| January 20, 2006 The Honorable Paula Lorenzo Dear Chairwoman Lorenzo: It pains me to write this, but your letter of January 17 to Governor Schwarzenegger cannot go without response. It is inappropriate, inflammatory, and insulting to the Tribal Nations of California. Most importantly, it is not representative of sound tribal policy and reflects the opinions of only six out of 107 California tribal governments. Your letter makes misleading allegations that tarnish the integrity of tribes throughout America. These egregious claims appear rooted more in a concern for profits than the concern for the integrity of the 1999 compacts, which the business alliance has repeatedly attacked. Most California tribes (and indeed other tribes across the country) sharply disagree with your position. Blanket statements condemning the use of class II games unless the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) has “approved” them, and suggesting that such use “invites tribes to ignore their responsibilities to the greater community in which they operate,” merely reinforce false perceptions that tribes are not law-abiding. These statements perpetuate the vulgar myth that tribal governments are insensitive to their neighboring communities. Surely you would agree that such myths sully the legacy of our ancestors and poison the air for our children’s future. We have come to expect such accusations from opponents of sovereignty, but not from fellow tribal people. Furthermore, your assertion that tribes are offering their patrons class II games “to avoid revenue share payments” and “avoid mitigation of environmental impacts” is equally insulting. Collectively, tribal governments that are party to the 1999 compact have contributed $525 million to both the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund and the Special Distribution Fund. Revenue sharing payments are in addition to the millions of the dollars tribal governments currently provide their local communities on a voluntary basis. This is an extraordinary achievement considering that less than ten years ago most tribes lived in abject poverty. What you are proposing is inconsistent with the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and would erode important tribal sovereign rights that have been defended since the Supreme Court’s ruling in State of California v. Cabazon. IGRA protects the right of tribal governments to offer class II games. Indeed five separate Federal Court of Appeals decisions have affirmed that right. Moreover, tribes have been working with the NIGC for years with regard to those games. As a result, class II games now in play throughout California and other states are entirely consistent with NIGC federally approved regulations that were adopted and issued by that agency in 2002. We are surprised and disheartened to learn that the business alliance is complicit in an effort to question the right of tribes to offer class II games. Tribes did not surrender those rights when they entered the 1999 compact and should not be expected to surrender those rights now. In addition, the compacts provide a fair process that allows the state and tribes to resolve any disputes that might arise over the use of class II games on a government-to-government basis. California’s tribal governments have been unjustly attacked and deserve
an apology from the California Tribal Business Alliance. Respectfully,
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Courtesy of www.Pechanga.Net