Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Myth of Inevitability, Part 4

After more than 10 years in court - it's a victory for Wisconsin.

In 1998 the Stockbridge-Munsee Community (tribe) in Shawano County began gaming operations on a country club it owned outside the boundaries of it's reservation.

Or not.

The tribe argued that the 'gaming' was going on within their reservation as it existed in 1856. But the State was able to prove that this reservation ceased to exist in 1910, and that government proclamations in 1937 and1948, and a 1972 Act of Congress had reconfigured the reservation - which, go figure, did not include the tribe-owned golf course where they had set up a slew of slot machines.

And the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed. But hey, they can still play golf there.

No Casino!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ceased to exsist? I wonder how many U.S. "tribes" never existed at all before the birth of the tribal casino. Ever hear of the spaghetti tribe of the north end? How about the chickenfinger tribe of chinatown? F'n farse.

carverchick said...

Hole in one for Wisconsin!

Individual States and American citizens alike are standing up and saying Enough is enough. That message is finally being heard. Let's hope that it continues to be.

Raymond Tolosko said...

FYI:

Martha Coakley will be on 96.9 fm, Eagan and Braudey show, taking calls on any topic on Wednesday, January 28th. The show is on from 12-3p.m.. I am not sure which hour she is on, but tune in and call.

Anonymous said...

Another great post. Thank you for all your effort in exposing the truth about Failed Federal Indian policy. It has to be changed so that everyone in America has equal rights under the law.

Special commendations must go to Shawano County Concerned Property Taxpayers Association (SCCPTA) amd North East Wisconsin Citizens for Equal Rights (NEWCER) who worked diligently to win this case.

Keep up the excellent work Gladys. What would we do without you bloggers!!!

Gladys Kravitz said...

Anon. 7:00am - thank you for noting the names of the local/regional organizations which contributed to this win through their hard work and tenacity.

I wonder what would happened if, ten years ago, they had simply shrugged their shoulders and decided they had no choice but to 'work with the slot course' on this. Or 'work with the Tribe they got'.

Well, I imagine we wouldn't be here talking about a win, would we?

No Casino!

Anonymous said...

Jacquie,

That's great information.

If enough people call and actually get on the air, our message will reach a broader audience. Martha Coakley can't claim to be unaware of the shennanagins of the Middleboro BOS when she's hearing about it directly from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

If anybody knows the call in phone number, please post it for everybody.


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