From: Barbara E Rising (916) 624-4462 To: Daniel Inouye
Date: 7/25/2003 Time: 5.21 46 PM
The United Nations? The World Court? Again, who will help us to protect our
sovereignty?
The courts? The courts have successfully removed all recourse for tribes whose
governors refuse to negotiate a compact, or to negotiate fairly with a tribe. They use their
laws, not tribal laws, their courts, not tribal courts, and their own attorneys to make
decisions against tribes. Where is Justice? Someone once said that when tribes come
into the room Justice takes her blind fold off, steps off the scales and walks out of the
The general canon of Indian construction holds that where there's ambiguity in statute it
shall be interpreted in the light most favorable to Indian tribes. This policy has not been
followed by the federal court system for many years and as a result the tribes have faced
a constant erosion of tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction.
The State of California has said to this Tribe, that the other tribes have accepted the
provisions in the compact so either you can take it or leave it.
It has always been the opinion of the Coyote Valley Tribe that the Tribe has a right to
request a compact that is specific to its own needs. The Coyote Valley Tribe believes
that every tribe that wants to, and qualifies, should be allowed to not only request
negotiations but at the very least TO RECEIVE A COMPACT THAT IS THE SAME AS
WHAT OTHER TRIBES IN ITS STATE HAS. However, if a tribe does not want the
exact same provisions as what another tribe wants, THE TRIBE SHOULD NOT BE
THREATENED OR FORCED TO TAKE THAT COMPACT.
About 150 years ago, California tribes signed 18 treaties and the treaties were sent to
Congress for ratification. Because the California Senate opposed the treaties, and
notified Congress of their opposition, those treaties were never signed and were in fact
"purposefully lost". These un-ratified treaties were hid in the federal archives where they
were kept until they were found a few years ago because the "public" outcry and greed
for Indian land and resources out-weighed the balance of the United States' responsibility
and trust relationship to tribes.
Once more we are seeing hostility from states and local government leadership against
tribes. What is especially sad is that this hostility is beginning to surface from this very
Congress, representatives representing the United States who have the special trust
relationship with tribes are now working to undermine tribes and their efforts to become
self-reliant.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of State's rights concerning the 10th and 11th
amendments. Various members of Congress passed amendments that successfully tied
the hands of those tribes that had governors who were refusing to negotiate and the list
goes on for the hardships endured by tribes in their attempt to obtain "the golden ring",
the coveted tribal state gaming compact and self reliance.
Testimony of Priscilla Hunter, Chairwoman
Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians
Mendocino County, California
From: Barbara E. Rising (918) 624-4482 To: Daniel Inouye
Date: 7/25/2003 Time: 5:21:46 PM
The Coyote Valley Tribe does not believe that any other tribe in the United States has the
right to tell Coyote Valley what Coyote Valley should include in its own compact.
Coyote Valley would never tell another tribe what to put into its compact. Nor do we
believe that a State or local government should tell a tribe what they think must be
included in a compact as a condition of getting an approved compact from the State
especially issues that would jeopardize our tribal sovereignty.
Tribes have no support.......if you are a tribe that refuses to give up all of its self
governing rights.....if you are a tribe that will not willingly concede all of its revenue
over to another jurisdiction .. If you are a tribe that is the last tribe in the State to hold
out in signing a bad compact, just hoping that someone will help you preserve your
sovereign rights.
Then you are a tribe that is .......out of luck!
It is clear, that if you want to get into gaming you have to agree to give everyone a piece
of the action. The Governor forces tribes to give up their money and sovereignty, then
turns around and says that it is "sharing”, that it is "the State's fair share.”
But who has ever given tribes their "fair share"? The State of California has never
provided for the indigenous people of this State. Instead, the tribes have barely survived
all these years on small appropriations and grants from the federal governments in
exchange for their land. Now when some of the tribes have broken loose from the hold
poverty has had on them, the State and local governments who provided nothing in the
past" wants its fair share". The rest of us are still struggling against the State to succeed.
First it was the land grab in the 1800's and now in 2003, it's the money grab.
WHO IS GOING TO HELP TRIBES PROTECT THEIR PRECIOUS SOVEREIGNTY
FOR THE GENERATIONS TO COME - CERTAINLY NOT THE STATES, THE
COURTS NOR THE COMMISSION?
