ARGU PARR's Newsletter Volume 8 Number 4 Fall/Winter 2004

AMERICAN RIGHTS GUARDIAN UPDATE
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VOLUME 8 NUMBER 4 FALL/WINTER 2004 Bald Eagle

The Only Printed Voice of Opposition to Federal Government Indian Policy in Wisconsin.
Published by Protect Americans' Rights Resources to maintain an informed membership.

     As they have for many years in the past the following headlines appeared again this year:
“Thompson, S.D. -- A project by a team of history buffs to retrace Lewis and Clark’s expedition has proved historically accurate in at least one respect: The adventurers have encountered hostile Indians.
     A group of about 25 Indians told the expedition members to turn their boats around and go home earlier this month, as they made their way up the Missouri River near Chamberlain, where the rolling prairie opens to a grand vista on the lofty banks of the river.
     The Indians condemned the re-enactors for celebrating a journey that marked the beginning of the end for traditional Indian culture.
     The confrontation was laced with threatening language, according to the man who portrays Capt. Meriwether Lewis.
     “They crossed the line with threats of physical violence and damage to our boats,” Illinois teacher Scott Mandrell said last week as police watched over the re-enactors’ camp from a bay nearby.
     When are these people going to get a life? They have been making fools of themselves with the same song and dance for years. Do they feel that such harassment guarantees them a place at the taxpayers’ trough? This is just as ridiculous as having a half-dozen activists, claiming they are offended by the use of Indian names for sports teams and mascots, force their agenda of claims and complaints on 250 million people: (America’s non-Indian population). Can you visualize the out-cry that would result if two dozen whites had picketed and protested at the National Museum of the American Indian grand opening this past September?
     Consider this quote from the Milwaukee Journal/ Sentinel: “Hundreds from Wisconsin joined in the grand opening ceremony for the museum, which rises in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. ‘There has never been anything like this, nor will there ever be,’ said Ernest L. Stevens Jr., 45, an Oneida from Wisconsin who chairs the National Indian Gaming Association, a trade group. ‘This is a day to celebrate our cultural heritage and begin a new day of healing and strong relations between sovereign tribes and the U.S. government.’”
     How can these tribes be sovereign, when the taxpayers of the United States of America not only helped pay for the Native American Museum, but continue to pay for all the federal government appropriations in support of Indian reservation health, education and welfare programs, while tribes remain exempt from many federal and state taxes?

