RESERVATION REPORT
Published by New Century Communications, at
Also pleading their
innocence, to the sublime satisfaction of too many “feel good’ primitive
romantics who hasten to forgive and forget any ethical infraction by “noble”
and “sovereign” Native American Indians, are the tribal leaders who were more
than willing to hand out some $80-million, at the expense of tribal members, to
Abramoff and his colleague Michael Scanlon, a former close aide of Rep. Tom
DeLay (R-TX).
As for two of the more
vocal “reform” protagonists, Feingold and McCain, it was a loophole of silence
regarding Indian tribes, as big as the proverbial barn door, in their now
somewhat discredited campaign finance reform legislation in 2002, that
virtually guaranteed the extravagant abuse of Indian gaming money for hiring
less than scrupulous lobbyists to persuade (sic!) and maybe “purchase” certain
elected officeholders to do the Indian leaders’ or Abramoff’s bidding.
To overcome the embarrassment of the ‘loophole of silence’ the Federal Election
Commission later ruled that tribal governments would be regarded as
“individuals” in making political campaign contributions – what amounted to a
gloriously neat exemption from strict spending limits – a privilege denied all
other organizational entities in the U.S. body politic. Both
While it is possible the Department of
Justice will find insufficient evidence for returning indictments against many
Members of Congress or key staff persons, the plea agreements reached with
Abramoff, et.al., are likely to spoil
some political careers in 2006 elections.
See Special Feature - TRIBALISM & CULTURE – Pages 4 through 6
INDIAN
PAYOFFS, LOBBYISTS & “POLITICAL CORRECTNESS” – California
Attorney Jim Marino jmarinolaw@hotmail.com, a specialist
in addressing issues related to Indians in his state, attended the recent
Arizona State University Indian Law conference. As we reported in the December
issue of Reservation Report, that was where the
possible elimination of the Indian land trust relationship with Uncle Sam was
discussed. Marino was an observer together with attorney
Also discussed by scholars and lawyers attending the affair was the
common law ‘sovereign immunity doctrine,’ which, might very well fall in the
absence of a trust relationship under current laws. Marino contributed
editorial commentary to a number of newspapers at the time, calling attention
to the conduct of those tribal officials who are now fully engaged in the
"blame game" since their activities, involving Washington (D.C.)
lobbyists and Members of the U.S. Congress, have been exposed by the widening
Abramoff scandal.
Entitled “Indian
Gambling Corruption and Bribery is a Two-Way Street,” Marino’s
remarks suggested: “It is good that there has been a great deal of publicity
lately about the corruption and bribery involved in Indian casino
gambling. It results from a very poorly drafted Indian Gaming and
Regulatory Act which provided no effective means of enforcement at the federal
level and at the state level, the state's were only looking at ways to cash-in
along with the Indian ‘tribes’ and their outside non-Indian gambling interests
or so called ‘investors’."
Tribal-state compacts were drafted with money-making
in mind or, in the case of
Marino says this "retroactive atonement" philosophy has
painted the current day "Indians" (who are often no more than
fractional descendants of true Indians) as victims who should somehow be able
to get away with evading all laws and taxes under the antiquated court- created
doctrine of tribal sovereign immunity. That is why there is little in the press
about the "Indians" or tribal governments that sought to bribe and
improperly influence politicians and bureaucrats using intermediaries like
Abramoff, Scanlon and other lobbyists" who were hired to make political
"donations" on behalf of these tribes – what some describe as
“bribery by proxy.”.
So
the question is, amongst all of the investigations and possible indictments,
why aren't these ersatz Indians
being investigated and indicted? Bribery is a
two way street. There are the providers and takers - and those middlemen,
such as Abramoff, who carry out the dirty work.
So far these tribal governments have been painted as "victims" of their own corrupt motives and are somehow now, not only astonished at the size of the cut being taken from the bribe money by the likes of these influence peddling "lobbyists" or so called "public relation" firms, but are also offended by the lack of respect being shown to them by their accomplices after they passed out millions of dollars as instructed by these Washington middle men.