Once again we come to Congress for your help and support. We do not want to amend
the IGRA. We believe the federal government and Congress has a duty to exercise their
trust responsibility and a constitutional mandate to provide the protections necessary to
ensure the continued existence of tribal governments and tribal sovereignty.
This is a continuing obligation on behalf of congress, not to be used sparingly but to be
used often and tenaciously.
In closing, the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians makes the following
recommendations:
1. If it is within their jurisdiction, the National Indian Gaming Commission shall
develop a uniform written policy for the purposes of processing their findings for
Testimony of Priscilla Hunter, Chairwoman
Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians
Mendocino County, California
From: Barbara E. Rising (916) 624-4462 To: Daniel Inouye
Date: 7/25/2003 Time: 5:21:46 PM
tribal compliance agreements and the Freedom of Information Act which is fair
and equal for all tribes.
2. If it is within their jurisdiction, the National Indian Gaming Commission shall
develop a uniform written policy on allowable expenditures as it relates to tribal
gaming operations.
3. Congress needs to clarify that where the tribe has specific tribal jurisdiction the
federal, state or local governments, including the National Indian Gaming
Commission, shall not conflict with that tribe's jurisdiction.
4. Congress needs to direct Interior to clarify that the intent of IGRA is that tribes
are not to be taxed by a State or assessed for any thing other than such amounts as
are necessary to defray the costs of regulating the individual tribe's gaming
activity.
5. Congress needs to direct Interior to clarify that the intent of IGRA is that tribes
have a RIGHT to individual compact negotiations and that joint negotiations are
allowable only if each tribe participating in the joint negotiations has an
opportunity to further negotiate for tribal specific issues prior to signing the
compact.
6. Congress needs to direct Interior to clarify that the intent of IGRA is that that
States cannot impose preconditions to compacting such as mandating labor
provisions and taxation.
7. Congress needs to direct Interior to clarify that the intent of IGRA is that federal
Indian law has supremacy over State Indian law.
8. Congress needs to clarify whether States and NIGC are considered a component
of a tribe's distribution plan. If they are not, then Congress needs to define where
these budget items are to be located in the tribe's budget to comply with IGRA.
9. Congress needs to place a cap on the amount a federal, State or local government
can assess a tribe for regulation and that a federal, State or local government
cannot collect revenue from a tribe unless it can document real and actual costs
related to the specific tribe that provided the revenue.
10. Congress needs to enforce the IGRA provision that “tribes shall be the primary
beneficiary".
Thank you again for your consideration of our issues. Please contact me if you have
further information at (707) 489-2528.
Priscilla Hunter, Chairwoman
Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians
Testimony of Priscilla Hunter. Chairwoman
Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians
Mendocino County, California
Testimony before the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee Pedro Johnson, Executive Director of Public Affairs Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, Mashantucket, Conn. July 9, 2003
Good morning Mr. Chairman and Members of the
My name is Pedro Johnson, executive director of Public Affairs for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of
Thank you for your kind invitation to address this
Committee. I am here representing our Tribal Nation at the request of our Chairman, Michael J. Thomas. I myself am a former threeterm member of Tribal Council. I am a retired police officer, and a proud veteran of this country's military services, as are many of my cousins.
Your Committee has done unprecedented work on behalf of Indian country throughout this land. I am here in part out of respect for the attention and leadership you, and Congress, have
demonstrated to protect Indian sovereignty throughout the United
I am also here at your request to discuss the important government-to-government, revenue-sharing relationship we have with the State of Connecticut.
As you know, gaming was never the first business enterprise of choice for tribal governments, our First Nations. To date, it is simply the one that has worked the best. When my Tribal Nation was recognized in 1983, five years before the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was passed, we had no plans for a Foxwoods. We just wanted to survive.
My own tribe tried many different business enterprises – hydroponic gardening, restaurant ownership, maple syrup-making, even raising hogs - before our Bingo Hall opened in 1986. In fact, our Chairman likes to say that nobody cared about Indians in southeastern Connecticut back when we were chasing hogs down the state road.
Today we are one of the largest employers in the State of Connecticut - and one of the most charitable. Our largest and most successful business enterprise, Foxwoods Resort Casino, employs
11,000 full- and part-time workers. We purchase goods and
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