MORONGO INDIAN RESERVATION, Calif. ? Relief efforts for Nebraska’s Santee Sioux are under way among a half dozen tribes in Southern California and Oklahoma. The tribes are responding to the United States government’s seizure of Santee assets.
The three tribes in California, the Morongo band of Mission Indians, Cabazon and the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, have already raised several thousand dollars in aid. The Santee Sioux owe the federal government nearly $4 million in back fines for operating what the state of Nebraska alleged was an illegal Class III, or Nevada-style gaming operation, with cash slot machines.
A federal judge ruled last week that the tribe’s Ohiya casino is now a legal Class II casino after the tribe switched to less lucrative pull-tab machines. But the same ruling failed to erase fines accrued up until May 15 of this year.
Tracy Burris, chairman of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, said that several people who met at regional and national American Indian conferences began a dialogue several months ago about the plight of the Santee. He says the group was particularly appalled by the federal government freeze on tribal funds for such things as elder care and the Head Start program for the children.
“This is something that I’ve taken on personally,” said Burris. “It’s just a really sad story, and my heart just went out to them.”
Burris credits Wilson Pipestem, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma, with promoting the idea. Pipestem was unavailable for comment because he was away from his office on vacation.
The relief effort began to take shape just before Thanksgiving, when, among others, Burris, Damon Sandoval, a Morongo tribal councilman, and Pechanga councilman Anthony Miranda, flew to the Midwest to visit the Santee. Sandoval said that he was touched by the tribe’s generosity and asked what he could do to help.
Realizing it was too late for Thanksgiving, they decided to organize the relief effort around Christmas. An internal meeting of the Santee tribal council concluded the best course of action would be to create a wish list for tribal members under the age of 21 and those considered elders.
Once he received the list, Sandoval said the utility and simplicity of the gifts that were requested surprised him. Mostly the requests were for basic items such as jackets, scarves and gloves, things that are a necessity in the harsh winters of the northern Great Plains.
“Man, it’s almost heartbreaking, I was totally blown away by such basic requests for living,” Sandoval said.
Additionally the Santee also requested food items, such as turkeys and fresh fruit.
After returning to California and coordinating efforts, the three tribes approached some Oklahoma tribes and they agreed to coordinate the relief effort jointly. The Oklahoma tribes include the Cherokee Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe.
Though figures are incomplete, it is estimated that several tens of thousands of dollars have been donated through cash or services. Dozens of individual donations were solicited on a popular American Indian Web site. The biggest donors so far are the Morongo Tribe, which has chipped in $25,000, and the law firm of Monteau and Peebles, which has offered $50,000 in legal services.
Anthony Miranda, who is the new secretary for the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, said he sees many connections between the current struggle of the Santee and his tribe’s struggles a few years ago to operate a gaming establishment in California. Miranda’s Pechanga Tribe is one of the tribes most credited with spearheading the ballot propositions in 1998 and last year that finally legalized Indian gaming in California.
“For me it’s ironic that on one hand the federal government has a responsibility to protect sovereignty and on the other hand they prosecute a tribe for asserting their sovereign rights,” Miranda said.
The money is being handled by the Morongo Accounting Department, which is working out a plan for disbursement.
In addition to aid from the tribes and individuals, Miranda and Sandoval said the next step would be to meet with representatives from a few large retail chains, such as Wal-mart, K-Mart and a few grocery outlets to purchase and deliver the gifts. The two men report that talks are under way with the retail giants to donate either delivery or matching funds for the relief effort.
The 13,000-acre Santee Sioux reservation sits in a quiet corner of northeast Nebraska and is home to approximately half of the tribe’s 2,500 members. Published reports indicate that the tribe expects a financial downturn this winter because of the drop in revenue caused by the switch to the Class II machines.