At the risk of being labeled
politically incorrect, many in the mainstream news media are, or should be, in
line to expose some of the culpability of Indian tribes and tribal government
leaders who so willingly handed over vast sums in hopes of winning favors from
the lobbyists and lawmakers now caught up in this latest scandal.
QUESTIONING
AN 11-CENT MEAL TICKET FOR POOR & HUNGRY INDIANS – As national attention is
at least partially focused on what Washington lobbyists and some of the
personnel (elected and staff) of the Congress of the United States did (see
Page 2) with an estimated $80-million dollars from Native American Indian
leaders over the past five years, Reservation
Report’s editor got a piece of mail containing a freshly minted
penny and dime.
Lovena B. Lee, signing the “pitch” letter
for a donation in her capacity as Chairperson of
The Council
of Indian Nations (CIN), said the organization is a
“member of national relief charities” (a coalition lacking full transparency
according to Reservation Report sources) and seeks contributions from generous
Americans who, presumably, don’t wish to ignore “thousands…across the country”
(Indians) who are “victims” in a “crisis of hunger.”
It seems that the two coin, eleven-cents enclosure is intended to highlight
(Without wishing to make fun of Ms. Lee’s sincerity, or the claimed plight of reservation residents she feeds, one is inclined to suggest that CIN may have discovered the solution to all the world’s hunger problems if they can satisfy a human’s appetite for 11 cents a meal.)
In eight or nine additional
paragraphs in her letter,
And for the charitably inclined (and to
show we’re not entirely hard-hearted), CIN’s address for contributions is
But we do have one pressing question after reading a report from two Harvard economists – Joseph Kalt and Jonathan Taylor who find that per capita income in gaming tribes grew 15% more than in non-gaming tribes between 1990 and 2000 for a total gain of 36% vs. 21%, and enjoyed a significant decline in unemployment:
When Kalt and Taylor can
say, unequivocally, “with gaming tribes, we see…where for the first time,
tribes have money that they generate themselves…” and with leadership of the National
Congress of American Indians enjoying the luxury of $19-
to $20-billion a year in casino gambling revenues and many federal and state
tax exemptions, plus big, annual, Congressional appropriations for health,
education and all sorts of welfare programs: Would
Mrs. Lee, the Counsel of Indian Nations or NCAI please explain why any
Indian on any reservation, belonging to any tribe in the U.S.A.
with any type of casino gambling license, is so wracked by poverty and
hunger any longer that he or she or their children and grandparents has
to depend on a charity campaign for an eleven cent meal in 2006?
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FOR PREVIOUS ISSUES
TRIBALISM & CULTURE
Editor’s
Note: Anyone concerned with or doing research on, or writing about, U.S. Indian
issues…or any ethnic minority matters and their history in America or elsewhere,
should consider studying in full the two documents below referenced and briefly
summarized, beginning on this page through Page 6.
Behind the Cultural Closed Door
On
As a Chippewa Tribe member in Bemidji, Minnesota, on the Red Lake Band’s reservation, and an Indian whose widely read weekly newspaper also serves readers on the White Earth, Mille Lacs and other reservations in the northern part of the state, he knew the conditions of alcoholism, drug and gambling addiction, serious cases of mental depression, extensive unemployment and poverty among many tribal members and what he was likely to find elsewhere.
His tours have been to the
Just consider the visual impressions of what he first describes:
“multiple, small, rectangular houses, sometimes clustered together in memory of
a neighborhood, but some other times these same small houses sit at the outer
limits of the gathering as if they wanted more privacy….”
(Continued
on Page 5)
The Noble Savage: Romantic Primitivism vs. Civilization
“I am as free as nature first made man, Ere
the base laws of servitude began, When wild in woods the noble savage
ran.”
“The Conquest of
That quotation may be the first publicized use made of the term “noble
savage.”
