Post by Okwes on May 24, 2007 13:40:58 GMT -5
Traditional Indians Buried by New Casino Indians
A ruling last Friday by the U. S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia rejected arguments by the San Manuel Band
of Mission Indians that they should not be subject to federal labor
laws. Judge Janice Rogers Brown said in the ruling by the three-judge
panel, "Tribal sovereignty is not absolute autonomy permitting a tribe
to operate in a commercial capacity without legal restraint."
The ruling was issued in response to a complaint filed
by the Communications Workers of America with the National Labor
Relations Board. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians had appealed
that ruling favoring the union by the NLRB. Indian gaming is now a $22
billion-a-year industry with casinos in 28 states that employs as many
as 250,000 workers many of them non-Indians. The industry has taken some
of the poorest people in America to the lofty realms of the richest.
There has been a long-time fear by the larger Indian nations calling
themselves "Treaty Tribes" that some of the smaller and newer tribes
would eventually get them entangled in legal battles they were sure to
lose. Sovereignty on reservations like the Pine Ridge and Rosebud in
South Dakota is a given. These tribes have their own law enforcement and
judicial system that operates under the auspices of a legally elected
tribal government. The State of South Dakota has no jurisdiction on
these reservations whereas in many states, including California, the
states operate under Public Law 280 that does give them jurisdiction
over law enforcement and other legal matters on Indian reservations
within their boundaries. And as usual, this mish-mash of conflicting
jurisdictional laws can create widespread confusion. What impact does
this new ruling have on Indian country? First of all it will give unions
the right to deal directly with its members outside of any restrictions
placed upon it by the tribes. Now the unions will come under the
protections of the National Labor Relations Act. There are some tribes
like the Oneida Nation of New York State, the Mashentucket Pequot in
Connecticut, and the Shakopee in Minnesota that have become so extremely
wealthy that they almost feel they are above any man-made laws. Henry
Duro, chairman of the San Manuel Tribe said, "We are disappointed by the
ruling today. We believe that these gaming projects help to fulfill
essential governmental functions by providing education, health care,
housing, senor care and other key programs. Those are basic governmental
obligations that could be impacted by this decision." Does staging
multi-million dollar boxing matches and purchasing professional
basketball teams and hotel restaurant chains fit in there somewhere?
Now let's take a look at the basic reality of tribal gaming. There are
many tribes fortunate enough to be located on or near large metropolitan
areas where their casinos can rake in millions of dollars annually.
There are other tribes that still rank amongst the poorest people in
America by reason of geography or because they have chosen not to get
into this mad race to build a gaming casino. The Navajo Nation is still
struggling with this decision and the Hopi Nation of Arizona has ruled
out the prospects of ever building a casino. It has been my contention
for many years that those Indian nations sitting on top of the extreme
wealth afforded them by their casinos should cease taking funds from the
federal government that could be better utilized on the poorer Indian
reservations. When the Seminole Nation of Florida can spend a billion
dollars to purchase the Hard Rock Café and Hotel enterprises it
makes the people of the very poor tribes wonder why they are still
getting federal funding for a variety of tribal programs. These
wealthy tribes can afford to build beautiful homes, construct new
schools and hospitals, and to totally rebuild the infrastructure on
their tribal lands from the profits realized by their lucrative casinos.
Some of the larger tribes such as Pine Ridge and Rosebud are struggling
to survive. Unemployment on these reservations can be as high as 75
percent and their populations are nearly 10 times that of the smaller
and newer tribes that are raking in millions every month. The wealthy
tribes handout per capita payments to their members that often amounts
to thousands of dollars every month. To me it is a new dimension in
welfare. I believe it is high time for the Department of the Interior
to take a closer look at the financial positions of every Indian nation
in America and to come up with a new set of rules, regulations and laws
that would drastically decrease federal funding to the wealthy,
independent tribes and redistribute those funds to the poorer Indian
nations. Many Native Americans are a little sick and tired of watching
wealthy tribes like the Seminole Nation of Florida flaunt their wealth
while the majority of Indians continue to live in the worst conditions
of poverty ever imaginable. To suggest that the wealthy tribes give up
their federal dollars in favor of the poor tribes is almost sacrilegious
in Indian country, but somebody has to say it. As I have written so many
times in the past, it is an unfortunate set of circumstances in this
country to see the rich tribes become richer while the poor become
poorer. But remember, to be rich in money is much less than to be rich
in culture and traditions. The smaller and newer tribes are now getting
involved in legal disputes that will impact all of the tribes in America
and they are doing so without consulting the larger and more established
and traditional Indian nations. The case just ruled upon with the NLRB
is one example and believe me, there will be many more that will be even
more damaging to the all of the tribes of Indian country. The new casino
Indian is rapidly supplanting the older and more traditional Indian.
Greed is the new Indian God and where it stops, nobody knows.
