10 MARCH 15, 2003
Smoke Signals
Stillaguamish Betting Casino Will Bring Financial Independence
ARLINGTON, WA. (AP) Mem
bers of the Stillaguamish Tribe are
betting that razing its village and re
placing it with a 40,000-square-foot
casino will bring in a new era of finan
cial independence.
And while many Tribal members
have welcomed the casino decision,
others say they worry the casino could
lead to a loss of cultural connections.
"It's devastating a lot of our people,"
said Paki Martin, a former Tribal
Council member.
All but two of the 30 federally funded
houses where Tribal members had lived
since 1984 were torn down in January
to make room for the casino, which is
scheduled to open within nine months.
For years, the 190-member Tribe
resisted the lure of gambling revenue,
focusing instead on economic develop
ment projects deemed more culturally
enriching. Various small business
endeavors on ornear their 20-acre res
ervation either failed to turn a profit
or closed, including a wholesale plant
nursery, a pharmacy and an espresso
stand.
Frustrated by those failures, the
Tribe changed its compact with the
state in December 2000 to include the
possibility of running a casino, but
didn't publicly acknowledge it was
planning a casino until November.
Countering criticism that the Tribe
misled people, the Tribe's Executive
Director, Eddie Goodridge, Jr., said
inquiries about rumors of a casino
weren't specific enough.
"Nobody asked me whether we were
going to build a casino on this site,"
said Goodridge. "They asked me about
the 80 acres (a Tribal property about
a mile east), not here."
Critics complain that the casino is
being built in a residential area not
zoned for commercial use, far from
Interstate 5 and without sewer or
water hookups nearby. But it's the
Tribe's only large parcel of trust land.
When American Indian Tribes buy
land, they can apply to have the fed
eral government put it into trust sta
tus. That essentially immunizes the
parcel from local land-use laws.
Goodridge has said if the casino were
to be moved, the Tribe would develop
high-end housing on the village site.
The Tribe has spent $5 million in
investor money to relocate 28 house
holds. Of those, 19 got replacement
houses worth up to $215,000. Nine got
up to $90,000 for their houses.
Goodridge, whose father, Ed
Goodridge, Sr., is Tribal Chairman,
said he and his family are interested
in Tribal culture but that others aren't
focused on sharing what they know.
"I'll fully admit that a large portion
of our family don't know a lot about
how the powwows work," said
Goodridge Jr. "We don't know the lan
guage. They won't show us."
Several Tribal members declined
requests for interviews, saying they
feared repercussions. Some said they
feared they could be sued because of
nondisclosure agreements they signed
about the casino project.
The Tribe and its investors have re
fused to disclose how much money they
anticipate the casino will generate, but
say they expect the Tribe to be able to
repay a $36 million loan within five
years.
The Tribe is planning to use casino
profits to buy more land. One parcel
in its sights is 19 acres of farmland
next to 2.5 acres of trust land at Is
land Crossing. Another is 80 acres
about a mile away from where the ca
sino is planned. The Tribe hopes to
develop a rural cluster subdivision on
those 80 acres, another potential source
of revenue.
Meanwhile, Martin says she's wor
ried that the Tribe has not formed a
corporation that could protect against
lawsuits from investors in case the
casino fails.
"There won't be a Tribe in 15 years
if the casino doesn't make it," she said.
"The investors will own it."
American Indians Mark 30 Years Since Standoff With Feds
WOUNDED KNEE, S.D. (AP)
In 1973, the American Indian
Movement occupied this Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation village and held
federal agents at bay for 71 days in
a siege that left two Indians dead.
Recently, a peaceful ceremony
marking the 30th anniversary of
the takeover attracted a crowd that
spread out in all directions from the
burial spot where the U.S. Cavalry
had killed an estimated 300 Indi
ans in December 1890.
It was the same site as the 1973
siege.
"I would like to pay tribute to those
warriors who fell here 30 years
ago," AIM co-founder Dennis Banks
told the large crowd that lined the
hill containing the grave.
"We stand here today at Wounded
Knee to declare that this be a na
tional holiday. A national day of
recognition."
The day started with walks from
four directions toward Wounded
Knee. Some people carried banners;
AIM flags and upside down Ameri
can and Canadian flags as they
negotiated mud puddles made by
melting snow. Others rode horse
back, wearing light jackets in the
bright sunshine. Many were chil
dren. James Cuny, 12, of Martin, car
ried a staff taller than him. His fa
ther is part of AIM and the boy said
he believes much good came from
the 1973 standoff.