For 17th Century English poet, critic and playwright
But for most Europeans who had pioneered to Earth’s limits in the
Age of Discovery, followed by exploration and colonization in such exotic
territories as sub-Sahara Africa, more isolated Oceania, parts of South Asia
and the exotic Pacific islands since the very early part of the 15th
Century, the “nobility” encountered by adventurers such as Captain James Cook
was often, as critic Roger Sandall notes, a savagery to be “fought, not
emulated.”
(Continued on Page 6)
BEHIND THE CULTURAL CLOSED DOOR – (Continued from Page 4) – “The yards, both front and back, and the commonly shared areas are laden with refuse – appliances, crippled sofas and kitchen chairs, garbage bags overflowing with cartons and wraps, plastic grocery bags wave in the wind, soda bottles lay like fallen soldiers. The rest of the litter is pretty much unidentifiable as to the specifics, but it is still clearly garbage. There are numerous vehicles parked or lying about – some clearly dead, some dying, some new and many in between.
“There’s the occasional dog and often you can see a
horse. These animals are mostly lonely looking creatures with beaten down
expressions. There is little activity in the small community. Few people are
afoot; doors and windows remain shut, even in hot
weather. The streets and yards are usually empty.
“The only buildings I see that seem well cared for and in good repair
are the law enforcement, health services, governmental buildings and, maybe, a
school.
“A
cemetery, well decorated with wreaths and flowers, is the most cheerful looking
place in the area. In the immediate vicinity of this community there are
numerous abandoned cars, homes and trailer houses. They stand in mute testimony
to harsh use with their broken windows, doors agape and listing to one side.
“Teepee frames stand like long lost, vacant thoughts of another time.
“…There wasn’t a garden anywhere. There were no fenced yards for kids
and dogs. If there was playground equipment it was dilapidated….
“There were no businesses like shops, restaurants or industry. The
community was set in a remote, geographically isolated area, devoid of natural
resources that could be used to the advantage of the inhabitants….Why have the
inhabitants of these communities fallen so low as to accept this as a way of
life?
“…One idea that keeps coming back to me is
the suspicion that the question of land ownership is one of the contributing
factors to the conditions I saw in so many places. Holding all lands as
tribally owned rather than individual ownership doesn’t generate any sense of
ownership….This situation inhibits personal initiative, economic development
and property appreciation….”
In such
abject surroundings, tribal members on such reservations “are weak in spirit
because of the unrelenting presence of extreme poverty. Violence, crime, gang
activity and drug and alcohol abuse further destroys spirit and community. The
money rolls into the tribal headquarters but you receive almost no benefit. Tribal
officials manipulate the system to use the money for the benefit of themselves,
their families and their friends. The needs of the people are ignored or
addressed superficially….Education is a failure for many, many reasons.”
Scores of paragraphs follow, with
******************************
In
an early December follow-up discussion with Reservation
Report,
PAGE 6 – RESERVATION REPORT
THE NOBLE
SAVAGE: ROMANTIC PRIMITIVISM VS. CIVILIZATION – (Continued from Page 4) – In his widely
proclaimed 2001 study, The Culture Cult:
Designer Tribalism and Other Essays,
Difficulties, for both savage and civilized, begin in the “War and
Pacification” phase of European settlement in newly discovered lands in the
Americas (North, Central and South), Australia and New Zealand where native
populations, some - Incas, Mayans, Aztecs - quite advanced and sophisticated,
and some - Maoris, Aborigines and some, but not all, Indian tribal societies in
North America - relatively primitive, which were suddenly confronted by an
overseas enemy armed with powerful weapons and, unintentionally, strange lethal
diseases, for which natives have no immune defense.
Sandall suggests that coupled with a growing anti-slavery movement in Europe, the religious and social sensitivities of white men and women to sympathize over the plight of “primitives” suddenly viewed as underdogs, marks the beginning, especially in the English-speaking world of a movement for the relief and protection of the indigenous wherever they are encountered.