(McClatchy News Service in Washington, DC distributes Tim Giago's weekly
column. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore.com. Giago was also
the founder and former editor and publisher of the Lakota Times and
Indian Country Today newspapers and the founder and first president of
the Native American Journalists Association. He was a Nieman Fellow at
Harvard in the class of 1990 - 1991. Clear Light Books of Santa Fe, NM
(harmon@clearlightbooks.com) published his latest book, "Children Left
Behind")
A ruling last Friday by the U. S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia rejected arguments by the San Manuel Band
of Mission Indians that they should not be subject to federal labor
laws. Judge Janice Rogers Brown said in the ruling by the three-judge
panel, "Tribal sovereignty is not absolute autonomy permitting a tribe
to operate in a commercial capacity without legal restraint."
The ruling was issued in response to a complaint filed
by the Communications Workers of America with the National Labor
Relations Board. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians had appealed
that ruling favoring the union by the NLRB. Indian gaming is now a $22
billion-a-year industry with casinos in 28 states that employs as many
as 250,000 workers many of them non-Indians. The industry has taken some
of the poorest people in America to the lofty realms of the richest.
There has been a long-time fear by the larger Indian nations calling
themselves "Treaty Tribes" that some of the smaller and newer tribes
would eventually get them entangled in legal battles they were sure to
lose. Sovereignty on reservations like the Pine Ridge and Rosebud in
South Dakota is a given. These tribes have their own law enforcement and
judicial system that operates under the auspices of a legally elected
tribal government. The State of South Dakota has no jurisdiction on
these reservations whereas in many states, including California, the
states operate under Public Law 280 that does give them jurisdiction
over law enforcement and other legal matters on Indian reservations
within their boundaries. And as usual, this mish-mash of conflicting
jurisdictional laws can create widespread confusion. What impact does
this new ruling have on Indian country? First of all it will give unions
the right to deal directly with its members outside of any restrictions
placed upon it by the tribes. Now the unions will come under the
protections of the National Labor Relations Act. There are some tribes
like the Oneida Nation of New York State, the Mashentucket Pequot in
Connecticut, and the Shakopee in Minnesota that have become so extremely
wealthy that they almost feel they are above any man-made laws. Henry
Duro, chairman of the San Manuel Tribe said, "We are disappointed by the
ruling today. We believe that these gaming projects help to fulfill
essential governmental functions by providing education, health care,
housing, senor care and other key programs. Those are basic governmental
obligations that could be impacted by this decision." Does staging
multi-million dollar boxing matches and purchasing professional
basketball teams and hotel restaurant chains fit in there somewhere?
Now let's take a look at the basic reality of tribal gaming. There are
many tribes fortunate enough to be located on or near large metropolitan
areas where their casinos can rake in millions of dollars annually.
There are other tribes that still rank amongst the poorest people in
America by reason of geography or because they have chosen not to get
into this mad race to build a gaming casino. The Navajo Nation is still
struggling with this decision and the Hopi Nation of Arizona has ruled
out the prospects of ever building a casino. It has been my contention
for many years that those Indian nations sitting on top of the extreme
wealth afforded them by their casinos should cease taking funds from the
federal government that could be better utilized on the poorer Indian
reservations. When the Seminole Nation of Florida can spend a billion
dollars to purchase the Hard Rock Café and Hotel enterprises it
makes the people of the very poor tribes wonder why they are still
getting federal funding for a variety of tribal programs. These
wealthy tribes can afford to build beautiful homes, construct new
schools and hospitals, and to totally rebuild the infrastructure on
their tribal lands from the profits realized by their lucrative casinos.
Some of the larger tribes such as Pine Ridge and Rosebud are struggling
to survive. Unemployment on these reservations can be as high as 75
percent and their populations are nearly 10 times that of the smaller
and newer tribes that are raking in millions every month. The wealthy
tribes handout per capita payments to their members that often amounts
to thousands of dollars every month. To me it is a new dimension in
welfare. I believe it is high time for the Department of the Interior
to take a closer look at the financial positions of every Indian nation
in America and to come up with a new set of rules, regulations and laws
that would drastically decrease federal funding to the wealthy,
independent tribes and redistribute those funds to the poorer Indian
nations. Many Native Americans are a little sick and tired of watching
wealthy tribes like the Seminole Nation of Florida flaunt their wealth
while the majority of Indians continue to live in the worst conditions
of poverty ever imaginable. To suggest that the wealthy tribes give up
their federal dollars in favor of the poor tribes is almost sacrilegious
in Indian country, but somebody has to say it. As I have written so many
times in the past, it is an unfortunate set of circumstances in this
country to see the rich tribes become richer while the poor become
poorer. But remember, to be rich in money is much less than to be rich
in culture and traditions. The smaller and newer tribes are now getting
involved in legal disputes that will impact all of the tribes in America
and they are doing so without consulting the larger and more established
and traditional Indian nations. The case just ruled upon with the NLRB
is one example and believe me, there will be many more that will be even
more damaging to the all of the tribes of Indian country. The new casino
Indian is rapidly supplanting the older and more traditional Indian.
Greed is the new Indian God and where it stops, nobody knows.
(McClatchy News Service in Washington, DC distributes Tim Giago's weekly
column. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore.com. Giago was also
the founder and former editor and publisher of the Lakota Times and
Indian Country Today newspapers and the founder and first president of
the Native American Journalists Association. He was a Nieman Fellow at
Harvard in the class of 1990 - 1991. Clear Light Books of Santa Fe, NM
(harmon@clearlightbooks.com) published his latest book, "Children Left
Behind")