Casino Rejection Cause for Reflection

The decision by the US Department of the Interior to reject the St. Regis Tribal Council’s plans for a Monticello casino has provided Akwesasne with an opportunity to reflect on commercial gambling in general and the Tribe’s goals specifically.

We should take this time to inquire about Empire Resorts and its financial and administrative status. The company took a huge blow when the Monticello deal was turned down. It was already on shakey fiscal ground which has to call into question whether it was the right partner for the Tribe. Empire did not have the $600,000,000 on hand to build the casino so it would have to generate the money from some unknown source. Empire now has the time to bring its executives to Akwesasne, meet with people and allow them to have their questions answered. It is very bad public relations on their part to channel vital information through tribal officials since this leads to charges of bribery. If Empire has any tribal official on its payroll it is time to come clean and open its books for a forensic audit.

The Tribe failed to anticipate the strong local resistance to the Monticello casino. Many residents in that region were not persuaded that a casino of the magnitude proposed by the Tribe would actually provide the area with economic growth. The promised influx of casino dollars has not transformed Niagara Falls, NY or improved the lives of residents in Atlantic City. Casino-resorts such as the Turning Stone are designed to keep its patrons inside a specific area hence the large hotels, multitude of restaurants and entertainment venues within the complex. The area counties see, at best, only a trickle of the casino money, not nearly enough to cover their massive expenditures in roads, courts, water and sewage, which a casino inevitably entails. The Tribe did not promise anything different. It couldn’t.

The Tribe did not take into account the intent of the Indian Gaming Act. It was not only meant to provide a source of revenue for the Nations but to give jobs to the chronically under and unemployed. It was simple reasoning, which led the US to conclude that of the 3,000 jobs in Monticello very few would actually go to the Mohawks. Again, Turning Stone stands as an example of the invisibility of Indians as workers. The Tribe cannot promise a majority of the positions will go to Indians because it is unlikely many Mohawks would relocate to Sullivan County. Certainly, some Mohawks would work in the construction phase but would they stay to deal cards or repair slot machines? Not at the wages most casinos pay. The response by the Tribe must be to assure the Department of the Interior that real Indians will actually be hired and not just at the lower levels but in all phases of the operation. We don’t have the numbers moving to Monticello, nor can the Tribe promise us these jobs, hence the casino’s rejection.

There is another issue: exactly what effect would a “land-into-trust” decision have on Akwesasne? Trust status means the US holds the actual title to the land and allows the Indians to use it. We would never own the property as we now own Akwesasne. Would this compel the Tribe to surrender jurisdiction to the US and New York State? Who would enforce the laws and what laws would they enforce? If any group of people are to claim sovereignty they must have exclusive jurisdiction over its territory but the Tribe could not logically make this claim in Sullivan County. How is it that a “sovereign” entity must seek anyone’s approval for securing land anyway? This makes no sense.

The Tribe has not explained the tax issue. In order to secure a gambling compact from New York State (again, why in the world would a sovereign nation need to abide by the authority of an inferior entity such as a state?) the Tribe would have to pay a tax to Albany. It makes no difference how it is disguised, the percentage of the casino profits paid to New York is a tax. Can the Tribe then say it is exempt from other taxes? The US courts say no. A gambling compact is a cession of Indian sovereignty since it diminishes the Tribe to the same legal status as a state. Are the presumed casino profits sufficient to replace the income, which Akwesasne will lose once its tax free rights are gone?

One of the fundamental methods used by the US to control its people is the power to tax. Those who refuse to tender to the government its share are then subjected to fines and imprisonment along with the loss of their property. They are reduced and subdued. If the US and New York are able to tax Monticello they will expand this power to include Akwesasne as there will be no meaningful distinction in Tribal authority between there and the rez. If a person or business refuses to pay taxes they will be prosecuted with vigor. Each one of us would be expected to pay all US federal and state income taxes since we would have surrendered our tax free status. In time, the rez itself would be at risk.

There is another reason to stop awhile and think this through. Monticello is in Sullivan County, within the boundaries of the Lenapi Nation. If we are to fight for our right to conduct a business as an aboriginal entity we must insure we are on firm ground, on territory which we can rightfully state is ours from time immemorial. This is how Ganienkeh began in 1974 and why its still exists. This is why the Turning Stone and Seneca Niagara casinos continue to operate.

We as the Mohawk Nation have argued over the generations that Joseph Brant and John Deseronto did not have the authority to surrender 9,900,000 acres of Mohawk land. There is no document which states that the Mohawk Nation ceded anything to the US. This is one of the most powerful factors in our lives and is the cornerstone of our identity as a distinct people. We did not give up, we were not defeated, we did not sell out. We understood our ancestral boundaries and abided by them. We fought many battles to keep this land intact, contiguous. It is ours. Sullivan County is not. We were already defeated when the idea of a Monticello casino was first proposed for the simple truth that we had no business being in that area. Build a casino in Lake Placid or Lake George but not there. We are off base and out of place.

Finally, there is much more money to be made if we put our minds and resources together and think. Akwesasne is in a unique geographical situation. It is an ideal place to transfer goods to other Native nations. It is the best place to create a Native nation free trade zone. It is right for a Native Free Trade compact. By pulling together we can forge deals with other Native communities as long as we can demonstrate the ability to exercise exclusive jurisdiction here. This means retraining the Mohawk police to enforce distinctly Mohawk laws. This means our own justice code. This means acting as adults and not as children running off to Canada and the US whenever we have a problem. If we don’t do this, if we continue to live in disunity and abide by legal contradictions we will soon make those fatal compromises and give up all that is Mohawk for conditional money.

So thank the US Department of the Interior from saving us from ourselves. We can, and will, do better.