But Sandall’s research traces back to
“After
However, after reading one of
PAGE 7 – RESERVATION REPORT
MICHIGAN CONGRESSMAN URGES
PROMPT INDIAN GAMING REFORMS – Aside
from the highly respected advocacy of Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) for
desperately needed reforms of both the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and
the virtually unrestrained federal licensing of Indian casinos across America,
the most promising reform proposal has been submitted by a 42-year-old Lansing,
MI, House Member named Michael J. Rogers.
With a background as a Special Agent of the F.B.I. investigating public
corruption, but almost no political credentials, Rogers managed to win election
in 2000 and reelection twice since in the State’s 8th District. He
serves on several subcommittees of the Energy and Commerce Committee,
especially in regard to intelligence, hazardous materials and consumer
protection issues. As far as is known at this time, the lawmaker has no
connection to Indian tribes or reservation gambling casinos…or…Indian campaign
contributions and/or Abramoff lobbyist and corruption allegations.
In
what he calls the “Common Sense Indian Gambling Reform Act” which, in less
extensive or urgent form, he first submitted for House consideration last May
12th, he seeks a comprehensive rewriting of laws governing Indian
gambling. But in the light of the rash of new developments and the exposure of
vast corruption allegations and indictments,
Among the reforms his
“With 223 Indian tribes operating 411 casinos in 28 states and bringing
in more than $18-billion in revenue annually, there is just too much money involved
and no way to fully account for it. Closing loopholes is crucial if we are
going to end the exploitation.”
Some observers assumed that
PAGE 8 – RESERVATION REPORT
A TEENAGER
NAMED CAROLINE MAY WORRY ABOUT MAINE’S LNG PLANS – This 14 year
old granddaughter of Reservation Report’s Editor hasn’t been to Maine since she
was a very little girl when all of the family – siblings, cousins, aunts,
uncles, parents and one set of grandparents - spent a couple of summer
vacations on one of the delightfully private and rustic islands in that state.
But Caroline, who has lived her whole, still brief, life in Virginia,
already has a teenager’s enthusiasm for becoming a marine biologist some day,
ever since she played with and learned much about whales and dolphins in a
special bit of instruction in Florida a year or so ago, after having gone
whale-watching off Cape Cod in 2002.
What would most certainly disturb her would be to learn that a good many people, who live near Passamaquoddy Bay in the vicinity of Calais (ME) and New Brunswick, Canada in America’s largest northeastern state, share a fear that if a terminal is built in one of three sites (Split Rock, Robbinston or Red Beach), the great, lumbering tankers that carry liquid natural gas, may disturb and perhaps endanger, whales that feed and frolic off Maine’s North Atlantic coast. Of course big ships with many types of cargoes, some hazardous, now enter the Bay regularly.
Whale admirers aren’t the
only people who have environmental and pollution worries. Maine’s traditional
lobstermen have all sorts of qualms as they contemplate what would happen to
their centuries’ old occupation of harvesting the tasty shellfish that delight
the nation’s gourmets and thousands, at home and abroad, who are not. The
gargantuan vessels could contaminate the waters with even slight spillage or
severely interfere with lobster pot retrieval.
Terminals,
storage tanks, industrial facilities for converting the liquid back into purely
gaseous form and the establishment of equipment for accessing an existing
regional pipeline and perhaps building new pipelines for regional distribution
of the fuel, could create a difficult environment for the residents of close-by
towns and an island in the Bay between the Maine towns of Lubec
and Calais. This might discourage summer tourism and small
businesses in an area that counts on every penny of income earned from
visitors.
On
Deer Island (ME), and across the Bay in
TO
RECIPIENT EDITORS, COLUMNISTS & TALK SHOW HOSTS: Reservation Report is a monthly news alert service
regarding U.S. federal Indian policies and reservation matters affecting the
lives and welfare of Indian and non-Indian residents and businesses, situated
on or near reservations. The RESERVATION REPORT Executive Editor is