Lois Henry: Indian gaming casino wouldn't be so bad
| Saturday, Nov 07 2009 05:49 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 07 2009 05:50 PM
Oh yes, if the Tejon Indian tribe gains federal recognition, Kern County will likely have an Indian gaming casino in its future. Probably somewhere near Mettler, close to Interstate 5.
And I'm fine with that.
I'm not a gambler, but other people enjoy it and as long as it's legal, who am I to stand in their way?
As for arguments that Indian casinos don't play by the same rules as other gaming houses in California, that people aren't protected by the same liability rules, safety regulations and other laws when they're in those casinos, I say, yup, caveat emptor, my friend.
Things are different in Mexico, Canada and other countries all over the world.
People who harp about how Indian casinos get special treatment because they're not subject to the same taxation as other businesses sound like they're talking through a big old mouth of sour grapes to me.
Native Americans weren't exactly dealt a fair hand back in the day. We (and by that I mean the U.S. government -- not you or I personally, so calm down) took their land, killed their people and gave them smallpox in return.
As a small, "'scuse our genocide" token, the federal government created the reservation system, which gave recognized tribes sovereign rights.
Well, they found a way to use those rights to their benefit. Ahhh! The American way! But back to the Tejon tribe. If you've never heard of them, don't feel bad.
The Chumash and Yokuts seem to have gotten more notice over the years. But the Tejon tribe has always been here, according to Jim Appodaca, vice chairman of the tribe.
There are more than 200 registered members, many of whom still live in the area. They have regular meetings and four major events a year, he said.
A couple of their members are trained as archeologists and regularly called to check construction sites for Native American habitation. The tribe is also in the process of contacting a linguist to help bring back their language, as the Tubatulabal in the Kern River Valley did several years ago.
Documentation on the Tejon tribe is extensive. The federal government knew about them, set aside lands for them, helped build a church and school on those lands and even sent representatives to check on them after the 1952 earthquake.
The reservation, which was mostly uninhabitable hillsides, was dissolved in the 1960s. Then when the government decided to list all recognized tribes in the 1970s, the Tejon were left off.
"We had always had a government-to-government relationship," Appodaca said. "Then it just stopped. Our contention is we were recognized but were left off the list through an administrative error."
(In the interest of full disclosure, Appodaca works for The Californian in new business development, but I did not know about his connection to the tribe until I started making calls looking for a tribal spokesperson. Small world, huh?)
He and his aunt, Kathy Morgan, chairwoman of the tribe, have been working for federal recognition going on 15 years or more, he said.
At the end of September, they met with the undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and showed they had jumped through all the hoops to prove their bloodlines. He was supposed to get back to them in 30 days, which was up on Nov. 1.
Appodaca sighed when I asked what their next move was. That will likely involve lawyers.
Speaking of lawyers, the tribe has some good ones through Patton Boggs, a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm specializing in indian recognition issues.
They were hired in 2008 and since have been paid nearly $300,000 on the tribe's behalf. Appodaca acknowledged they have a "financial backer" who's helping them, but he declined to tell me who that was. He wouldn't even say how the tribe hooked up with this backer.
Clearly, the backer is betting on a casino.
"It's really a crap shoot for him, though," Appodaca said, noting the ongoing struggle for recognition.
If they gain recognition, the tribe will consider a number of economic development methods, including a casino, he said.
The primary goal is to create funding so they can take care of older tribal members and provide for the education of the children. A casino would be the fastest, most effective way to do that.
I spoke with Supervisor Don Maben, who said a casino wouldn't be a good fit for Kern. He cited law enforcement issues and the arguments I listed already.
Casinos may not be subject to direct taxation, but they bring money in other ways -- such as jobs, tourism and other contributions to the community.
Seems to me Indian casinos would be a much better fit than prisons and sludge dumps.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at people.bakersfield.com/ home/Blog/noholdsbarred, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.com
