Native American Press / Ojibwe News (Bemidji, Minnesota), 2003-09-05

              INDEX
NEWS AROUND INDIAN COUNTRY 2
NEWS BRIEFS 3
COMMENTARY/EDITORIALS 4
CLASSIFIEDS 7
Santee residents
embrace Catawbas1
plan to open bingo
hall
page 4
Population boom leaves
officials scrambling for
housing programs
page 4
Judge puts Hampton City, tribe reopen talks
Bays casino plans on for casino
hold
page 4
page 4
Past stories
page 4
Cancer rates in Native Americans trends downward:
already low rates get lower
VOICE      OF      THE      PEOPLE
By Jean Pagano
A new report from the National Cancer Institute indicates
that the incidence of cancer
among Native Americans is
trending downwards. Native
peoples have the lowest overall
incidence rate of all Americans
and also the lowest mortality
rates among all racial groups.
The National Cancer Institute,
part of the National Institute of
Health, today released statistics concerning overall cancer
figures and mortality rates for
all Americans, covering 26 different types of cancers, ranging
from lung cancer to oral-cavity
cancers. The statistics covered
mortality rates from 1996
through the year 2000 and reflected general trends from 1992
to 2000. Information is broken
down by male and female and
also by racial categories.
Overall, the incidence of
cancer in Natives between
1996 and 2000 was 239.6 per
100,000 people, the lowest of
any racial group. Racial groups
were broken down into white,
black, Asian/Pacific Islander,
American Indian/Alaskan Na
tive, and Hispanic. In comparison, African-Americans had a
cancer incidence rate of 521.7
per 100,000, the highest of all
group.
Native women were less likely than their male counterparts
to be stricken with cancer, with
women having an incidence of
220.2/100,000 as compared to
men with 259.0/100,000.
The statistics among Natives
for the incidence of cancer during the time period of 1992
to 2000 was -3.1 %, the most
dramatic decrease of all racial
categories. White non-Hispan-
ics, Asian/Pacific Islanders,
and Hispanics had the small
decrease at 0.5%. The trend
among males, overall, showed
a more drastic decrease than
among their female counterparts. The trend for Native
men was a -A.%% compared
to a -1.3% rate among Native
women.
While the incidence of cancer is dramatically less among
Native peoples, the mortality
rate does not demonstrate such
great optimistic results. Native
mortality rates were reported
at 138.0 per 100,000, while
African-Americans had a higher
mortality rate at 257.1/100,000,
both Asian/Pacific Islanders and
Hispanics had a smaller death
rate. Notwithstanding a low
mortality rate for Natives, the
bad news is that a greater percentage of Natives that contract
cancer will die than any of the
other racial groups. Mortality
trends for Natives show a decrease of 0.2%, the smallest decrease of any group, contrasted
with a mortality trend of-1.5%
among Asian//Pacific Islanders.
More Native men than
women will die from cancer and
the mortality trend for Native
women is 4 times less than that
of Native men. For the reporting
period of 1992-2000, the trend
for Native men for mortality
lessened by 0.1 % while that of
women was down by 0.4%.
Native women are least
likely of all American women
to contract breast cancer, with
an incidence rate of 58/100,000,
almost three times less than
the high of 140.8 among white
CANCER to page 4
Doyle agrees to another tribal gambling deal
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _
Gov. Jim Doyle and the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians have agreed on
a new gambling compact that
will pay the state $3.65 million
over the next two years in exchange for expanded games at
the tribe's casino, state officials
said Wednesday.
The compact is the 10th
Doyle has reached with the 11
Wisconsin tribes that run casinos in the state. A deal with the
Lac Du Flambeau is still pending.
Like the other nine compacts,
the Stockbridge-Munsee deal
has no expiration date. The
tribes' old compacts expired
every five years.
But Republicans who control
the state Legislature filed a
lawsuit with the state Supreme
Court in April challenging the
governor's authority to negotiate compacts. The justices are
still mulling whether to take
it up or send it through lower
courts.
Gordon Baldwin, the Republicans' attorney, said if the
Republicans win the case, it
could set a precedent that could
wipe out all compacts Doyle, a
Democrat, has brokered.
The Stockbridge-Munsee's
compact would allow the tribe
to expand gaming at their casino
near Bowler in northwestern
Wisconsin. The tribe would be
allowed to add games such as
craps, roulette and poker, similar to the other tribes' deals.
In exchange, the tribe would
make payments to the state of
$3 million in 2004 and $650,000
in 2005. The tribe would pay
a percentage of its winnings in
subsequent years.
The deal is still subject to federal review.
Doyle figured $206 million in
new tribal gaming revenue into
the state budget he signed in
July to help balance Wisconsin's
$3.2 billion deficit.
Republicans were outraged
after he announced a compact
with the Forest County Potawa-
tomi that allowed the tribe to offer new games such as craps and
roulette and removed restrictions on its casinos. In return,
the tribe expects to pay the state
an estimated $340 million over
the next decade.
The Republicans' lawsuit
claims the Potawatomi compact
violates a 1993 amendment to
the state constitution restricting
gambling expansions.