Menominees Reach for the Brass Ring
(by Bob Manzke with parts taken from Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel articles by Spevak& Bice & Steve Schultze)      Again, the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin is trying to win the Super Bowl of Relief--the grand slam of dole. First, they petitioned the Federal Government to change their reservation to a county. When it became apparent that effort was necessary to sustain this change to a county, they petitioned to restore the reservation status. After they blew the county caper big time, and the reservation status was restored; the next gambit they tried was an attempt to establish off-reservation treaty rights such as the Chippewa have. Their attempt to convert over 1/3 of the state into their private hunting and fishing preserve, where only non-Menominee persons have to abide by game laws, also failed. Too bad, Judge Barbara Crabb could only get away with rewriting the treaties once, and that “once” applied only to the Chippewa.
     Now the big attempt is a casino at the Kenosha dog track site. Kenosha residents are being asked to give a thumbs-up to a huge tribal casino proposal that backers say would bring thousands of new jobs and shower millions of dollars on the community. But opponents warn that (1) the Menominee casino would be an economic drain on Kenosha; (2) the tribe’s job claims are overblown; and, (3) the tribe’s sovereign status could allow the tribe to back away from its promises.
     The Forest County Pottawatomie tribe, which operates the state’s most lucrative casino in Milwaukee, also jumped into the fray, announcing the formation of a group critical of a Kenosha casino: Citizens Seeking Honest Answers. The group has mounted a TV advertising campaign in opposition to the Kenosha casino. The following 30-second spot urged Kenosha County voters to reject the proposal to turn Dairyland Greyhound Park into a $800 million casino development - a gaming mecca certain to cut into the profits at the Potawatomi's Milwaukee casino.---
     Against a black sky with storm clouds ominously gathering, the ad flashes a series of allegations about Kenosha big-shot Dennis Troha, a driving force behind the current casino proposal. The charges focus on his role as an investor in Nii-Jii Entertainment, the group that tried to open an Indian casino in the 1990s. The allegations in the ad are - to put it mildly - explosive.
     "Two major shareholders of Nii-Jii did business with criminals linked to Chicago's organized crime bosses," the ad states, referring to ex-Chicago Congressman Morgan Murphy Jr. and his law partner, Robert Boyle.
     The Menominee casino would serve as a front for non-Indian investors, warned Potawatomi Attorney General Jeff Crawford. He acknowledged the Potawatomi also are worried that a Kenosha casino would hurt the Potawatomi’s Milwaukee casino business, which netted about $260 million last year.
     Menominee tribal Chair-woman Joan Delabreau said the Pottawatomie wanted to lock in their status as the sole Milwaukee-area casino “and keep all of the benefits for themselves. That doesn't’t seem right.” She said Citizens Seeking Honest Answers, a front group for the Forest County Pottawatomie tribe, was ready to drop more than $45,000 to run the spot. Apparently they spent the $45,000 plus because the spot ran for several days. As an indication of just how much money is at stake here, on Sunday, October 30, a counter TV spot, expounding on all the attributes of a casino appeared.
     It appears that the Menominee, considered this casino to be worth more than did the Pottawatomie.By Nov 2nd they had aired several different commercials, and as usual the money talked. The Menominee won! The good folks of Kenosha voted to accept a casino in their community.
     The advisory referendum is a key step in the lengthy process of converting Dairyland Greyhound Park’s 223 acres on 1-94 into federal trust land for a casino.State and federal approval must be obtained as well. An earlier Menominee casino plan was endorsed in a 1998 referendum, 57% to 43%. That deal died when former Gov. Scott McCallum refused to endorse it, and federal officials raised many questions. What is at stake this time around, according to the Tribe, is a large casino and entertainment complex employing more than 3,000 workers and a payroll of $138 million a year.
     The $808 million development’ would include a hotel, restaurants, spa and conference center. The tribe would also operate the dog track. A deal between city and county officials would initially send about $15 million a year to local government, or 3% of the casino’s estimated yearly take of $500 million. If that revenue forecast proved true, the Kenosha casino would far eclipse any other gambling hall in the state, including the Potawatomi casino in Milwaukee.
     The Menominee also are promising a $2.5 million annual donation to Kenosha schools, a one-time $5 million donation to local charities and a $150,000-a-year program for problem gamblers. The casino development would provide a major boost to Kenosha, which has suffered the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs since the 1980s, said Evan Zeppos, a spokesman for the tribe. “It’s a growth industry,” Zeppos said.
     Not all is rosy with the plan, however, say opponents. Most casino jobs would he low-paying, a big chunk of prime land would be taken off the local tax rolls forever, and the tribe’s status as a sovereign nation could mean few, if any, state or local controls over the operation, said Duane Anderson, a local Baptist minister and spokesman for the anti-casino group: Casino Free Kenosha.com.
     "When people are given the facts, they turn away from the casino," Anderson said. John Kindt, a University of Illinois business professor allied with the anti-casino group, said the casino would cause a net job loss in the Kenosha area because money destined for other businesses would be spent on gambling. He said the $47,000 the tribe says each new casino job would pay on average was misleading because the figure includes management jobs and the value of health and other benefits.
     Zeppos said the non-management jobs would pay about $25,000 with benefits worth about $15,000 a year. He described the criticism as ground less.
     Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, a long-time gambling opponent, spoke at a Kenosha news conference Tuesday for the anti-casino group. “I see this as a menacing power, the power of gambling.”
     In sharp contrast, veteran Kenosha County District Attorney Bob Jambois has come out strongly in favor of turning Dairyland Greyhound Park into a giant casino. This is interesting, considering so many law officers oppose the introduction of one-armed bandits into their communities. Perhaps his attitude is somewhat influenced by the fact that both his wife and daughter are on the pro-casino payroll.
     In reference to Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann’s attitude, perhaps his opposition to this casino is influenced by the fact that The Forest County Potawatomi tribe’s mega casino, that will lose business to this new casino, is in McCann’s territory? Oh, the power of money!
PARR Ed. Note: Now the real story starts to unfold. How is our Governor Navajo Jim Doyle going to satisfy the promises of a gambling monopoly, he made, to the Potawatomi? Or is he going to put the kibosh on the Kenosha Casino?

