ARE CONNECTICUT TRIBES FACING INCREASED COMPETITION?

Connecticut tribes face gaming threats from nearby states
Friday, May 28, 2010

Connecticut's two federally recognized tribes are facing increased competition as gaming is being expanded or considered in nearby states.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe face the biggest threat from Massachusetts, according to one analyst. Lawmakers there are considering a plan to legalize full-scale casinos.

The Mohegan Tribe plans to apply for a license if the bill passes. “We have an excellent chance to get the Palmer license," Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess said at the East Coast Gaming Congress, The Norwich Bulletin reported, referring to a site in western Massachusetts.

The Mohegan Tribe already has experience in commercial gaming. The tribe operates a slot machine facility in Pennsylvania and will be adding table games to the facility.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation also won a license for a slot facility in Pennsylvania but the project has yet to get off the ground amid financing and other concerns.

Other threats come from New York, although off-reservation tribal casinos in the Catskills have not come to fruition, and from New Hampshire, analysts said..

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: It is obvious that there is and will continue to be increased competition for the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans.

It seems that the Mohegans have not prepared very will for the increased competition. How about saving for a rainy day? Does anyone in the MTGA know what that means?

Palmer is probably a pipe dream. Poconod Downs, in my opinion, has never made money and probably never will. Has the MTGA continued to just make bad investments? Can you nane one project that has made money for the Mohegan Tribe?

Will this end up costing Mohegan Tribal Members benefits and other financial blessings? Who is to blame for this Situation? What do you think?

SENECA TRIBE AND TABACCO SALES

Seneca Nation defends tobacco sales on treaty anniversary
Monday, May 24, 2010

Seneca Nation of New York commemorated the Treaty of Buffalo Creek of 1842 last week, using the occasion to criticize the state and federal government for trying to curb the sale of tobacco.

Gov. David Paterson (D) is proposing rules to require tribes to collect taxes on the sale of tobacco to non-Indians. Lawmakers are prepared to go further by imposing taxes on all sales on the reservation.

"As we commemorate this anniversary of the Treaty of Buffalo Creek, all people are reminded that a treaty is more than words, it is a sacred bond, and when you break a treaty, you break the law,” said Seneca President Barry Snyder Sr., Business First of Buffalo reported.

Meanwhile, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act goes into effect on June 29. The law prohibits the Postal Service from delivering cigarettes and certain tobacco products, effectively killing the tribal tobacco industry.

The tribe says the law could impact 3,000 jobs on and off the reservation that are connected to the tobacco industry.

VOTE NO

VOTE NO , ON THE NEW PETITION AMENDMENT TO THE MOHEGAN CONSTITUTION.. IT IS A BAD AMENDMENT. THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS PROPOSED THIS.

IT SHOULD NOT BE PASSED.

YOU EITHER WANT YOUR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE OR YOU ARE WILLING TO ALLOW THE GOVERNMENT TO RUN WILD.

IT IS YOUR CHOICE............ BE SMART,.......... VOTE NO.

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: these are the opinions, ideas and facts of Brokenwing What do you think?

PASSAMAQUODDY TRIBES CASINO IN MAINE?

Passamaquoddy Tribe prepares to open new Class II facility

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township is getting ready to open a Class II casino.

The facility will feature 50 electronic gaming machines, a restaurant and a bowling alley. "There is a lot of interest already," Gov. William Nicholas told The Bangor Daily News.

The casino is set to open on July 17 -- two days after a new state law that authorized electronic gaming machines goes into effect. "The Passamaquoddy really did their homework,” David Bowler, of the Maine State Police gaming division, told the paper. “They wanted to do everything right and they were very good to work with.”
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DO PER CAPS AFFECT TRIBAL MEMBERS HEALTH?

Study ties Eastern Cherokee health to per capita payments
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who received per capita payments from the tribe's casino were less likely to abuse alcohol and marijuana, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Tribal members began receiving a share of gaming revenues in 1996. The study tracked Eastern Cherokee youth from 1993 through 2006 and found a link between well-being and the payments.
Tribal youth were better off as adults than older tribal members who did not grow up with the revenues, according to the study. And tribal youth fared "significantly" better as adults than non-Indians, researchers found.

The tribe operates the Harrah's Cherokee Hotel and Casino in western North Carolina.

DOES FALL RIVER WANT A CASINO?

GOING FOR BROKE: City still faces casino hurdles
By Michael Holtzman
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted May 15, 2010 @ 06:23 PM

Fall River —
If city residents and business people say bringing a destination resort casino to Fall River is a mega-gamble, it’s not just figurative talk.