Department of Administration Secretary Marc Marotta
said the ten compacts Doyle
has reached will bring the state
about $200 million to $202
million. The Lac Du Flambeau
deal should take the state to
$206 million, he said.
A Republican legal victory
would blow a multimillion
dollar hole in the state budget,
Marotta said.
"I'm just not sure where
they're coming from as motivation to bring a a lawsuit," he
said. "We're just about there."
Stockbridge-Munsee tribal
president Bob Chicks said the
new compact will help the tribe
make long-range financial commitments. The tribe wants to
build an assisted living center
for the elderly and a water tower on its reservation, he said.
"To be able to look down
the future ... is just very great,"
Chicks said. "It means more
fiscal stability, a chance for the
tribe to grow economically.
National group discusses gambling issues at
Newport conference
By Michael Mello
Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For
Rhode Island and many other
states, there's no turning back
from legalized gambling.
In states that have so far resisted gambling's lure, worsening
budget woes only increase the
debate.
Legislators, regulators and
gaming interests from around
the country will meet in Newport this weekend to discuss the
myriad issues surrounding legalized gambling. They include
tribal-state relations, the growth
of video-lottery terminals, casino
legislation and federal efforts to
minimize the spread of Internet
gambling.
"The state of gambling three
years ago and today are just not
that close," said Florida state
Sen. Steve Geller, president of
the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. "Budget crises have dramatically
altered what in many cases have
been long-standing relationships" between gambling interests and states.
Rhode Island could serve as
a case study for the eight-year-
old council, which has members
from 12 states.
In 1992, gambling money
made up just 1.4 percent of
Rhode Island's general budget
and was the 13th largest source
of revenue. This fiscal year, the
budget counts on $302 million
in gaming revenues - nearly 11
percent of general revenues.
The state this year responded
to declining tax collections by
increasing its share of the profits
from its two video-lottery-terminal operators. Lawmakers,
meanwhile, wrestled with legislation that would ask voters
whether they want to allow a
casino in Rhode Island.
Gambling revenues have
helped Rhode Island avert deep
cuts in government services,
though some worry the state may
be too reliant on gambling.
"Gambling is the third largest revenue source and can be
significantly affected by actions
in other states," said Gary Sasse,
executive director of the Rhode
Island Public Expenditure Council. "But it's difficult to conceive
of a state budget in the future
without gambling revenues."
Rhode Island state Sen. Stephen Alves, chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, expects the next General Assembly
to approve a measure that would
ask voters whether they want
a casino in the state. The bill,
a version of which passed the
House this year, would also set
up a state gaming board.
Alves, a West Warwick Democrat who supports a casino in his
community, will attend the conference. He'll hear from speakers for and against legalized
gambling.
Tom Grey, executive director
of the Illinois-based National
Coalition Against Legalized
Gambling, will argue "the
bloom is off the rose" on gaming.
Seventeen of 19 states that this
year considered adding slot or
video lottery machines at race
tracks opposed the proposals or
took no action, he said. Maine
and Colorado will put the question to voters later this year.
Proponents say so much inter-
GAMBLING to page 3
Attorneys ask full appeals court to reinstate
Norton's contempt
By Robert Gehrke
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Attorneys
suing the government on behalf of hundreds of thousands
of American Indians asked a
federal appeals court Tuesday
to reinstate a contempt of court
reprimand of Interior Secretary
Gale Norton.
U.S. District Judge Royce
Lamberth held Norton in civil
contempt almost a year ago,
ruling that her department had
"committed fraud on the court"
by deceiving the judge about
progress toward fixing a system
for managing royalties from
American Indian-owned land.
The Indian plaintiffs allege
the government squandered
billions of dollars of oil, gas,
timber and grazing royalties that
belonged to Indians.
A three-judge appeals court
panel suspended the contempt
ruling in April and vacated
the contempt citation in July,
saying Norton should not be
reprimanded for actions that occurred partly during the tenure
of her predecessor, Bruce Babbitt.
The panel also said Lamberth
should have used the stricter
standards for criminal contempt,
not civil contempt, when deciding whether to sanction Norton.
In their filing Tuesday, the
plaintiffs' attorneys asked the
full nine-member U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overturn the
three judges and to reinstate the
contempt decision.
They said the three judges
erred in basing their decision on
issues that were not raised before Lamberth and considering
the cases as a matter of possible
criminal contempt The appeals
court has ruled that its judges
lack jurisdiction in civil contempt cases, the brief stated.
"It was a device to create
jurisdiction for the court of
appeals where otherwise, as a
matter of federal law, they had
none," said Dennis Gingold,
NORTON to page 3
web page: www.press-on.net
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
A weekly publication.   Copyright, Native American Press, 2003
Founded in 1988
Volume 16 Issue 12
September 5, 2003
AP Photo/Denis Poroy
Tribal and Latino community leaders look on as Tribal Vice Chairman Bobby Barrett,
center, announces the contribution of $2 million to the campaign for California governor
of Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante at a news conference held at the Viejas Indian Reservation in
Alpine, Calif. Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003 .