So, This is what is Next?
(By Greg Graunke)      We recently submitted a letter that asked,” what is next?” after the Chippewa speared nearly 1,000 spawning walleye from a catch and release hook and line lake that was being rehabilitated. The bands explained that it was the fish’s fault they grew too fast and that is why the tribe speared the fish in the lake.
     It now seems that two more items have come to our attention to answer PARR’s question.
     First is the cross-deputizing of Chippewa wardens. This is the same organization that explained they did not have to obey the laws that the rest of the citizens of this state are bound by. A call for interpretation to the local DNR service center was only answered in vague terms with the recommendation to contact the state office for further clarification. That was done, but to date no reply has been forth coming. One can only imagine the carefully worded reply that would be needed to walk in that minefield.
     Second, is a recent article in the Masinaigan newspaper, which is “A chronicle of the Lake Superior Ojibwe,” published by the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, (GLIFWC). The heading reads: “hook and line violators pose greatest threat to fishery.” The article highlights why poaching is bad and how it is accomplished and one of the reasons is the lack of DNR wardens.
     The points are well taken and do reflect badly on the honest sportsman and certainly do harm to the resource. The article further explains how regulated the spear fishers are and how they are monitored at every site, including the very lake they are on, by one or two GLIFWC personnel to make sure every thing is in order.
     Perhaps the author should review a situation a few years ago where two GLIFWC personnel were on duty at a lake where spearing was taking place. Yet, violations were occurring right in front of them.
     At the time the spearers were out on the lake, two Wisconsin DNR wardens happened along and noticed that the boat being used for spearing did not have the proper lights. This requirement had been brought up several times at meetings before the spearing season started. The violation was being investigated by the wardens when they noticed that the person in the front was spearing and that the person in the back was running the motor, while the individual in the middle was measuring the fish and tossing the oversized fish back.
     Our guess is that catch and release does not apply here. The Wisconsin wardens questioned the GLFWIC staff on the boat landing but they seemed to know nothing about what was going on right in front of them, even though preventing such a violation was the reason for their being there.
     The Wisconsin wardens did stop the violators and retrieved 20 or so over sized fish that were lying on the bottom. Citations were issued and the case went to Indian court. If hook and line poaching is so bad for the resource, and it certainly is, isn't the poaching by spear just as bad?
End Note: One of the three persons in that boat was an ex-tribal board member.

Failure of Indian Education Dooms Progress for Many
(October Reservations Report) Ever since Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Walter Mondale (D-MN), in 1970, backed legislation to completely revamp, refinance and reinvigorate national education programs for American Indians, progress for most Minnesota Indian children has continued in steady decline. The same downward slide has been indicated from other parts of so-called “Indian Country.” So says a 2004 report, State of Students of Color (SOC), published by the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership. Year after year throughout the 20th Century, Indian education maintained a high failure rate. Examining this history, decade by decade, Editor and Publisher Bill Lawrence laments in the September 24th edition of his interesting Native American Press/Ojibwe News: “By 2003, the median amount spent per pupil throughout Minnesota was $8,415….” But the maximum amount being spent per student last year in the state, $16,862, was reported to be at the Red Lake Indian reservation school.
Lawrence is a member of the Red Lake band. He adds: “by 8th Grade, less than 50% of the American Indian children pass the Minnesota Basic Skills Test, the high school exit examination….” despite “higher per pupil payments, tribal governance for schools, and increased Indian involvement in the classroom,” Indian schools lag woefully behind white students on whom far less is spent.