There remain more hurdles to leap than an Olympic track event.There are various “ifs” playing out in the high-stakes game with the city’s wheel of fortune in the balance.

It appears a full-blown casino could be built here…IF the state Senate follows suit of the House and passes a casino gambling bill and license designations the two chambers can agree on and the governor, who’s in favor of three statewide casinos, signs.

IF a deed restriction on the 300-acre SouthCoast BioPark site banning casinos is lifted. The state Legislature needs to vote the casino restriction out.

The mayor says that takes a majority, while casino critics says it requires a two-thirds vote.IF the city’s Redevelopment Authority votes to approve the sale of the 300-acre park to the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe and their financial backers.

That could happen as soon as tomorrow night. IF the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development continues to fund the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's proposed bioprocessing center and the parties can agree upon the Redevelopment Authority’s alternative site.

The Greater Fall River Development Corp. will also kick in $3 million to further what was billed as the BioPark anchor tenant project by UMass Dartmouth.IF city voters support building a casino during a required referendum vote. Mayor Will Flanagan believes 7 in 10 will.
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DO THE MASHPEE WAMPANOAGS WANT TO PUT A CASINO IN FALL RIVER?

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe negotiates for a new casino site
Friday, May 14, 2010

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is in talks to buy land in Fall River, Massachusetts, for a casino.
The tribe wouldn't comment but a state lawmaker told The Brockton Enterprise that negotiations are underway. That would apparently mean the tribe's plans for a casino in Middleboro are dead.

“I’m very disappointed, but it doesn’t surprise me,” Middleboro Town Manager Charles J. Cristello told the paper. “Where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

The tribe reached an intergovernmental agreement with Middleboro in 2007 and started the land-into-trust process in August of that year. But the tribe changed investors and started looking at other locations for a casino.

The tribe's land-into-trust application also faces questions under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which restricts the land-into-trust process to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934. The Mashpees didn't gain formal recognition until May 2007
Get the Story:Fall River land deal could spell end for a casino in Middleboro

MASHANTUCKET PEQOUTS WANT GAMBLING AGE LOWERED?

Pequot Tribe seeks lower gambling age, longer alcohol sales
Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut wants to lower the gambling age from 21 to 18 and to extend alcohol sales at casinos.

Chairman Rodney Butler wants to talk with the governor and lawmakers about the changes. He said they will make Connecticut more competitive as gaming options increase in New England and the Northeast.

The gambling age in New York is 18 although it's 21 at some facilities, The Hartford Courant reported.

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: Maybe the gambling age should be lowered so that Connecticut casinos could be more competitive with New York Casinos.

However, how do the casinos control drinking of alcohol on the gambling floor, when the drinking age is 21? This seems like it could be a logistical nightmare.

If the casinos want to be truly competitive with Atlantic City and Las Vegas, then they should be allowed by Connecticut to have drinking 24 hours a day? What do you think?

IS TOBACCO BIG BUSINESS FOR THE SENECA TRIBE?

Tobacco shops on Seneca Nation put 1,000 people to work
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Tobacco is big business on the Seneca Nation in New York, where about 1,000 people are employed by smoke shops like the one owned by J. Conrad Seneca. 50, runs the Native Pride Travel Plaza. He employs 120 people, most of them non-Indian.

"We have our treaties with the United States that guarantee us certain rights. It doesn't matter whether a treaty was made in 1842 or 1794, or New York state is $8 billion in the hole," Seneca told The Ithaca Journal, citing a treaty right to sell tobacco free of state taxation.

Gov. David Paterson (D) wants to tap into the reservation revenue stream and require smoke shops to collect taxes on the sale of tobacco to non-Indians.

CAYUGAS TO SUE TWO NEW YORK COUNTIES

Cayuga Nation to sue two counties for raid on smoke shops
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Cayuga Nation plans to sue two New York counties for raiding the tribe's smoke shops and seizing tribal property
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The tribe always contended that Cayuga and Seneca counties lacked jurisdiction over its two smoke shops. A ruling from the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, confirmed that
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The counties seized over $500,000 of tobacco products and cash from the smoke shops in November 2008. The property was never returned.

"They’re done, they’re past the spoilage date….Of course, all of this was completely avoidable," Daniel French, an attorney for the tribe, told The Syracuse Post-Standard.

New York Appellate Division Decision:Cayuga Nation v. Gould (July 10, 2009)

MASHANTUCKETS HIT THE THREE BILLION MARK

Mashantucket Tribe reports $3B shared under gaming pact
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation will hold a ceremony today to mark a milestone in its relationship with the state of Connecticut.

