lonnie Leno's overview on assis
tance programs included Emergency
Repair, Major Rehabilitation Loans
(up to $20,000), and water and sewer
upgrading.
Bryan Langley outlined the criteria
for Down Payment Assistance grants,
and encouraged folks to sign up for
the program if they have not owned
a home within the last three years.
Also, the Grand Meadows project
was designed for 37 homes, and has
not yet reached capacity. Anyone in
terested in learning more about the
Housing programs or finding out
more about Grand Meadows should
call the Tribe's Housing department
at 1-800-422-0232.
Bruce Thomas and Adam Henny
gave the Gaming Update, and Tho
mas said that October marks the three
year anniversary of Spirit Mountain
Casino's opening. Look for infor
mation about an upcoming anniver
sary celebration.
Current projects for Spirit Moun
tain Development Corporation are:
Spirit Mountain Lodge, which will
open in December; the retail center
in Salem, which will be complete in
November; the retail center in
Redmond, to be completed in Decem
ber; and the Russellville Commons,
a housing project in Portland, which
Housing programs
is scheduled to be completed in Sep
tember of 1999.
Also, the Tribe has partnered with
Hewlett-Packard out of Corvallis to
run a small tote cleaning operation
near Tangent, Oregon. Several
people have been hired, and the
equipment will be ready this month.
Camille Mercier, Human Re
sources Specialist for the Casino said
that another Blackjack training school
will open in November, and inter
ested tribal members should sign -up.
Tribal members have first priority in
reserving a space in the class..
Several door prizes were given
away at the meeting. Cash prizes
were won by: Linda Hale, $50;
Stanley Jeffers, $50; Val Sheker,
$50; and Marlena Lancour, $100.
Safeway gift certificates were won by
Bryan Langley, June Sherer, and
Albert Peters. Ruby Bigoni won the
50-50 drawing for die Elders, which
she donated back to the Elders' Committee.
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Mail theft
At first you might not think any
thing is wrong. You were expect
ing a benefit check, a birthday card,
or even the mountain of credit card
offers to appear in your mailbox.
But nothing was there. For several
days, you might think the mail is
running late. But later that month
you receive a huge bill from a credit
card you don't have. Or a bank
statement with a large withdrawal
you didn't make. You have be
come a victim of mail theft.
Mail theft is a difficult crime to
investigate, as thieves rarely leave
physical evidence behind. Law en
forcement agencies rely on neigh
bors observing activity on their
road or street. A majority of the
crimes occur on the first and fif
teenth of the month, when public
assistance, retirement and social
security checks are in the mail. All
kinds of security documents are
vulnerable blank checks can be
forged and false signatures can be
endorsed.
Steps to combat mail theft:
Do not place your outgoing mail,
especially checks or documents that
carry account numbers, in your
mailbox.
Consider renting a post office box
to keep your mail secure.
Consider direct deposit for your
pay or benefit checks.
Promptly remove mail from your
roadside box once it's delivered.
Form a Neighborhood Watch
group in your community to watch
for suspicious behavior.