Cherokees Donating to Enemies?

[Badmutha]

O.K. PW.com has been getting boring. Maybe this can spice it up.

http://www.robesonian.com/articles/2...ditorial02.txt

An article from the Robeson Pravda.

[Blue Devils Advocate]

Things that make you go hmmm

Ah yes. That old fight that just never gets old: the Lumbee v. EBCI. After reading Mr. Biggs's column, I take issue with it and appreciate it at the same time.

To the extent he's attempting to link the EBCI with Jack Abramoff and the funneling of funds to the right wing lobbyist Reed, his argument is specious, at best. Unless I've missed some facts somewhere, I haven't seen any proof that Greenberg Traurig has represented EBCI. Does anyone here know differently? Assuming those facts hold true, I think it's a little unfair to dump the EBCI in with those who were Abramoff's clients. If you don't read the article very carefully, I think Biggs's column gives you that impression.

ON THE OTHER HAND, one of the overridding themes of the editorial (and the most important I might add) is this idea of Indians working against other Indians. Make no mistake about it, the EBCI government has put substantial effort into opposing the current Lumbee recognition bills. In fact, it would not surprise me at all (but I AM NOT alleging that this is true) to find out that the EBCI encouraged the appearance of the NC anti-gaming organization that testifed before House Resource Committee on HR 898. Whether the EBCI's anti-Lumbee efforts are wrongful, however, is a moral question that each person must answer for himself.

Another important issue Biggs raises is whether the Lumbee recognition effort might advance further on a "no gaming" approach (a la the Tiwas). I think this might be a smart alternative for the tribe and would be interested in hearing whether any Lumbee opponents on this board would react any differently toward the Lumbee bills were the tribe to agree to such a restriction.

[lumbeedancer]

Spice man! At you're service!

Maybe the EBCI contributed (which wouldn't surprise me either) maybe they didn't (who knows), the article made it clear that it is unknown which tribes participated. The only time it mentioned the EBCI was when it pointed out that they created a split state-delegation, which quite frankly they did do. Any link between them and the Casino donations is mere speculation on the part of the reader not the writer. Personally I thought the article was pretty accurate myself.

The fact of the matter is, even if the EBCI’s administration didn't participate in this scandal, it's not like they would be the first ones in line to tell Mr. Reed and the participating tribes that what they are doing is wrong! Now would they? Come on now, lets be real here folks! These people’s goal is to stop Lumbee recognition, regardless! You can believe they fully welcome and support (maybe not always financially or in the open) anyone and everything that helps them acomplish this goal.

Blue Devil you're probably right that a "No-Gaming" approach probably would help us in our efforts on Capitol Hill! But I seriously doubt it would change the minds of any of these people on here! Their government and their Media have been non-stop feeding hatred and resentment to them! When it comes to Lumbees that’s all they know and in most cases, all they care to know! When/if these folks ever change their way of thinking and rise to a level where they are no longer blinded and persuaded by narrow minded reasoning and chose to see the whole picture instead of only what they want to see, then and only then will their opinions ever be able to change.

If anyone wants to read some real one-sided, uninformed, self-righteous, propagandist B**Sh*t! Try reading the Cherokee One Feather for a change! They print plenty of it! If anybody wants powwows.com to get really spicy, throw some of that crap up on here for debate!

[Badmutha]

If anyone wants to read some real one-sided, uninformed, self-righteous, propagandist B**Sh*t! Try reading the Cherokee One Feather for a change! They print plenty of it! If anybody wants powwows.com to get really spicy, throw some of that crap up on here for debate!

Propaganda, bulls--t, crap? If that's your opinion, so be it. But you know the same thing has been said of the Asheville Citizen-Times, Fayetteville Observer, as well as the Robesonian. I don't think there's a media outlet in existence that doesn't get accused of that.
If there's documentation the EBCI is donating to Ralph Reed, or the NC Family Policy Council, I'd sure like to see it. Those right-wing people, who are fighting Lumbee recognition because of gambling fears, are also working against the EBCI's plan to expand its gaming. So if the EBCI is donating to them, I surely would question the wisdom just like Mr. Biggs has. Go to opensecrets.org and search for the EBCI in the donors section. You can see who they donated to. Since Michell Hicks has been chief, (to this point anyway) it hasn't been anybody.
As for gaming competition, the Poarch Creeks in Alabama are far more likely to be competition than the Lumbee, and the One Feather (who also had an editorial criticising the behavior of its representatives during the House committee Lumbee bill hearing) had an editorial supporting the Creek's right to operate gaming.

[lumbeedancer]

Choctaws donating to enemies!

Tribes' lobbyists at center of probe

By Ana Radelat
Clarion-Ledger Washington Bureau



Martin


WASHINGTON — The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has negotiated with Senate investigators on information sought in a probe of the tribe's relationship with a controversial lobbyist.

C. Bryant Rogers, the Choctaws' attorney, said in a July 24 letter to tribal Chief Phillip Martin that he had met with Senate Indian Affairs Committee staff "to negotiate which documents will be formally produced to the committee and which will not."

