Dear Editor,
I write to petition redress for the unwise and unfair
legislation allowing Indian casinos to bypass local approval prior
to their establishment.
Dear Editor,
I write to petition redress for the unwise and unfair legislation allowing Indian casinos to bypass local approval prior to their establishment.
I understand, as well as the next person the flimsy rationale upon which the current sovereign nation status of tribes, allows Indian tribes to impose their will upon U. S. citizens, who have allegedly oppressed them. But the reality is we have done no such thing here.
Congress is not doing anyone a favor by promoting gambling. There must be a better, more productive use of sovereign territory. Congress has the power to limit what an Indian nation can do.
In our area, a purported “tribe” of Miwok Indians – who don’t own any historical, ancestral land here – are attempting to open a casino. Their tribe, according to the newspapers, consists of five people. The original member, currently in jail, supposedly allowed four other non-Indians to join. Whereupon he was outvoted, and the new members took over, attempting to profit from Indian gaming dividends split up among the states acknowledged tribe members.
According to the press, the new “tribe” members live in a fine gated community in the Central Valley, courtesy of these gaming dividends. However, they aren’t satisfied and have combined with some developers to bring gambling to our area. There are hundreds of millions to be made each year.
The current Indian Act is wrong. It is wrong to allow the governor of a state to impose unwanted uses on a county. Nowhere in the general plan for San Benito County are casinos mentioned. On the other hand, numerous other more traditional uses are mentioned in the plan. It is wrong to grant special rights to anybody. Casinos are bad for the community. Gambling preys on the weakest citizens. Its aim is to empty the pockets of patrons. It has long been sponsored by organized crime.
It is high time Congress revisit the Indian Act, revising both its allowed uses of sovereign territory and the permitting process granted to the state’s governors. Local government must be the government entity to review and grant approval of the proposed impacts of a casino. It will be the citizens who live here who will pay monetarily for all the unmitigated impacts shoved down our throats by the governor.
In the spirit of understanding our God-given fundamental rights so eloquently set forth in Declaration of Independence, the government should do its constitutional duty and correct the abusive legislation now in place.
David Nicolaysen, Hollister
