It is better to spank your own rear end than to have somebody else do it for you, for there is certainly less pain and more dignity.
But tribal leaders, in what has become a custom, have succeeded once again in shooting themselves in the foot and becoming subject to a Congressional "spanking" when it comes to off-reservation casinos.
Late last month, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs approved a bill by Sen. John McCain that would significantly amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The new amendments prohibit existing tribes from acquiring new and distant lands for casinos.
More specifically, the McCain bill would extinguish the use of land claims by tribes to acquire lands that are not connected, either physically or traditionally, to existing tribal lands.
Sound familiar?
I stand with an overwhelming majority of tribal advocates in opposing Sen. McCain's bill because, like them, I believe that it will open a Pandora's Box of amendments to IGRA that will further erode tribal sovereignty. Should Sen. McCain's bill pass, attempts to subject tribes to increased control of state and local governments will become more frequent, like that of Michigan's Rep. Mike Rogers.
This entire situation could have been avoided, however, had tribal leaders long ago abandoned "reservation shopping."
Many tribal advocates protest that "reservation shopping" is a non-existent problem used as a straw man by politicians looking for cheap political points. Those advocates often cite the fact that since 1988 only three tribes in the United States have succeeded in using what is called the "Section 20 Exception" to IGRA to acquire new and distant lands for casinos, including the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community's casino near Marquette.
Those protestations, though, fall upon deaf ears to anyone who knows better. The fact that only three tribes have succeeded at acquiring new lands for gaming has not stopped countless other tribes from trying to do so, and spending millions of dollars in the process.
That only three tribes succeeded in qualifying for IGRA's Section 20 Exception should have also cued tribal leaders that attempting to settle land claims for casinos in distant areas was probably not a sound investment of scarce tribal resources.
Each time a tribal leader jetted into a new community backed by wealthy investors and slick lobbyists, new adversaries of tribes were created (usually Christian anti-gaming groups who are not particularly predisposed to supporting tribes in the first place). It was only a matter of time before a critical mass of these adversaries emerged to force Congress to push back against tribes.
When tribes in Oklahoma and Wisconsin sought to build casinos in New York, and when Jack Abramoff got caught with his hand in the frybread jar, that proved to be a bridge too far.
Now we are staring at this legislation in an election year when members of Congress will be returning home to tout the notches in their belt. A vote against us "rich Indians" would certainly be a big notch.
This bill won't directly affect the land claim settlements of the Sault Tribe and Bay Mills, due to a grandfather clause, but there is little doubt that no member of Congress will dare support such a settlement after the McCain bill passes.
Given the recent vote on the McCain bill, recognized tribes with land claims, including Bay Mills and the Sault Tribe, should get as far out in front as possible and announce a voluntary moratorium on gaming settlements involving distant lands (especially considering that many of these proposals haven't moved in years). Instead, these tribes should seek to settle those claims for land swaps to consolidate reservations lands, or funding to bolster health care and education.
By continuing to push the envelope on this issue, we are only inviting a bigger spanking in the future.
Bryan Newland is a Bay Mills Indian Community Member and a student at Michigan State University College of Law in East Lansing. He is the oldest son of Gordon and Vickie Newland of Bay Mills. He has written columns and letters that have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. You can respond to his column at 517-420-0808 or tikro6@yahoo.com.