The tribe signed a Class III gaming compact in 1993. The agreement requires the tribe to share 25 percent of slot machine revenues with the state.

Since 1993, the tribe has contributed $3 billion to the state. That comes to an average of $160 million a year
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The Mohegan Tribe has shared $2.3 billion with the state in the past 13 years.

ONEIDAS DEAL WITH C D FOOD AND BEVERAGE

Oneida Nation details arrangement for casino alcohol sales
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Oneida Nation of New York offered details about a business deal that will bring liquor to the Turning Stone Resort and Casino.

The tribe will lease all of the restaurant, hotel, entertainment and gaming floor space at the casino to CD Food & Beverage. Gaming operations space and retail outlets will not be included.
CD will pay sales taxes to Oneida County and to the state, along with a county occupancy tax on hotel room. CD will also pay an 8 percent sales tax to the tribe and a 3 percent occupancy tax to the tribe.

The deal does not call for the tribe to waive its immunity. CD agreed to be held liable for drunken driving cases.

STORY TAKEN FROM www.indianz.com.

WHITE EARTH GOVERNMENT REJECTS PETITION FOR RECALL

White Earth council rejects petition to remove chairwoman
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Erma Vizenor, the chairwoman of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe Indians of Minnesota, won't face a removal election.

Tribal members submitted a petition with 567 signatures last month. They said Vizenor was disregarding the tribal constitution. They also complained about not being able to work at the tribal casino and about tribal enrollment issues.

The tribal council examined the petition and said it found numerous deficiencies. Only 375 signatures were valid, not enough for a recall.


EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: Petitions have the potential to make governments accountable.

Why is the Mohegan Council of Elders trying to change the Petition Rights in the Mohegan Constitution? Is making your government accountable a good thing?

Do we (the Mohegan Tribe) need changes in Petition Rights in our Constitution? What do you think?

STORY TAKEN FROM www.indianz.com.

APPEALS COURT SIDES WITH CAYUGA ON TABACCO TAXES

Appeals court sides with Cayuga Nation in tobacco tax case
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The court said the tribe can continue to sell tobacco at two smoke shops. The facilities are located on "qualified reservation" property -- as that term is defined by state law -- even though the properties are the subject of a pending land-into-trust application.

"But based on existing precedent and federal consideration of the fee-for-trust application, the United States government continues to recognize the existence of a Cayuga reservation in New York," the court said in a 4-3 decision.

The court said the tribe cannot sell tobacco to non-Indians without collecting a state tax. However, the state has yet to implement regulations that would facilitate the process so the court said it would be "unduly burdensome' to force the tribe to pay the taxes at this time
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The appeals court is the highest court in the state.

STORY TAKEN FROM www.indianz.com.

WILL TRIBAL GAMING COME TO MASSACHUSETTS?

Opinion: Opening door to tribal gaming in Massachusetts Monday, May 10, 2010

"Robert DeLeo wants to bring legalized gambling to Massachusetts. He wants two casinos and slots at four racing tracks, and right now, it looks like he’s going to get his wish.

And, potentially, a lot more. In DeLeo’s rush to appease the building trades and carve out some action for the two racetracks in his district, the speaker of the House is setting the table for a gambling expansion in Massachusetts that has the potential to be far broader than anything he’s pitching. He’s opening the door to new gambling halls on Martha’s Vineyard and the Cape, in Middleborough and Fall River. It’s also something neither he, nor anyone else on Beacon Hill, can control.

Forget, for a second, all the reasons we know we should worry about legalized gambling — its regressive nature, the way it cannibalizes money that would otherwise be spent at local businesses, the negligible benefits it offers strained government budgets, the staggering social and regulatory costs. None of that has swayed DeLeo, or anybody else on Beacon Hill whose opinion actually matters these days. Two years ago, the Legislature was debating whether to legalize casinos at all; now the body is just wondering how many to greenlight.

The Mashpee Wampanoag and the Aquinnah, the state’s two federally recognized Native American tribes, have each expressed serious interest in owning a gleaming gambling hall. They haven’t been able to follow through on those urges because, legally, they can’t.

The tribes are sovereign, but they’re only allowed to set up a gambling shop at the highest level of gaming that’s legal in their home state. Right now, they could peddle scratch tickets, or maybe hop into the high-stakes bingo game. There’s no serious money in either pursuit. That changes the moment the governor signs a casino bill into law this summer. Each will be freed to set up gaming operations on their tribal land, on the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard. And the state wouldn’t be able to touch a dime of whatever rolls in."

