2
Smoke Signals
Republican resolution seeks abolition of Tribal governments
The measure calls on the federal government to immediately take
whatever steps necessary to terminate all such non-republican forms of
government on Indian reservations.
We think it can be done peacefully. But if Tribes were to fight the effort,
then the U.S. Army and the Air Force and the Marines and the National Guard
are going to have to battle back.9
John Fleming, a Skagit County convention delegate
SPOKANE, WA. (AP) - A little
discussed resolution passed by del
egates at the recent state Republi
can Party convention calls for aboli
tion of Tribal governments, saying
they are unconstitutional.
Tribal leaders call the measure an
affront to their rights under treaties
signed by Congress.
"It's absolutely the reverse of what
republican principles stand for to
protect all rights and to uphold the
integrity and honor of this nation
and all of the commitments it makes,"
said Ron Allen, a republican who is
chairman of the Jamestown
S'Klallam Tribe in Western Wash
ington and vice president of the Na
tional Congress of American Indians.
The resolution adopted at the party
convention in Spokane in June comes
amid growing controversy over res
ervation rules affecting non-Indians,
ranging from hunting privileges to
liquor sales.
The resolution's main author was
John Fleming, a Skagit County con
vention delegate who says he now
wants Washington's party delegates
to try to insert a similar measure into
the national republican platform.
"We do not recognize them (Tribal
governments) as sovereign nations,
as governments," Fleming said in a
recent interview.
Fleming, who lives within the
Swinomish Reservation and is active
in organizations opposing treaty
rights, refers to Tribal governments
as "non-republican" because reserva
tion residents who are non-Indian
can't vote in Tribal elections. That
makes them illegal under the U.S.
and state constitutions, he contends.
The measure calls on the federal
government to "immediately take
whatever steps necessary to terminate
all such non-republican forms of gov
ernment on Indian reservations."
"We think it can be done peace
fully," Fleming said.
But if Tribes were to fight the ef
fort, "then the U.S. Army and the Air
Force and the Marines and the Na
tional Guard are going to have to
battle back," he said.
Beth Jensen, chairwoman of the
state republican platform committee,
said she had no idea how the
resolution's authors intend termina
tion of Tribal governments to be car
ried out.
Some of the 29 resolutions that
came before Jensen's committee were
debated at some length during a two
hour session to consider the measures.
But the one on Tribal governments
was barely discussed, Jensen said.
"I was so unfamiliar with the issue
that I wasn't totally focused on what
the debate was," she said. "It seems
like what was being said was, there
were acts by the Tribal governments
that weren't the way we do govern
ment in America. ; .". '
"A couple of people gave examples
to people who didn't have a clue, and
it passed."
Allen, of the Jamestown S'Klallam
. Tribe, was surprised to learn of the
resolution's passage. ;
"The Republican Party nationally
has been making some effort to im
prove its image with regards to its
relationship with the Indian na
tions," Allen said. "This is polarizing.
It's the opposite of what they should
be doing."
Robert Crawford, a researcher for
the Seattle-based Northwest Coali
tion for Human Dignity, called the
republican resolution "disturbing"
but added, "I wouldn't say it's a ma
jority view."
Begay has arrived as top contender on tour
Shoshones
greet brother
Comanches
POCATELLO, ID (AP) - They are
called the lost Tribe a historic band
of Shoshone Indians now known as
Comanche.
For some people attending the first
ever Shoshonean Reunion and Gath
ering recently at Sho-Ban High
School that proved an interesting les
son in Tribal history.
Members from those and other
Shoshone Tribes learned that they
share many stories and even much
of their language.
Lavonne Roanhorse, a member of
the Eastern Shoshone Tribe from
Wyoming, said besides a wonderful
lunch of chili and fry bread, the best
part of the event was hearing the
histories of Tribes from as far away
as Oklahoma.
"We get to know just how far back
in history we go," she said.
Responding to an invitation from
the local Shoshone Tribe, about 50
members of Oklahoma's Comanche
Tribe chartered a bus to join the fes
tivities. "We've never been up to this part
of the country," said Delores Karty.
"They have all this fishing and wild
game that we don't have in our area
but I'll tell you what, Indian hos
pitality is the same everywhere."
His name in the Navajo language
means "Almost There," which no
longer seems to fit Notah Begay
when it comes to his status on the
PGA Tour.
When his 20-foot birdie putt on the
72nd hole curled into the right side
of the cup, Begay became the only
player this year to win tour events
in consecutive weeks, and the first
since Tiger Woods won three straight
at the end of last season.
Begay has been described alter
nately as the only American Indian
on tour, the only switch-putter in golf
and a college teammate of Woods,
even though Begay was the No. 1
player on that Stanford team that won
the NCAA Championship in 1994.
Almost there?
He might have arrived on Sunday,
July 2 considering the exclusive list
of players he joined.
In the past 15 years, only a dozen
other players have gone back-to-back
seasons on the PGA Tour with at least
two victories, and none of those are
described by anything but their stat
ure as among the best in golf.
The list starts with Hal Sutton,
Corey Pavin and Curtis Strange in
the mid-1980s, includes Greg Norman
and Fred Couples at the turn of the
decade and finishes strong with Mark
O'Meara, Davis Love III, Nick Price,
Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Vijay
Singh and Woods.
Woods and Begay are the only ones
to do this in their first two years on
tour.
All but two of those players
Mickelson and Duval have gone
on to win a major championship.
Begay has played only three ma
jors and has failed to break par in 10
rounds. In that respect, he is not
even close to being "almost there."
But give him time.
"He's one of the young guys. He's
got a knack for winning golf tourna
ments, because it's not easy to win,"
said Mark Calcavecchia, still some
what shocked that Begay holed that
20-foot bender for birdie on the final
hole at Hartford to finish off a round
of 64.
Nothing has ever come easily for
Begay, who spent seven years living
on the Isleta Indian Reservation
south of Albuquerque.
He and Woods, the first minorities
selected for the Walker Cup in 1995,
are clearly changing the face of golf.
But while Woods was introduced
to the swing in his high chair and
nurtured through endless summers
of golf with his father, Begay had to
save his pennies to buy a bucket of
range balls at a municipal track a
mile from his house.
When his piggy bank couldn't
match his desire to play, Begay ap
proached the head pro at Ladera golf
course one night in the parking lot
and begged him for a job in exchange
for free range balls. Every morning
before the sun rose, Begay would line
up the carts, make sure they had keys
and fill buckets with range balls.
At the end of the day, he would
clean out the carts, hose them down,
check the batteries and charge them
for the next day. In between were
hours of pounding balls, refining a
self-taught swing that has held up
quite nicely.
"Looking back, I got the better end
of that deal," he said.
Don't get the idea Begay is a hus
tler. Two months after speaking to
American Indian children about the
dangers of drinking and drugs, Begay
was arrested for DWI after backing
into another car in the parking lot of
an Albuquerque watering hole.
He emerged with his character in
tact by setting a rare standard in
sports. He freely admitted wrongdo
ing, worried about his credibility with
kids, informed prosecutors of a pre
vious drunk-driving arrest and spent
a week in jail.
"It's been an uphill battle," he said.
"I'm not ever going to take anything
for granted anymore. I guess I'm just
happy to be playing, and that's
maybe reflective in the way I'm play
ing. I'm playing with a lot of spirit,
and that's when I play my best."
His resume is getting longer by the
week.
He has won four times in the past
10 months, second only to Woods (9).
If he is "Almost There," he is travel
ing at a high rate of speed.