"The objective ... is to attempt to shield from production to the committee as much information on the Tribe's First Amendment-protected political activities as we can," Rogers wrote.

The Choctaws, who run the Silver Star and Golden Moon casinos in Neshoba County, have paid Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff nearly $11 million since 1998. The Choctaws and three other tribes with gambling interests also paid about $45 million to one of Abramoff's associates, Michael Scanlon, who heads a public relations firm.

The relationship between the tribes and Abramoff and Scanlon is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Internal Revenue Service and the Interior Department's inspector general as well as the Senate. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee has scheduled its first hearing on the matter on Sept. 29. The focus of the investigation appears to be on Abramoff and Scanlon and not the tribes.

Abramoff used some of the millions of dollars he received from tribes to pay Ralph Reed, chairman of President Bush's re-election campaign in the Southeast, to help keep other tribes from opening competing casinos.

Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, confirmed recently that Abramoff had paid him between $1 million and $4 million to form a coalition of churches and other anti-gambling groups called the Committee Against Gambling Expansion.

Reed said the group's goal was to defeat gambling initiatives in certain states, including Alabama, where the Poarch Creek tribe wants to open casinos that would compete with the Choctaw's operations in central Mississippi.

Poarch Creek Indians Chairman Eddie Tullis said he would fashion the tribe's casinos after the Choctaw's successful operations in Philadelphia if he is able to expand the tribe's gaming operations. The tribe runs bingo games, but has been trying since 1995 to establish a "Las Vegas"-style casino on its land near Atmore, Ala., about 45 miles northeast of Mobile and near the Florida state line.

The Poarch Creek tribe has about 2,200 members. Most of them live in Alabama or the Pensacola, Fla., area. Besides its bingo operations, the tribe runs a hotel, a metal manufacturing plant that has contracts with the Pentagon, and a new wildlife preserve. Revenues from these operations were about $4 million last year, Tullis said.

Paul Moorehead, chief counsel for the Indian Affairs Committee, confirmed Senate investigators, out of respect for tribal sovereignty, negotiated with the Choctaws over the release of documents. He said the panel has issued 45 subpoenas but has not issued any to tribes that retained Abramoff.

Rogers, the tribe's attorney, wrote in his July 24 letter that a federal grand jury has subpoenaed the Choctaws.

Rogers would not comment for this story. Choctaw spokeswoman Creda Stewart did not return phone calls requesting comment.

Rogers' letter also said the tribe has "become aware of evidence of possible wrongdoing by Abramoff and Scanlon in connection with their work for Choctaw(s)." He did not describe the evidence but said it has been provided to the U.S. attorney's office and Senate investigators.

"That evidence (if verified) could give rise to federal criminal prosecutions of Abramoff and Scanlon and to civil actions by the tribe to recover a portion of certain tribal payments made to Abramoff and Scanlon," Rogers wrote to Martin.

Martin once defended the Choctaws' payments to Abramoff, saying the tribe has the right to hire whomever it wants.

Abramoff's attorney, Abbe Lowell, said he is "confident that any independent review of Jack's conduct will conclude that he has done nothing wrong."

"We hope that clients of Jack's who have been well-satisfied over the years are not turned against him by people in their tribes or companies with political or other agendas. He always served his clients well and professionally," Lowell said.
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Isn't this Chief Martin the same guy (representing USET) who helped try and stop Lumbee recognition earlier this year? :Eyebrows

Ah thats right, he was testifying on the same panel as the EBCI chief Hicks and that anti gaming guy from the NC family policy council! Hmm! Makes one wonder, doesn't it!

[geronimo]

let's get this party started

badmutha,
obviously you don't read the robesonian on a regular basis--they are so anti-indian/anti-lumbee, it's not even funny...........

my favorite part of all the capitol hill stuff is how the cherokees paid people to be line holders so that lumbees couldn't get into hearings...many of whom were elderly.......

classic...............

[Blue Devils Advocate]

badmutha,
obviously you don't read the robesonian on a regular basis--they are so anti-indian/anti-lumbee, it's not even funny...........

my favorite part of all the capitol hill stuff is how the cherokees paid people to be line holders so that lumbees couldn't get into hearings...many of whom were elderly.......

classic...............

Dare I say, not one of the EBCI's finer moments.

[lumbeedancer]

As for gaming competition, the Poarch Creeks in Alabama are far more likely to be competition than the Lumbee,

Obviously any casino even remotely in the region would be somewhat of a competitor, but any competition posed by the Poarch Creeks wouldn't be even remotely close to that which a potential Lumbee Casino would hold!

A large chunk (probably most) of Harrah's Cherokee Casino constituents come from I-95 (East of Cherokee). Neither the Poarch Creeks or any other Casino are a threat to this constituency, as they are all much farther south or west than Cherokee! If the Lumbee were for some reason or another to build a Casino on I-95 most of those folks wouldn't bother going that 6 hrs out of their way to get to Cherokee. Which quite frankly means that the Cherokee casino could stand to lose a substantial portion of it's income, the tribe would recieve a lot less money to support it's programs, and that pretty little per-capita check you guys get would drastically decrease!

Make no mistake about it; your tribal government is "Very" concerned about this issue!