Jobs Decline in National Forest
(Taken in part from a Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel article by Lee Bergquist) Park Falls--At issue this fall in Wisconsin and other states are 59 million acres of federal forest that environmentalists want protected using road less rules approved during the Clinton era. Those rules, issued in the final days of the Clinton presidency, barred road building and logging in specially designated areas.
     The Bush administration wants to relax those rules, which have been subject to court fights, because it feels that Clinton threw a blanket prohibition on development when local forest managers might have employed better uses for the land.
     In a new wrinkle, the administration in July proposed giving broad discretion to governors such as Jim Doyle of Wisconsin to determine how those lands should be used.
     The Bush administration has held off until after the election but some announcement is expected soon.The bulk of the land is in the Western United States. In Wisconsin, the road less rule would affect some 69,000 acres. Even though the rule affects a tiny part of the Chequamegon-Nicolet, environmentalists and timber interests have strident and divergent views on the issue, underscoring years of acrimony about how best to manage the North Woods of Wisconsin.
     Both sides say they want to see the forest endure. But where environmentalists and others see the need for more protection, loggers and wood manufacturers say it has become harder to get approval to cut trees in a forest that is in better shape than it was 50 years ago.
     Most experts would agree. Despite being one of the most heavily logged national forests in the country, the Chequamegon-Nicolet has rebounded: Packs of wolves now roam the forest. Eagles and other birds of prey live there in greater numbers. There's plenty of logging going on, while stands of the forest are growing older.
     When John Matuszewski hears what environmentalists have to say, his smile melts from his face, and he seems ready to reach across the table and strangle the messenger. At 62, he's been "peeling popple" since he was a teenager.
     "All of these beautiful parts of our forest are what we harvested years ago," Matuszewski said. "We put many, many nice boards in people's homes and built many, many homes, and we get kicked around for it. The social and economic part of northern Wisconsin is the timber we are growing here."
     Timber-laden trucks and factory yards stacked with logs are as much a part of the landscape as corn and cattle to the south.
     The Chequamegon-Nicolet and related industries produce 15,100 jobs and an annual payroll of $499 million in the 11 counties, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
     National forests (Chequamegon-Nicolet) today supply about 8% of the logs the industry needs, the agency says, but the number used to be higher. Loggers see the dispute over road less areas as just another and latest roadblock to logging.
     Timber production in the national forests has fallen sharply in the past decade because of stronger environmental rules and a growing workload to approve sales that will withstand court challenge. The number of trees cut translates into a decline of harvested board feet of timber from 145 million board feet in 1994 to 85 million in 2003, according to the Forest Service.
     Companies have been forced to buy logs from Canada and Maine because less hard wood is available for cutting in the Chequamegon-Nicolet and because of major changes in the ownership of private forests, which have made it difficult to tap private lands.
     One example is Pine River Lumber Co. in Long Lake in Florence County. The company owns 9,000 acres of forest and has access to another 140,000 acres in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula it sold three years ago.
     To ensure that its own forest can produce wood for years to come, Pine River has been forced to buy logs in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as Canada, said Richard Krawze, the company's vice president. "Other companies in the lakes states are doing the same when our raw material (from the Chequamegon) is going to waste. It's ridiculous," Krawze said.
     All of this has driven up prices. Accepted bids in the national forest have skyrocketed from $15 per 1,000 board feet of timber in 1986 to $67 per thousand in 2003, according to Michael T. Miller, planning officer for the Chequamegon-Nicolet.
     The higher costs have hurt lumber manufacturers who supply wood product companies that can shop for wood around the world. In 2002, one struggling customer asked Krawze if he could cut prices by 7% and guarantee it for five years. "I couldn't do that; it's impossible," he said.
     The company ended up closing a North Woods factory, and Pine River has shrunk from four mills to one in recent years, he said.

Interesting Nostalgia
(By Greg Graunke) I came across a interesting story, while doing research for a project. The article is a brief summary of the late Robert Markle, a 30 year conservation warden, killed in the line of duty. In 1966 he observed spearing taking place on Bass lake. When he tried to apprehend the suspects they sped away and in the chase that followed he was killed in a car accident. At the time be had been recently promoted to district warden and in 1946 was given the outstanding warden service award. There is no mention of special treaty rights or even who the perpetrators were; just the fact that spearing is illegal and he did his duty to protect the resource. One has to question why this was so important that it cost a man his life then, but now the same department is forced to protect special people to do just what he was trying to stop.

Issue Item When our forefathers set foot on the shores of North America, there were no food stamps or Government assistance programs. Wilderness dominated the situation. The early settlers faced nothing but searing heat in the summer and bone chilling cold in the winter. They survived by building shelter and acquiring (by fishing, farming, hunting, etc.) food.
They didn't assume the status of victims, because they couldn't speak the language, or their U.S, Government immigrant sponsoring relief checks aren't big enough. No sir…They fell to their knees clasped their hands together looked up to the sky and said: "Thank you Lord. We'll take it from here."

