- EDITORIAL 8/6/99
- Remember, a beautiful life is merely prayer in motion, and a world without prayer has no center to it. God bless us all.
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TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY
- As I go through my travels around this country and around the world, I'm still surprised at how many people still don't grasp the issues facing indigenous peoples here in America, with regard to sovereignty. While this is something that should be taught more clearly in the school system, it seems that it is written about enough that adults should at least have a working knowledge of how this works.
- Remember in the Pledge of Allegiance where it says 'One nation, under God, indivisible.....etc"? This phrase was nullified when Congress embraced the Constitution's Article 1, section 8, which grants indigenous nations tribal sovereignty. In other words, each reservation or federally recognized tribal land is a separate nation, within the walls of the United States of America. Not states, Nations. Fully capable of legally operating their own governments, militaries, commerce, etc. They are answerable to no one but themselves. The caveat is that all tribes or nations receive federal assistance for various programs, they do have culpability if they are to continue to receive such monies. Some nations have begun issuing their own passports for international travel, and still others are issuing their own license plates for those living on the reserve. Most of the nations have their own tribal police forces, and only Federal felony cases can be prosecuted off the reservation, for crimes committed on the reservation. Even this issue is finally approaching a moment in the concerns of Congress.
- With the current upsurge in gaming, indigenous nations are building casinos faster than non-Indians can drive, fly, or walk to them. This creates a cash flow for the nation. That revenue quickly gains the attentions of various state governments. Who in turn attempted to pass laws stating that tribes cannot build casinos without signing agreements with state governments. In other words, the state wanted a portion of the money generated by the casino, and to have the ability to regulate said casinos.. Kinda like America wanting to regulate Germany for having a casino for non-Americans, if the casino had slot machines printed in English.
- Fortunately, the United States House of Representatives saw through this mess, so they passed legislation preventing states from forcing tribes to work out agreements with them prior to building casinos. Then the states wanted to tax the revenues generated by the casinos.
- Dale Kildee, D-MI,and J.D. Hayworth, R-AZ, sponsored a bill that would prevent this from happening. Hayworth pointed out that if the government taxes tribal revenues from gaming, then they also have to tax their own state lotteries. Their bill passed 217-205. Close, and close enough. Now some state governments take the approach that gaming devices may not cross their state lines, in order to prevent tribes from being able to receive shipments of gaming materials. Could that mean if Nebraska passed such a law, that trucks carrying gaming devices couldn't drive through Nebraska on their way to South Dakota? Conceivably, yes. No wonder America's newest white wine is "Why can't we have casinos?
- Now what should the tribes do with the funds gathered from the casinos? First, it's important to understand that while the casinos definitely take in money, a great percentage of that money goes to management teams that administer the casino's day to day operations. Few tribes manage their own properties. That is slowly changing. For now, those shared profits are staggeringly huge, with the tribe usually being on the lesser side of the partnership. The costs of maintenance, advertising, expansion, etc are also quite large. But what should be done with the 'net, net'?
- It is my suggestion that these monies be used to invest in other business ventures, assuring the tribes of diversified income and a strong future for the times when gambling/gaming loses some of it's flash. Bet on it, the money will continue to roll in, but at a slower, lower pace in years to come. As an example, the Choctaw/Mississippi Band has invested some of it's profits from gaming into an auto parts manufacturing factory in Mexico. The mean income per tribal member jumped from less than 2000.00 per year, to 24,500.00 per year in the past few years. The Navaho Nation has invested in cellular phone technology, as have the Ottowa and Chippewa Nations. The Onieda people have invested in gaming, and it's paid off in a screen printing business, a marina, hotel, 6 convenience stores, and a world renowned newspaper, "Indian Country Today".
- In other words, these nations recognize that the gaming issue will always be there, and have created hedges against lean economic times, and against a radical Congress and Senate that may one day attempt to take away all forms of indigenous support. In fact, last year the Onieda's turned AWAY a 2.6 million dollar assistance program, telling the Fed to give the money to more needy nations. The Mohegans did the same thing. Education is the answer to most of the problems facing the various tribes, but economic diversity and tribal sovereignty are ultimately tied together. Within the next few generations, tribes will need to become self sufficient in order to maintain their national status. In order to obtain, maintain, and improve upon these resources, tribes will need educated children, strong lobbies in Washington, and a united front. Currently it is the modus operandi of the United States government to keep tribes at verbal and economic war with each other. Native people can unite without losing tribal and cultural identity. This unification will send an even stronger message to the United States government that the various nations of Native America are still here, and quickly utilizing the powers granted in various treaties, and taking advantage of the powers granted in the Constitution of the United States of America.
