Tweet
************************************************** ******************
This Message Is Reprinted Under The FAIR USE
Doctrine Of International Copyright Law:
_http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html_
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
************************************************** ******************
FROM: THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER
_http://www.startribune.com/587/story/359902.html_
(http://www.startribune.com/587/story/359902.html)
Indians Want Reality Of Sovereignty -- Their Own Embassy
One Minnesota tribe has put up 'challenge' money to buy a building along
Embassy Row in the nation's capital.
Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune
Last update: April 08, 2006 – 10:07 PM
WASHINGTON -- It's a question from one of the dustbins of history: If
American Indian tribes are truly sovereign nations, why don't they have an embassy
in the nation's capital?
It was one of the demands of Vernon Bellecourt and other American Indian
Movement leaders from Minnesota when they occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) in Washington in November 1972.
Now the idea is being revived by a more prosperous Minnesota group: The
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, owners of Mystic Lake Casino. The tribe has
put up a $1 million "challenge grant" to buy a building on Massachusetts
Avenue -- known as "Embassy Row" -- which would house the National Congress of
American Indians, the nation's oldest Native American advocacy organization.
An Embassy of Tribal Nations -- even if it doesn't achieve full diplomatic
status like those of foreign nations -- is seen by backers as a symbol of
American Indians' evolution from an era of reservations and tribal allotments to
the modern era of tribal government.
Among the first to get involved were the Prairie Island Sioux Community,
owners of the Treasure Island Casino, and former BIA chief Dave Anderson,
founder of the Minnesota-based Famous Dave's BBQ chain. They have each contributed
$50,000.
Whether many Indian tribes nationwide respond still remains to be seen. So
far, the effort has received its biggest push from Minnesota, a reflection of
the new wealth of the Mdewakanton Sioux, the Prairie Island Sioux Community,
and other Indian tribes that rely on their sovereign status to run profitable
casinos with little state interference.
Bellecourt says he's happy to see the idea of an embassy resurrected, as long
as "it does something for Indian people and it's not just another building
with a name."
Whatever else it becomes, an embassy could at least be a more suitable home
for Indian leaders who come to Washington, says the American Indian Congress'
executive director, Jackie Johnson.
For now, the organization leases offices above the Luna Grill Diner, sharing
a block just off of DuPont Circle with a psychic reader and Fatty's Tattooz
and Body Piercing.
The building it wants is a modern five-story office building next to the
Embassy of Chile just a few blocks away.
"So close," Johnson says, "and yet so far."
The group still has a long way to go on its $12 million fundraising goal
before any of the nation's 562 tribal flags fly above the building, now the home
of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
"It's a tremendous financial leap for a historically under-funded
non-profit," Johnson said.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Vice Chairman Glynn Crooks said that while he
understands that tribes across the nation have pressing social, health and
education needs, there's enough wealth in Indian Country to create an Embassy of
Tribal Nations.
"I know there are many tribes that aren't able to give that much, but I also
know that there are a lot of tribes that can," he said.
American Indian Congress President Joe Garcia, who would be the de-facto
"ambassador," called the Minnesota tribe's gift "a huge step in securing a home
in Washington."
For too long, Anderson said, Indian concerns have been represented in
Washington mainly by the BIA, an agency that falls under the vast bureaucracy of
the Interior Department.
Anderson said it is now time to recognize the reality of Indian sovereignty,
a concept recognized by the framers of the U.S. Constitution.
"It's amazing that you can have every other country represented in
Washington, but not the people who were here to greet the 'first visitors,' " Anderson
said. "It would be historic."
As Anderson and others see it, a new embassy would become the center for
doing much of what the American Indian Congress already does: Push for full
federal funding of Indian health and service programs, mediate disputes over
Indian trust funds, and serve as a political voice for tribes.
This Message Is Reprinted Under The FAIR USE
Doctrine Of International Copyright Law:
_http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html_
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html)
************************************************** ******************
FROM: THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER
_http://www.startribune.com/587/story/359902.html_
(http://www.startribune.com/587/story/359902.html)
Indians Want Reality Of Sovereignty -- Their Own Embassy
One Minnesota tribe has put up 'challenge' money to buy a building along
Embassy Row in the nation's capital.
Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune
Last update: April 08, 2006 – 10:07 PM
WASHINGTON -- It's a question from one of the dustbins of history: If
American Indian tribes are truly sovereign nations, why don't they have an embassy
in the nation's capital?
It was one of the demands of Vernon Bellecourt and other American Indian
Movement leaders from Minnesota when they occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) in Washington in November 1972.
Now the idea is being revived by a more prosperous Minnesota group: The
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, owners of Mystic Lake Casino. The tribe has
put up a $1 million "challenge grant" to buy a building on Massachusetts
Avenue -- known as "Embassy Row" -- which would house the National Congress of
American Indians, the nation's oldest Native American advocacy organization.
An Embassy of Tribal Nations -- even if it doesn't achieve full diplomatic
status like those of foreign nations -- is seen by backers as a symbol of
American Indians' evolution from an era of reservations and tribal allotments to
the modern era of tribal government.
Among the first to get involved were the Prairie Island Sioux Community,
owners of the Treasure Island Casino, and former BIA chief Dave Anderson,
founder of the Minnesota-based Famous Dave's BBQ chain. They have each contributed
$50,000.
Whether many Indian tribes nationwide respond still remains to be seen. So
far, the effort has received its biggest push from Minnesota, a reflection of
the new wealth of the Mdewakanton Sioux, the Prairie Island Sioux Community,
and other Indian tribes that rely on their sovereign status to run profitable
casinos with little state interference.
Bellecourt says he's happy to see the idea of an embassy resurrected, as long
as "it does something for Indian people and it's not just another building
with a name."
Whatever else it becomes, an embassy could at least be a more suitable home
for Indian leaders who come to Washington, says the American Indian Congress'
executive director, Jackie Johnson.
For now, the organization leases offices above the Luna Grill Diner, sharing
a block just off of DuPont Circle with a psychic reader and Fatty's Tattooz
and Body Piercing.
The building it wants is a modern five-story office building next to the
Embassy of Chile just a few blocks away.
"So close," Johnson says, "and yet so far."
The group still has a long way to go on its $12 million fundraising goal
before any of the nation's 562 tribal flags fly above the building, now the home
of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
"It's a tremendous financial leap for a historically under-funded
non-profit," Johnson said.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Vice Chairman Glynn Crooks said that while he
understands that tribes across the nation have pressing social, health and
education needs, there's enough wealth in Indian Country to create an Embassy of
Tribal Nations.
"I know there are many tribes that aren't able to give that much, but I also
know that there are a lot of tribes that can," he said.
American Indian Congress President Joe Garcia, who would be the de-facto
"ambassador," called the Minnesota tribe's gift "a huge step in securing a home
in Washington."
For too long, Anderson said, Indian concerns have been represented in
Washington mainly by the BIA, an agency that falls under the vast bureaucracy of
the Interior Department.
Anderson said it is now time to recognize the reality of Indian sovereignty,
a concept recognized by the framers of the U.S. Constitution.
"It's amazing that you can have every other country represented in
Washington, but not the people who were here to greet the 'first visitors,' " Anderson
said. "It would be historic."
As Anderson and others see it, a new embassy would become the center for
doing much of what the American Indian Congress already does: Push for full
federal funding of Indian health and service programs, mediate disputes over
Indian trust funds, and serve as a political voice for tribes.
Comment