Reject UN Gun Control
(By US Representative Ron Paul)      The gun control movement in America has lost momentum in recent years, as evidenced by the Democratic Party’s conspicuous silence on the issue in the 2000 and 2002 elections. In the midst of declining public support for new gun laws, more and more states have adopted programs permitting the carrying of concealed-weapons.
     The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks only made matters worse for gun control advocates, as millions of Americans were starkly reminded that they can’t always rely on government to protect them from criminals.
     Perhaps the biggest threat to gun rights in America today comes not from domestic lawmakers, but from abroad. Even as support for gun control wanes at home, globalist bureaucrats are working to override national sovereignty and craft international gun laws.
     For more than a decade, the United Nations has waged a campaign to undermine Second Amendment rights in America. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on members of the Security Council to address the "easy availability" of small arms and light weapons, by which he means all privately owned firearms. In response, the Security Council released a report calling for a comprehensive program of worldwide gun control, a report that admonishes the U.S. and praises the restrictive gun laws of Red China and France! Meanwhile, this past June the UN held a conference with the silly title "Week of Action Against Small Arms."
     It's no surprise that UN bureaucrats, who are predominantly European and third-world socialists, want to impose gun control worldwide. After all, these are the people who placed a huge anti-gun statue on American soil at UN headquarters in New York.
     They believe in global government, and armed people could stand in the way of their goals. They certainly don't care about our Constitution or the Second Amendment. But the conflict between the UN position on private ownership of firearms and our Second Amendment cannot be reconciled. How can we as a nation justify our membership in an organization that is actively hostile to one of our most fundamental constitutional rights? What if the UN decided that free speech was too inflammatory and should be restricted? Would we discard the First Amendment to comply with the UN agenda?
     Contrary to UN propaganda, gun control makes people demonstrably less safe, as any honest examination of criminal statistics reveals. In his book More Guns, Less Crime, scholar John Lott demolishes the myth that gun control reduces crime. On the contrary, Lott shows that cities with strict gun control--like Washington DC--experience higher rates of murder and violent crime. Gun control simply endangers law-abiding people by disarming them.
     More importantly, however, gun control often serves as a gateway to tyranny. Tyrants from Hitler to Mao to Stalin have sought to disarm their own citizens, for the simple reason that unarmed people are easier to control. Our Founders, having just expelled the British army, knew that the right to bear arms serves as the guardian of every other right. This is the principle so often ignored by both sides in the gun control debate. Only armed citizens can resist tyrannical government.
     A UN conference on small arms trading began recently in New York, with the goal of creating global standards for the manufacture, sale, export, and possession of guns. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been outspoken in advocating global gun laws, even proposing that small arms be supplied to governments only, and not individuals (as though governments use weapons wisely!). So it's obvious that the UN ultimately seeks to impose global gun control on individuals everywhere, despite any benign rhetoric. Clearly, every American who cares about the Second Amendment and the steady erosion of gun rights should be very concerned by this latest UN outrage.
     The gun control conference merely represents the newest UN threat to our national sovereignty. The Constitution clearly requires Congress to enact U.S. domestic laws. No treaty or international agreement can transfer this legislative power from Congress to UN bureaucrats, and the 2nd Amendment plainly prohibits restrictions on private gun ownership by U.S. citizens. Yet the trend toward unconstitutional international laws already is firmly established. The UN wants to generate the same acceptance for global gun laws that it has established for global environmental and labor laws. As the global government trend intensifies, the conflicts between internationalism and sovereign constitutional government will only increase.
     The UN gun control conference provides Congress and the American people with an opportunity to affirm the supremacy of the Constitution and the Second Amendment over the dictates of global gun-grabbers.
     The role of small arms in defending against aggression should not be overlooked. Gun control proponents like to characterize light weapons as ineffective in wartime, but history proves they are critical to the self-defense of nations.
     For example, badly outnumbered and outgunned Afghan rebels succeeded in creating havoc for the massive invading Soviet army using only light rifles and even handguns. By contrast, Jewish civilians in Germany who had been stripped of all weapons were unable to mount any resistance to Hitler's terror.
     UN gun control advocates ignore history when they attempt to link guns only with crime, and never with heroic resistance to tyranny.
     The truth is that the UN is not concerned with our Constitution or our system of government. It is concerned only with expanding its power. It's hardly surprising that global government planners seek to impose global gun control, because disarmed nations will be that much easier to rule. Remember, the UN has much more power today than anyone could have imagined 50 years ago. So while it may seem far-fetched today that the UN could ever force U.S. citizens to turn over their arms, the current gun control conference could be planting the seed for such tyranny in decades to come. UN supporters like to ridicule the notion that the UN represents the beginning of one-world government, but what other label can be applied to an organization that seeks global laws, global courts, centralized legislative power, and a worldwide army?
PARR Ed Note: Even though the majority of states have adopted concealed-carry programs. Wisconsin’s Governor Jim Doyle saw fit to veto a concealed carry law, which the Legislature had earlier approved by a wide margin. The Legislature failed to override the veto by 1 vote. Consequentially, the majority of this state’s citizens, who prefer concealed gun permitting, are stuck with the UN dictates, thanks to our Democratic Governor.