EIGHT DOLLARS MORE PLEASE

Uncasville, Connecticut...........One customer of the Mohegan Sun Casino Hotel said, "they're nickel and diming us to death."

What was this customer talking about? It seems for over a year now, the Mohegan Sun Hotel has been charging $8.40 including tax for the use of the indoor pool (the only pool), the gym and to get a newspaper in the morning. These items over the years have been provided free, now they are being charged for.

I asked the hotel, if what I had been informed was true. I was told it was. I asked why couldn't the charge be included in the room charge. I was told that state law required a separate charge.

This doesn't sound like good business practices to me. How many people are angry about this? One customer, I talked to, said if they went to another hotel there wouldn't be a charge for the gym, the pool or a newspaper.

HOW MUCH BUSINESS IS BEING LOST FROM THIS PRACTICE? What do you think?

SHOULD THE U.S. ARMY TEACH SOLDIERS ABOUT WOUNDED KNEE?

Editorial: Incident shows need to learn about Indian people
Wednesday, May 5, 2010

"It seems as though overreaction successfully was avoided last weekend after a controversy at the Wounded Knee memorial.

The Colorado Army National Guard unit seeking to land its helicopters at the site didn't know much about the site's history. In fact, the reason the Guard members were there was to learn more about the 1890 massacre.

The helicopter unit's commander, Capt. Todd Stansbury, sought permission to land at the memorial from Oglala Sioux President Theresa Two Bulls. In turn, she asked for input from Wounded Knee District representatives. Not hearing anything back, Stansbury's request was approved.

Despite her efforts, the Guard unit's three helicopters were greeted by protesters as they attempted to land. Not wanting confrontation, the unit instead flew to Rapid City.

The fact that there's still so much serious mistrust in Indian Country highlights the need for efforts such as the Year of Unity to take hold at the ground level. There need to be even more attempts, however awkward, on the part of non-Indians to learn more about Native American history."

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: Doesn't the United States Army teach its soldiers about history? Could this be a real blunder by some members of the U. S. Army?'

Native Americans should be outraged. Is this another example of where Native Americans need to unite? Does what happens at a reservation in South Dakota have an effect on tribes in other parts of the country?

Native Americans need to stand together. If something is done to one group, should other groups come forward and stand up and be counted? What do you think?

ARTICLE COPIED FROM http://www.indianz.com/.

ARMY HELICOPTERS TRIED TO LAND AT WOUNDED KNEE?

Army unit wanted to learn from Wounded Knee 'mistakes'
Tuesday, May 4, 2010.

But the unit was turned away when three helicopters tried to land on the Pine Ridge Reservation on Saturday morning. Some tribal members thought landing near the Wounded Knee massacre site was disrespectful to the 300 people who were killed and victimized by the 7th Cavalry on December 29, 1890.

"Why would you want military helicopters landing at the Wounded Knee massacre site?" Belva Hollow Horn, whose ancestors survived the massacre, told The Sioux Falls Argus Leader. "That is totally insulting."

One helicopter landed but took off after less than a minute. The other helicopters never landed, the paper reported.

“While the Battle of Wounded Knee is a dark chapter in the history of the Army, without learning from the mistakes of our past we are doomed to repeat them,” Capt. Michael Odgers, a public affairs officer, said in a statement to the apper. “This trip was taken to better understand our shared histories, and we hope those who protested the visit can begin to understand our motives.”

President Theresa Two Bulls wanted the Army unit to hear from massacre descendants but took the blame for not communicating about the visit more closely.

MAINE TRIBE WATCHING GAMING REFERENDUM

Editorial: Maine tribes keep an eye on gaming referendum Monday, May 3, 2010 Filed Under:

"The ballot will tell you one thing, but the people behind the latest casino referendum are saying something else. If voters want to make sure they know what they are voting on next November, they should be paying attention to both.

The citizen intitiated ballot measure that will ask Mainers for the fourth time in six years whether they want to expand gambling in Maine talks about a single project, a casino resort to be built in Oxford County.

Peter Martin, the spokesman for Black Bear Entertainment, delivered the message that the hopes of expanding gambling Downeast rest on its success moving into western Maine.
"We believe that if Oxford County fails, it will be game over for Washington County," Martin told the Bangor Daily News.

"However, if we win, we believe the Passamaquoddy tribe will be granted permission for a casino at the next legislative session. Our win is their win."

So, in other words, the ballot may say one thing, but it will mean something else.

Martin's comments may just be political fence-mending. The Oxford County supporters pushed to stop a movement by some in the Legislature to piggyback on the same ballot as their question with a competing measure, which would have expanded gambling operations by the Passamaquoddy

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: This article taken from www.indianz.com/