Post by blackcrowheart on May 22, 2007 9:58:36 GMT -5
Tim Giago: Greed is the new God in Indian Country
Monday, February 12, 2007
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 Mashantucket 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 Cafe 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 P.O. Box 9244, Rapid City, SD 57709 or 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."
Monday, February 12, 2007
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 Mashantucket 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 Cafe 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 P.O. Box 9244, Rapid City, SD 57709 or 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."