Tribe gives big to Bustamante, alarming finance
watchdogs
By Erica Werner
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES-A
wealthy American Indian tribe
plans to donate $2 million for
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's
campaign for governor - the
latest example of a campaign
finance loophole allowing big
spending in the California recall race.
The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians said Tuesday it
was donating the maximum
$21,200 to the Democratic
lieutenant governor's recall
campaign committee, and
spending $480,000 on an
independent expenditure campaign to promote his "No on
recall, yes on Bustamante"
message in two Southern California counties.
The tribe, which operates
a lucrative casino in San
Diego County, said it was
also putting $1.5 million into
Bustamante's 2002 re-election
campaign account. Because
that committee was created
before California's new campaign finance law took effect,
it is not subject to the contribution caps imposed on newer
campaign accounts, allowing
Bustamante to avoid the limits.
Campaign aides said they
believe the law allows them to
transfer money from the older
campaign account without
contribution limits into the
new campaign account that
operates under the limits - despite a memo last week from
the state's Fair Political Prac
tices Commission saying that is
not allowed.
"Our attorney has discussed
the matter with the executive director of the FPPC and continues
to advise us of what to do and
we're going to take that advice,"
said Bustamante's consultant,
Richie Ross, who also works as a
consultant to the Viejas Band.
Meanwhile, Bustamante and
his leading Republican opponent,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, both
have established committees
that have no contribution limits
because they are not meant to
promote their candidacies, but
rather to advocate for or against
the recall of Democratic Gov.
Gray Davis.
Campaign finance watchdogs
fear it will be difficult for regulators to ensure that no money
from the pro- or anti-recall committees is used for candidate
campaigns, which are bound by
spending limits.
But there is evidence that is
already happening.
Records show that Total Recall, Schwarzenegger's committee to promote the recall, transferred $211,000 to Calif ornians
for Schwarzenegger, his campaign committee, and is helping
to pay tlie salaries of several top
campaign staffers.
"There's certainly a lot of
potential for shenanigans and I
think it's probably going to be
an enforcement nightmare," said
Jim Knox, executive director
of California Common Cause,
a government watchdog group.
"We're going to see all lands of
creative ways of either fighting
or promoting the recall which
implicidy if not explicitly also
advances their candidacies."
The contribution from the
Viejas Band was the latest large
tribal donation to Bustamante's
2002 lieutenant governor account. The Sycuan Band
of Kumeyaay Indians gave
$300,000, and the Pechanga
Band of Luiseno Mission Indians added $500,000 in recent
days.
Indian tribes have become major political players in the three
years since signing agreements
with the state giving them the
exclusive right to offer Nevada-
style gambling in California.
They have revenues of some $5
billion a year and have donated
tens of millions to political campaigns.
Now the tribes are flexing their muscles on behalf of
Bustamante, a longtime tribal
ally who has indicated he opposes die 2,000-per-tribe limit
on slot machines and believes
tribes already give enough of
their revenue to the state. Tribes
and the state are currently in
negotiations over raising the slot
machine limit and how much
revenue tribes should contribute.
Davis angered tribes earlier diis
year by asking for more.
"F ve said all along that
Bustamante has to be careful not
to become the Indians' candidate
and it sounds like he's becoming the Indians' candidate," said
Robert Stern, president of the
Center for Governmental Studies
in Los Angeles.
TRIBES to page 6
More than 20 arrested on bootlegging, drug charges
on Navajo Reservation
By Anabelle Garay
Associated Press
PHOENIX - Twenty-three
residents of the Navajo Reservation were arrested and
charged with boodegging
and drug dealing after a two-
month undercover investigation by federal and tribal
authorities, the U.S. Attorney's
Office said.
The probe is part of "Operation Bootleg," an initiative
designed to combat unlawful
liquor sales on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Officials believe curbing access to alcohol will curtail the
reservation's high crime rate.
"The return that we see
from our efforts in this area
is a safer community because
we're attacking the underlying
cause to a crime of violence,"
U.S. Attorney Paul K. Charlton
said Friday after announcing the
arrests in Window Rock, the Navajo Nation capital.
Eighteen people were charged
with unlawfully dispensing
intoxicating liquor; five others
were arrested on drug charges
and probation violations.
Boodegging is a misdemeanor
offense and probation is usually
given on a first conviction. Second-time offenders are typically
sentenced to a year in prison.
Alcohol sales have long been
banned on the reservation. Yet
most of the violent crimes investigated by the FBI on the Navajo
Reservation involve assadants
under the influence of alcohol,
studies by the U.S. Attorney's
Office show.
"I believe targeting booUeggers
will reduce the cycle of violence
boodegging brings to the Navajo
Nation from domestic violence
to sexual abuse to murder," said
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.
Shirley's 29-year-old daughter
was Irilled by a drunken driver on
Nov. 24,2001.
In October 2002, a retired
California dentist and his traveling companion were killed in
a drunken-driving crash. Larry
Wilson was sentenced to nearly
11 years in prison after his blood-
alcohol content was found to be
0.392. The legal limit in Arizona
is 0.08.
Another alcohol-related crime
was an August 2001 carjacking
ARRESTS to page 3