"It brought them all together."
Robert and Phinet Red Owl of
Batesland said they are pleased
with the progress of Indian issues
since 1973. But health care, edu
cation and housing are still lacking,
they said.
Phinet held a portrait of Robert's
late mother, Nellie Red Owl.
"She supported the American In
dian Movement. She was one of the
first supporters," said Phinet Red Owl.
Though people came from all over
the country, some Indians whose
ancestors survived the 1890 mas
sacre and stayed after the 1973 oc
cupation ignored the events.
They said AIM is an outside group
that used the symbolic past of
Wounded Knee to advance its own
cause and those of its members but
has done nothing to help people
who lost homes and other property
in 1973.
"Since '73 there hasn't been much
progress. The population grew but
poverty and unemployment are still
just as high," said Belva Hollow
Horn Emery.
Julie Shot To Pieces has collected
a stack of papers from Wounded
Knee residents who listed what
they lost during the occupation.
The documents were part of an un
successful attempt to get the fed
eral government to compensate.
Among the buildings destroyed in
1973 was the town's only store and
museum. Now the only employers
in town are the post office and
Head Start, though children have
to meet in a condemned building,
she said.
"These people that are talking -they
don't have to live here. They
all have stores," said Shot To
Pieces.
"Our focus is to rebuild. There's
nothing here," said Phyllis Hollow
Horn.
AIM could have made Indians
more sovereign without inviting the
violence, she said. "It's everyday
people like us that make those
changes."
Banks said the occupation helped
advance education, health care and
economic development for Indians,
although "the struggle is not over."
AIM would like Tribes with thriv
ing casinos to share some of the
wealth with poorer, isolated reser
vations, he said.
"I think gaming should be
spreading more resources around,"
said Banks after speaking to the
crowd.
Vernon Bellecourt, another AIM
founder, acknowledged that the
standoff did hurt some people. But
much good came out of it, he said.
Bellecourt invited AIM's detrac
tors to meet with the group in ef
fort to heal.
"We have not stepped back. We
continue to move forward," he told
the crowd before naming some of
the people who died at the site.
"It is their blood that nourishes
this sacred ground and continues
to nourish us."
School Board Votes To Reinstate American Indian Logo, Opposition Arrested, Jailed
OSSEO, WI. (AP) The Osseo
Fairchild School Board has decided to
reinstate its controversial Chieftain
logo, but will hold a referendum later
this spring to ask the community to
advise it about the issue.
The board recently voted 5-1 to re
instate the logo until the referendum.
The logo won't be placed on athletic
jerseys or painted on the gymnasium
floor, but students will be allowed to
wear clothing with the logo to school,
said Board Clerk Rollie Colby.
Colby said the board needed to base
its decisions on the majority opinion.
Matt Stewart, an American Indian
from La Crosse, countered, "Should
the Emancipation Proclamation have
been put to a vote?"
The school district began phasing
high school logo.
Board Vice President Duane Merritt
"I'm willing to go to jail to make a point here. "
-Harvey Gunderson,
Wife is a member of the Oneida Nation
out the American Indian head logo in
the mid-1990s. The board voted in July
to officially remove the logo that many
say is offensive.
The board voted to keep the school's
nickname of Chieftains or Chiefs but
replace the logo with the letters "O-F"
on school materials.
Voters recalled four members of the
school board in November over the
was the lone member opposing the non
binding referendum.
"I don't need a referendum to tell
me what is right or wrong," said
Merritt. "We certainly don't want to
discriminate against anybody."
A member of American Indians and
Other Patriotic Americans Against
Indian Logos said the group planned
to sue the board before the referen
dum, which could come as early as the
April 1 general election.
"Every time that we see a piece of
clothing with an Indian head logo on
it, it is like a slap in the face of Ameri
can Indians and the families of those
Indians," said Harvey Gunderson,
whose wife, Carol, is a member of the
Oneida Nation.
Colby said there was no evidence
proving the logo is hurtful.
Gunderson was arrested for disor
derly conduct during the meeting af
ter he tried to read from a prepared
statement. Police escorted another
man peacefully from the meeting.
"I'm willing to go to jail to make a
point here," said Gunderson.