The Lac du Flambeau Navy
(By The PARR Editorial Board)      Forget the Mexican Government, full speed ahead. That's the battle cry of the Lac du Flambeau Navy. According to the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel the Flagship (and only ship for that matter) of the LDF Navy was seized by the Internal Revenue Service last year from Stardancer Casino Cruises Inc. as part of an investigation of an Ohio bank chief who was charged with embezzlement and money laundering. Stardancer, based in South Carolina, allegedly received $40 million in embezzled funds from the exec, who has since been convicted.
    For the past three months, the Europa Sun has been in the shop getting spiffed up so it can pass Coast Guard inspection. One source estimated the fix-up job at about $600,000. Once the ship is ready to sail - which sources say could be as early as next month - the tribe and its investors will have to persuade Mexican authorities to grant it a license for casino cruises. Sources say the tribe is counting on its partners to lead the way in that difficult process.
    Getting permission from the Mexican Government to anchor off Cancun Mexico and suck the pesos out of that (rich in American tourists) resort town, should be no problem? PARR is sure that the LDF's old friend and ally Federal Judge Barbara Crabb can dig down in her bag of tricks and come up with some ancient land grant that proves that, back in the dark ages, Maxamillian sank the LDF Navy, therefore they are entitled to tap into Mexico's more affluent tourist areas. Yea! Sure--bet it doesn't work, because: The United States of America is the only place where you can sell that kind of malarkey.

