And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From: Pat Morris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/1110R5.html Wednesday, 10 November 1999 Indians to explore cutting cord to U.S. By Stephanie Innes The Arizona Daily Star Indigenous leaders from throughout North America will be in Tucson this week for a frank discussion about efforts to break away from federal reliance. A lot of the news appears to be good. And not all American Indians are relying on casino profits to wean themselves from government dollars. ``What is interesting about the last 30 years is that a significant number of Indian nations have broken away from federal dependency,'' said Stephen Cornell, director of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. ``A number are creating sustainable economies they designed. They are reducing their dependence on the federal government and are major contributors to off-reservation economies.'' The Udall Center will co-host this week's conference, which is titled ``Building American Indian Nations for the 21st Century,'' along with the Morris K. Udall Foundation and the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona. Organizers say about 300 people representing 50 tribes in the United States and Canada have registered. The conference begins with a reception tomorrow night, and with discussions and workshops Friday and Saturday. Friday night's scheduled keynote speaker is U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. Cornell stressed the conference will not be an academic examination of American Indian policy. Rather, it's a chance for the tribes to get together for practical idea-swapping. Among the scheduled speakers isJohn Barrett, chairman of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma, whose tribe owns a bank, media outlets and several stores in Shawnee. ``That's a nation I'd hold up as having broken away. It's an important story to hear,'' Cornell said. In another example, the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho holds the contract for the state's gray wolf recovery program. ``So much attention is paid to what doesn't work in Indian country. This conference in part is about what does work,'' Cornell said. Other tribes, such as the Tohono O'odham, are using Indian gaming as a springboard for more diverse economic development. Tohono O'odham Chairman Edward Manuel said he's hoping to hear about how tribes can attract non-Indians to operate businesses on the reservation. ``The casino is not the panacea to our economic development,'' said Manuel, whose tribe currently operates two on-reservation casinos. ``We need to establish policies that are fair to development. We have enough sovereignty as tribal governments. It's just a matter of how we use that.'' Another scheduled speaker is John Petoskey, who will explain how his Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Michigan used casino profits to invest in Traverse City and clean up urban blight. ``The idea is for Indians to share success stories and to learn from each others' experience,'' Cornell said. The Morris K. Udall Foundation for Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy is a federal agency established by Congress in 1992 to honor Udall's 30 years of service in the House of Representatives. The Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy is a research and outreach unit of the University of Arizona. THE SCHEDULE An opening reception for the ``Building American Indian Nations for the 21st Century'' conference begins at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Arizona State Museum on the University of Arizona campus. Conference workshops and panels will be at the downtown Holiday Inn City Center, 181 W. Broadway. On-site registration costs $150 per person, or $75 for students. The price includes lunch and dinner on Friday and lunch on Saturday. For more information, call the Udall Center at 621-7189. Information is also available at the center's Web site: http://udallcenter.arizona.edu AN EXPLANATION American Indian nations refer to themselves as sovereign, which literally means they operate as independent political authorities, governing themselves. Tribes determine their own membership and set up their own governments. And Congress, in the Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994, recognized ``the inherent sovereignty of Indian tribes and nations.'' But in reality, most tribes operate as quasi-sovereign nations since they still rely on U.S. government subsidies and programs for such crucial functions as welfare, health care and housing. Both the tribes and the federal government are working on increasing Indian self-governance by turning federal programs over to the tribes themselves. The Interior Department has an office devoted to enforcing the Self-Governance Act, which states that the U.S. ``recognizes a special government relationship with Indian tribes, including the right of the tribes to self-governance.'' The law also acknowledges that although some progress toward self-governance has been made, ``The federal bureaucracy with its centralized rules and regulations has eroded tribal self-governance and dominates tribal affairs.'' Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<> Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<>
