“There’s a misperception today that we’re all about gaming, that we are all very wealthy from gaming,” said Tracy Stanhoff, former chair of the Prairie Band Potawatomi. “It’s an extremely dangerous misperception. It’s a threat to our status as sovereign nations and our treaty agreements.”
“Our people are beginning to be identified as ‘casino Indians’ and not as the people of the land or of the salmon,” said Nisqually elder Billy Frank Jr. “Casinos help economically but they are not who we are. We are our languages, we are our culture, we are our natural resources, we are our spirituality and we are our prayers.”
8 comments:
Writerfella here --
writerfella thinks that the tribal complainers do protest too much! But, at least those tribal leaders can see that yes, they are jumping on the gaming bandwagon with all of their heads and feet and hands and energies, but no, it isn't all of what they are. BUT NONE OF THEM SEEMINGLY WAS EXPRESSING ANYTHING OTHER THAN ALL OF THE ABOVE about who they are, otherwise. There's an old question: have you stopped beating your dog? You say, yes, and you're a dogbeater. You say, no, and suddenly you're Michael Vick!
writerfella knows of maybe one tribe that is disspelling such a misconception with action, and that is the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma. Their casino and tribal tax income is being used in part to build roads for tribal and general public use, to repair bridges for tribal and general public use, to fund rural fire departments for tribal and general public protection, to rebuild water systems for tribal and general public benefit, and so on. Wes Studi even voices the TV commercials that present such matters for public information, knowledge, and consumption. The next largest Oklahoma casino tribe, the Chickasaw, merely funds TV commercials that tell how great are the Chickasaws and how well-accomplished they are (such as John Herrington), and how great was their history, not realizing that their visible spokespeople are by sheer appearance whiter than the white man. And where are other casino tribes, the Kiowa, or Comanche, or the Cheyenne-Arapaho, or the Shawnee, or the Kickapoo, or the Choctaw, et cetera, in such a milieu? Where indeed are the Oneida or Seminole or Chippewa or Mesquaki or Pequot tribes, nationally? Silent...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Re "writerfella knows of maybe one tribe that is dispelling such a
misconception with action, and that is the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma": Every gaming tribe is using their casino revenues to build roads, fire departments, health clinics, etc. That's because the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act mandates it. Many of these developments serve the public as well as the tribes.
Only a minority of gaming tribes give their members per capita payments, I believe. And that's only after they've spent money on the tribe's social and cultural needs. The Department of Interior approves all per capita distribution plans, so there's little opportunity for chicanery. (Don't bother telling us about the exceptions to the rule, because they only prove the rule.)
Writerfella here --
Wouldn't happen, because writerfella has observed that the rules do function, except also that rules move like glaciers -- slowly, ponderously, infinitesimally, while grinding exceedingly fine. Mountains of excess occur while enforcers of the rules act like the great slow kings of Egyptian lore. Swiss bank accounts, offshore laundering, and simple skimming
result from millions and billions of 'casino profits' in full view of the authorities and remain irrecoverable because it takes so long for authorities to act and/or react, therefore. Two examples can be cited here: the Kiowa Tribal Chairman was discovered to have a Swiss bank account at the same time for which some $3 millions in Kiowa bingo funds could not be accounted. NOTHING happened, and that person some ten years later is the current Kiowa Tribal Chairman. writerfella's cousin Milton Paddlety was the booking officer for the Grady County Jail, and he processed an arrestee in October 2007 who just happened to be the Tribal Treasurer of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. Among the man's personal properties were banded and countersigned stacks of money bills that had to have been taken from the tribal casino vault, totalling some $1400. Also, there was one empty band for $10,000 that similarly was countersigned. The man and a carload of Apache friends had been intercepted as DUI arrestees returning from an Oklahoma University football weekend in Norman, OK. That man currently still is the Apache tribal treasurer, though the FBI is investigating him. To this date, he is under no charges, is free to come and go, and has hired lawyers to try to get his DUI arrest thrown out of court. Luckily, writerfella's cousin made personal copies of the processing paperwork AND the banded monies in question, just in case nothing comes of the matter, as too often has been the case here in Oklahoma. Stay tuned, all you believers that exceptions prove the rules...
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Russ Bates
'writerfella'
What wouldn't happen? The things I mentioned are happening now. They aren't hypothetical.
I guess your unclear and overwritten comment refers to enforcement of the law. That is, enforcement wouldn't happen if tribes violated the gaming rules and regulations. Is that what you meant?
So you gave us two exceptions to the rule. In one case, the FBI is still investigating the crime, which means the suspect hasn't gotten away with anything (yet). That adds up to exactly one gaming-related crime. And all we have is your word for it, since you can't or won't document it.
Meanwhile, what's happening at the other 220-plus tribes that operate casinos? Nothing much in the way of crime, that's what. As I said, the exceptions only prove the rule. Thanks for proving my point.
But I agree with the critics who say the regulations should be stronger. Tribes should have zero tolerance for corruption of any kind. Instead, they oppose tougher regulations, which only makes them look shady. From a PR perspective, giving ammunition to your foes is a big mistake.
Writerfella here --
writerfella never has been in law enforcement and also is not in the habit of doing other people's work for them. In any case, Rob, writerfella's words cited specificities and all you presented were the usual glittering generalities. As well, writerfella as a writer fella well is aware of libel, investigational interference, and obstruction of justice laws. YOU go play Caucasian roulette, if you so wish...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
When you claim something, it's your job to prove it. Unless you want us to laugh at you as a spinner of fanciful tales. If you don't mind my mocking your inability to substantiate your positions, I don't mind either.
Yeah, you gave one whole example of a gaming-related crime the feds haven't caught. And I told you that that's an exception. Other crimes haven't happened because Indian gaming is regulated.
What do you expect: statistics on crimes that haven't happened? To know the state of the industry, you'd have to follow it as I do. Since you're too lazy to do the work, you can take my word for it.
Writerfella here --
And just who would be "us?" Do you have mice or moles (or both!) in your pockets, Rob? Hmm, and maybe an answer to that would be TOO MUCH information!
In any case, writerfella knows he made no "claims" but instead stated allegations which, if you know anything about the law, are charges that may be placed without proofs attached. In fact, the word "claims" appears nowhere in his posting but does appear in yours. Thus, we know your usage merely results from perception which, since you closely are involved with the system you so defend, is far from unbiased or untainted by personal motivations...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Are you as ignorant of the meaning of "claim" as you are about the facts of Indian gaming? You wrote, "Swiss bank accounts, offshore laundering, and simple skimming result from millions and billions of 'casino profits' in full view of the authorities and remain irrecoverable because it takes so long for authorities to act and/or react, therefore." That's a claim about what's happening in gaming tribes in general. It's a claim because it fits the definition of "claim," whether you used the word "claim" or not.
Your ignorant claim is based on exactly one example of an alleged crime having been successfully committed. In other words, your claim about "Swiss bank accounts, offshore laundering, and simple skimming" is mostly an invention. It doesn't exist except in your fevered imagination.
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