Scott and everyone else:
Here is an article that appeared in today's South Bend Tribune:
cSouth Bend Tribune -- 6/13/97
State can't block Indian casino land transfer
By SUSAN DILLMAN
Tribune Indianapolis Bureau
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's governor can't stop the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians from putting lands in trust for a Hoosier casino, according to a U.S. Department of the Interior letter to tribal officials this week.
The letter breaks the federal agency's prolonged, official silence about the tribe's quest for reservation and gaming lands.
More importantly, it knocks aside the legal obstacle that Gov. Frank O'Bannon had hoped would shield him from having to negotiate with the tribe for yet another casino in Indiana.
Both O'Bannon and Third District U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer maintained that federal law gives both state governors and local authorities the power to block the secretary of the interior from putting lands in trust for a tribal casino.
That's true for newly recognized tribes, agreed tribal officials. But the Pokagon Band was restored, not newly recognized.
That means casino land acquisitions aren't subject to local or state vetoes, according to Mike Wesaw, tribal finance director.
The June 10 letter, written by David J. Hayes, counselor to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, essentially agrees with Wesaw.
"The Department will consider any application in light of the Restoration Act's mandate that the Secretary acquire some land for the Band," Hayes wrote.
"This is what we've been saying all along," Wesaw said in a telephone interview. "We've been telling people all along those lands were going to be restored to us as mandated by our legislation and would not require the governor's concurrence or local concurrence."
"I think the significance of the letter would point directly to the governor, giving him the impetus to sit down and let's start talking about a (gaming) compact. Let's start negotiating a compact," said Tribal Chairman Robert J. Moody.
O'Bannon, however, was not rushing to the bargaining table."This is not the position that we were led to expect," from the Department of the Interior, said O'Bannon spokesman Phil Bremen.
"There have been ongoing communications," he continued. "We really don't know what we'll do next. Until we find out what's going on, I don't think anyone in this office wants to speculate."
Roemer could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Moody said the Department of the Interior letter sends another important signal that the agency is "proactive for Indian tribes."
Note:
For those who aren't up to speed on the Pokagon intricacies, this would be an additional casino for HET/CSNR to operate, in addition to the proposed southeast Michigan casino that is currently being debated as Resolution 71, as Scott identified earlier. The Pokagons' aboriginal territory extends into Indiana, which currently has legalized Class III gaming.
Have a good weekend,
Gary |
