Federal official discusses land claim
Sept. 19, 2000

By R. PATRICK CORBETT
Observer-Dispatch

VERONA — The man who apologized earlier this month for his agency’s flawed and destructive Indian policies over the past 175 years said Monday that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is more important than ever before to the Indian nations in the United States.

Kevin Gover, the Department of the Interior’s assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, met with the media Monday at the Oneida Indian Nation’s Turning Stone Casino Resort. He and his top managers are at the resort for a three-day working retreat.

Keller George, a New York Oneida and president of the 23-tribe United Southern and Eastern Tribes organization, introduced Gover and said Gover’s Sept. 8 apology “was one of the most moving speeches I’ve ever heard.”

Gover said his intent was not to apologize, but to emphasize the changes that are shaping the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the future. He said the bureau can be an advocate and influence national policy to help Indian nations recover from the predatory policies that once sought to destroy them.

He said there is no bureau master plan to steer Indian nations toward the ultimate goal of self-sufficiency, though. “We’ve learned the smart thing to do is support the tribes when they bring their plans to us.”

And George said even with the aid of a bureau led and staffed by Indian people, Indian nations face “a long road to self-determination.”

  • It is a road being paved largely with revenue from Indian gaming operations, Gover said.
    As a lawyer for two Pueblo tribes in New Mexico, he said he once counseled tribal leaders that gambling was a risky enterprise with serious downsides.

    “Happily, tribal leaders went ahead anyhow,” he said, and now have a thriving casino business.
    “Indian gaming ... is the only federal economic initiative that’s ever worked,” he said.

    Even while cheering the successes, he said, the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not easily approve gaming proposals.
    “We get dozens of applications a year for casinos,” he said, but the Mohawk application for a casino in New York’s Catskill Mountains was the only one approved this year.
  • “Land claims are difficult to resolve,” he said. “The more issues, the more difficult it becomes.”
    He said he believes Gov. George Pataki is “negotiating in good faith,” on the Oneida land claim in Oneida and Madison counties, but rolling in issues such as sales taxes and property taxes is “hampering a settlement.”

    As for the Oneidas’ refusal to pay local property taxes on the 13,000 acres it has purchased in the two counties, he said, “It is not inappropriate that Indians should exercise dominion over their own land.”
  • Gover said even as Indians attain a level of economic self-sufficiency, though, they must remain alert to attempts by Congress to impede their gaming businesses with restrictive legislation.

    He said he would be available to help Indians protect their rights next year after President Clinton leaves office.

    Gover said he will step down from the bureau next January to resume his career as a lawyer and to be a lobbyist for Indian interests in Washington, D.C.
  • Gover said he has not been asked for input on the state report being prepared to address the use of Indian-related mascots for public schools, but if solicited his opinion would be clear.
    “These images of Indians ... are very harmful to Indian tribes and ... especially to Indian children. An enlightened community would do away with those mascots,” Gover said.

    Bureau Deputy Commissioner Sharon Blackwell said image is critical because in education, “Success depends on how you feel about yourself,” and Indian education is central to Indian self-sufficiency.

    As for the Oneidas’ refusal to pay local property taxes on the 13,000 acres it has purchased in the two counties, he said, “It is not inappropriate that Indians should exercise dominion over their own land.”

  • Gover said even as Indians attain a level of economic self-sufficiency, though, they must remain alert to attempts by Congress to impede their gaming businesses with restrictive legislation.
    He said he would be available to help Indians protect their rights next year after President Clinton leaves office.

    Gover said he will step down from the bureau next January to resume his career as a lawyer and to be a lobbyist for Indian interests in Washington, D.C.
  • Gover said he has not been asked for input on the state report being prepared to address the use of Indian-related mascots for public schools, but if solicited his opinion would be clear.

    “These images of Indians ... are very harmful to Indian tribes and ... especially to Indian children. An enlightened community would do away with those mascots,” Gover said.

    Bureau Deputy Commissioner Sharon Blackwell said image is critical because in education, “Success depends on how you feel about yourself,” and Indian education is central to Indian self-sufficiency.

 

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