Election 2004--U.S. Senate Support for Indian Demands Weakened by Election -
(Taken From the November issue of Reservations Report)      Election 2004 cost Native American Indian tribal organizations at least some of what had been their growing clout in the United States Congress, as shown here: The only true-blue Indian with impeccable credentials in the nation's legislative arm-Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)-is retiring. Campbell has been Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and has, in recent years, welded a strong bond of bipartisan leadership on the Committee, regarding Indian-related legislation, with ranking minority Senator, Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).
     "Senate Democratic Party leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), an all-out, unquestioning backer of unending federal spending on Indian reservation programs, was roundly defeated in his reelection bid by former GOP Rep. John Thune. Thune received 51% of the vote, winning by 4,535 in a contest where 391,093 people voted. Indian gaming expansion proposals in several states sustained a number of defeats.
     "In California, mega-buck promotional campaigns by special interest groups on behalf of Propositions 68 and 70 fell to a popular revolt against further expansion of gambling. Prop. 68 would have ended the State's granting of a gambling monopoly to Indians by allowing race tracks and card clubs to operate video slots. Prop. 70 would have let tribes operate an unlimited number of slots for the next 99 years.
     "In Washington State, Initiative 892 to approve doubling the 18,225 video slots now in play, was smothered by a 60 percent negative vote.
     "In Florida, Amendment 4, which would have let race tracks in Broward and Dade counties introduce video slot machines, seems to have lost by a razor-thin margin.
     "Nebraska turned down Amendment 3, which would have legalized two casinos in the State and authorized the use of video machines. But voters were divided over a gambling expansion in Omaha or authorizing video poker and slot machines in bars and race tracks around the State. Two propositions were defeated and two were approved. "OK Oklahoma bucked the anti-gambling trend by approving a lottery for education funds and signaling a go-ahead for Indian tribal casinos.
     In this year's run for the White House, neither political party proposed any change or reform of what, to many Americans, appear to be out-of-control, federal Indian policies. Those policies continue to drain American taxpayers while tribes increasingly rake in millions of tax exempt dollars from the wild proliferation of lightly policed or virtually unrestricted Indian gambling casinos throughout much of the nation.
     Much to the surprise of politicians on both sides of the political divide, thousands of voters, in states with significant Indian reservation populations, seem to have rebelled against candidates who openly avowed their approval of tax-exempt, environmental regulation-exempt and gambling-unlimited privileges for Indian tribes.
     One of the reasons Senator Kerry lost out even in many so-called "Indian Country" precincts may be due to his having promised tribal leaders, and their non-Indian casino investors, support for the more and more casinos. Notes Barbara Lindsay, spokesperson, strategist and analyst of two activist taxpayer citizen groups, United Property Owners
One Nation, and a member of Reservation Report's editorial advisory team:
     "No other special interest group lost more ground in the November 2 elections than Indian tribes nationwide. Tribes spent millions more than any other ethnic or citizen group entity in America in what became a futile effort to advance their political agenda of gambling expansion and tribal government authority over, or at the expense of, non-Indian citizens. Indian tribes gave millions to Senator John Kerry and other like-minded candidates and incumbents, who promised to 'open White House doors' and appoint Indians to high offices but still lost at the polls. So much for the myth that tribes 'always win'! This election marked a major tipping point in public opinion on tribal issues."
     In summary, some other highlights:
     Tribes in California spent over $40 million trying to pass Prop. 70, to allow nearly unlimited tribal gambling expansion, only to see it go down by a lopsided margin, garnering less than 24% of the vote. The revolt against Indian influence also showed up in local California elections. In the city of Hesperia, a tribal casino's most vocal supporter, City Councilman Dennis Nowicki, was removed from office, and replaced with Mike Leonard, who vigorously opposes a new tribal casino. The same thing happened in Rohnert Park, where Mayor Greg Nordin was voted out over his outspoken support for a new tribal casino. Nordin received only 12.5% of the vote. Previously, a recall election in the city of Plymouth threw out three tribal casino supporters.
     In Oklahoma, Dr. Tom Coburn was elected to the U.S. Senate while Brad Carson, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, received heavy tribal financial backing and less than 41% of the vote. Tribes were reportedly shocked by the outcome.
     In Wisconsin, Jeff Mursaau (R) defeated former Potowatomi tribal chairperson, James W. Crawford (D), running for 36th District seat in the State Legislature. Juan Zapata, in Florida's Dade County, refused to support the Miccosukee Indian leadership's effort to repeal all state civil and criminal law on their lands (so-called retrocession). To the tribe's surprise, Rep. Zapata easily defeated the tribe's candidate. Crawford's campaign was primarily funded by tribal sources and law firms with tribal clients.
     Tribal casino advocate Christine Gregoire, current Attorney General of Washington State (and a big recipient of tribal campaign contributions) seems headed for defeat in the Governor's race, when final post-election scrutinizing and ballot examining is completed. Supporters of property rights who ran against tribal advocates also scored victories. Two examples: Jim Johnson, who was elected to the State Supreme Court and Rob McKenna who was chosen to be Attorney General.
     In Connecticut, U.S. Representatives Rob Simmons and Christopher Shays, two of the most vocal GOP opponents of tribal recognition and the BIA, both won reelection. U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, a prominent Democrat who has repeatedly said "No!" to more tribal casinos in his state, was also easily reelected. Had the Kerry-Edwards ticket been elected, Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussetts were counting on a new Secretary of Interior to reverse previous negative findings on their recognition petition for tribal status. This group has also threatened land claims against property owners, threatening private land encompassing close to one-quarter of the entire State of Connecticut.
     Tribal favored candidate for U.S. Senate Tony Knowles (D), a former Alaska governor who was strongly supported by Native Alaskan PAC funding, lost to incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.
     Even the pivotal state of Ohio was influenced by tribal gambling expansion issues because Oklahoma tribes, such as the Eastern Shawnees, are making land claims there and putting pressure on local communities to allow casinos in exchange for dropping the claims. Citizens in communities such as Botkins, Monroe, and Sidney were energized to vote for Bush because of his Administration's "go slow" approach to casino proposals.
     In Oregon, Marilyn Kittelman (R) was elected to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners, defeating Joyce Akse (D), who was backed by large campaign contributions from the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians. Kittelman won by a margin of more than 13% even though she received less than half the contributions collected by Akse. Tribal support became a central theme of the campaign due to the Douglas County Commissioners' recent appeal of BIA transfers of lands for this tribe from fee-to-trust. The tribe owns the state's first and most profitable tax-exempt casino.
     Eddie Chuculate, a Creek/Cherokee who writes a column for the Albuquerque Tribune lamented: "Color Nov. 2 black. Just about every ballot issue or candidate who could have benefited American Indians was beaten down convincingly…" The column was entitled: "Our gloom: American Indians lost out as Bush won on that dark Tuesday, 11-2-04"

