Mr. Chairman, my name is Gaiongwilode. I am also known as Ray Halbritter
and I am the Nation Representative of the Oneida Indian Nation. I am very
pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the Committee today about the
future of Indian gaming.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act -- IGRA -- has been the single most
important economic chance that the U.S. Government has ever given Indian
nations. IGRA has given us a chance to help ourselves escape the poverty
cycle in which Indians have been trapped since our land was stolen and we
were herded onto barren reservations. Without resources -- either in land or
capitol -- we had limited options. In fact, we had almost no options.
Then IGRA was adopted in 1988. With it, we have been able to develop
enterprises that have made it possible for us to educate our children, build
decent housing, get quality medical care, take care of our honored elders, and
create jobs for our people. Because of IGRA, our people walk with a pride
and vigor today that we have not known for centuries. We have hope for the
future -- for ourselves, our children, and the generations to come. This is
why we watch closely whenever there is talk of changing IGRA and why we
carefully weigh the potential impact of those changes.
The most important point to remember here is that IGRA is working. It is
helping to create new opportunities, new chances for a people who have been
deprived of opportunities, of choices and chances for generations. And it does
this while preserving the rights and interests of other governments -- federal,
state and local.
The Oneida Nation's compact with the State of New York is an example. It is
a 41-page document with some 200 pages of detailed appendices. It has been
cited as a model for joint regulation of a casino by an Indian nation and a
state government.
We believe -- and I think our patrons would agree -- that the joint regulatory
system we have at Turning Stone with the State of New York ensures a quality
entertainment experience. We are very proud of our achievements there and
would hold up our compact as an example of what can be accomplished under
IGRA. Mr. Chairman, I request that a copy of our compact be included in the
legislative record for S. 487.
Turning Stone was built with proceeds from bingo, which the Oneida Nation
has been operating since 1975. Our bingo gaming ordinance, with its stringent
regulations, has been approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission
and is in accordance with IGRA's standards.
Revenues from these two enterprises have financed tremendous improvements
in quality of life for all the Members of the Oneida Nation. This year, we
built 30 new homes for Nation Members. We have 70 students enrolled in
higher education. We broke ground on a new Elder Care and Child Daycare
Center. We have been able to reacquire over 3,000 acres of our ancestral
lands -- 2,000 of them in the past year.
With gaming dollars, we have rebuilt our Longhouse and Cookhouse --
important social and religious centers in our culture. We have begun to
repatriate cultural antiquities and the human remains of our forefathers. We
have opened a cultural center to display thewse antiquities and to teach our
children their native language and traditions.
Now, gaming revenues also are supporting our expansion into other
businesses, allowing us to diversify and gain additional economic security for
our Members. At the Oneida Nation, already we have launched a textile
printing business, built an RV park, are starting an agricultural enterprise,
and are actively looking at a number of other ventures.
Our accomplishments are reviewed in the current issues of Onyota a:ka
Nation Times. Mr. Chairman, I request that this publication be made part of
the legislative record of S. 487.
So, as you see, the Oneida Indian Nation has benefitted greatly from IGRA.
We were fortunate enough to be located in a State that was willing to sit down
and work with us to hammer out a comprehensive regulatory scheme for
Turning Stone. Not all Indian nations have that advantage. And that is why we
strongly support the provision in S. 487 that authorizes the Department of the
Interior to approve a gaming compact when a State refuses to negotiate with
an Indian nation. This will contribute greatly to putting even more Indian
nations on a course of self-help and economic recovery.
We do have a few concerns with other proposed provisions. Let me quickly
cite some specifics.
New licensing provisions call for extensive new licensing of bingo
contractors, service providers, and managers, including sovereign tribal
governments, but do not provide for grace periods during which existing
bingo halls could continue to operate while securing all these new licenses.
The procedures for establishing federal minimum standards could evolve into
a lengthy process that could hamper ongoing Indian run bingo operations.
This could do serious damage to the fragile economic structures that many
Indian nations have just constructed.
The provisions that trouble me most in S. 487 are those that would allow the
new Commission to conduct background investigations of India nations and
tribes seeking to obtain federal licenses for their gaming operations. This
seems to me to infringe on the sovereignty of Indian nations. It also invites
meddling by the U.S. Government in the affairs of individual nations.
The new licensing requirements also set up one other major barrier for
Indian gaming -- the possibility that tribes could be made to post bonds. Mr.
Chairman, as the Members of this esteemed Committee must be aware,
obtaining financing has always been a monumental problem for all Indian
nations. This requirement will shut many impoverished Indian nations out of
the economic opportunity made possible by IGRA.
Finally, let me address the issue of federal minimum standards. My first
concern is that the bill as drafted requires that four of the seven members of
the committee represent state and federal governments while only three would
be members of Indian nations. This creates the possibility that the committee
could be dominated by anti-Indian gaming forces who could the write the
standards in total secrecy because the bill also exempts the Committee from
legislated requirements for balance, avoiding undue influence and openness.
If Congress wants to establish federal minimum standards for gaming, the
standards should apply to all gaming, not just Indian-gaming. The standards
should be set by Congress and not delegated to an agency. Also, minimum
standards should be exactly that -- minimum in number, detail, and
requirements. It would be odd in this time of government downsizing and
deregulating to do more than establish base level principles that would guide
all gaming operations.
Many Indian nations, the Oneida Nation included, are prospering for the first
time in hundreds of years because of IGRA and the gaming that it made
possible. Mr. Chairman, I ask you and the other esteemed Members of the
Committee to think carefully as you consider amending IGRA. You must make
sure that no Indian nation will be deprived of IGRA's window of opportunity
to help itself out of poverty and into prosperity.
Thank you.
Please send feedback to umstead@oneida-nation.org
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Daniel Umstead * The Oneida Indian Nation
Internet Coordinator *
Oneida Indian Nation * "The first Indian Nation on
315-361-6300 *
315-361-6333 (fax) * the World Wide Web"
umstead@oneida-nation.org *
* URL - http://nysernet.org/oneida/
*
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