The Power of Big Government
(By Vic Bellomy)      We have all read about and heard of General George Armstrong Custer. Much has been written about this Union General. He has been accused of many things, some true and some not so true. The fact of the matter is, that this man was sent out west to put the Sioux Indians back onto a reservation.
     The Indians would rather die than to be forced onto a reservation and many of them did die. We all know that Custer was an arrogant personality and a glory seeker. Yet, the fact remains that Custer was sent to do what was considered to be a necessary job for the good of this ever-expanding nation.
     But the Sioux Indian tribe would rather die than to be corralled into the confines of a reservation. However, the general -calculated the forces he was to be up against, and for that folly, he paid the last measure of his life and that of his own troops, 264 in all.
     The radical wana-be Indians of the present day will literally kill to get into the luxurious living of the present day Indian Reservation life, controlled by big gambling casinos. Gambling is a vice and vice never bears the fruits of virtue nor does virtue fertilize the fields of reason.
     PARR believes in the people, our sanctity and our ability to overcome all obstacles. We believe in our need of freedom and our need to be assured of that for which so many have given so much. Our founding fathers were hard working people who were committed to eternal opposition to the forces of tyranny. Today the tyranny that our founding fathers feared threatens our American way of life and the constitutional liberties that assures that way of life.
     Mr. Jefferson, feared the tyranny of those who feared and distrusted the people and who wished to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes.
     Mr. Madison feared the tyranny of the majority and the abridgment of the freedoms of the people by the gradual encroachment of those in power.
     Mr. John Addams feared "all" men recognizing that the only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with the power to endanger the public liberty.
     Today those who fear and distrust the people have acquired, by gradual and silent encroachment, the power to endanger the public safety and liberty.
     This is exactly what is happening with the power of big government behind the vice of ambling here in Wisconsin and through out so many of these United States.

Issue Item The Pledge of Allegiance and The Lord's Prayer are not allowed in most public schools anymore because the word "God" is mentioned.... A kid in Arizona wrote the attached NEW School prayer. I liked it.... "Now I sit me down in school, violates the Bill of Rights. And anytime my head I bow becomes a Federal matter now. Our hair can be purple, orange or green, no offense; it's a freedom scene. The law is specific, this great nation under God, finds mention of Him very odd. If Scripture now the class recites, it is precise. Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice. For praying in a public hall might offend someone with no faith at all. In silence alone we must meditate, God's name is prohibited by the state. We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, and pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks. They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible. To quote the Good Book makes me liable. We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen, and the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong, we're taught such "judgments" do not belong. We can get our condoms and birth controls, study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles. However, the Ten Commandments are not allowed. No word of God must reach this crowd. It is scary here I must confess, when chaos reigns the school's a mess. So Lord this silent plea I make: Should I be shot; my soul please take! Amen.

2004 Membership Meeting
The results of the election of PARR officers at the PARR 2004 Membership Meeting, in September: Chairperson: Greg Graunke
Vice Chairman: Larry Parks
Executive Secretary–Treasurer: Bob Manzke
Directors: James Skowlund, Nancy Skowlund, Bob Goldamer, Victor Bellomy, Howard Johnson and Rudy Pederson.

Merry Christmas
From your PARR Staff:
Greg, Larry, Vic and Bob

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