The Native Blog

Happy New Year's Eve

This December '06 was the warmest December in Minnesota in 47 years. Here in Minnesota we haven't even got a 1/2 inch of snow for the month. It is almost funny to read the weather report in the newspaper, the weather man is apologizing every day for not having any snow, like it's his fault. Well since we can't blame global warming, I will just blame the people down in Denver, Colorado for getting all our snow! Hey, here is a song-poem to end the year with...

New Year’s Eve Song

For a long time I partied on New Year’s eve
Now there will be no more Jack Daniel’s bottles…
No more cheap 3.2 beer.
No more putting my life on the line in bars…!

No more falling apart…
No more falling down.
No more waking up sick as a dog
   And feeling like someone kicked me in the head…!

‘cos this New Year’s Eve
I am staying home where it is safe and warm…
And read Ana Castillo's poetry…
So from me to you: have a Happy & Safe New Year‘s eve…!

The Island Resort

HARRIS — Looking back at how the Island Resort Casino began and where it is today, the progress made over the years is “extremely surprising,” said Dave Feathers, public relations manager.

The Island Resort is the largest casino in the Upper Peninsula. It’s come a long way from its beginnings as a pole building more than two decades ago, he said.

The Island Resort Casino, formerly known as the Chip-In Casino, began its gambling operations in a building on the Hannahville Indian Community in December 1985. In 1991, the casino opened on its existing property at W399 U.S. 2 & 41. The facility included a bingo hall, gaming area, a 27-room motel, a restaurant and a bar.

An expansion project completed in May 1998 consisted of a new hotel, swimming pool, new gaming area, lounge, restaurant and showroom. The convention center followed in 1999.

With the current expansion project, the casino is growing to include a larger showroom, more gaming area, an 11-story hotel, a new restaurant and bar, and a new lounge. (See related story.)

“Everything that’s happened here is a tribute of good management and the outstanding ownership of the Hannahville Indian Community,” Feathers said. “They’re dedicated to the success of this place.”

The current expansion will benefit casino customers, employees and the region’s economy, and also increase the tribe’s revenues, allowing for greater tribal services for its members, Feathers noted.

The Hannahville Indian Community is made up of members of the Potawatomi Tribe.

Read the Story from the 'Daily Press.'

The Top Ten Reasons Why The Per Cap Was So Low

10. 160 tribal members at the last general council meeting voted against a per cap increase thus preventing 5,000 tribal members from voting on the increase in a general referendum!   

9. The Potawatomi off the rez don’t matter until their votes are needed for the next tribal election!   

8.. The entertainment committee didn’t try to get Buggin Malone to play at the casino! 

7. The donation committee wants more money to give to Haskell, so Haskell can discriminate against our tribal members when they go to school there!   

6. The tribe needs the extra money to hire more whites for the Fire Dept, for the tribal police, the new health care center and to give four dollar raises to all the white secretaries! 

5.. The tribal council is trying to get Jack Abramoff out of prison, so he can lobby for them on that bad land deal over in Illinois! 

4. The tribal council needs the extra money to go on trips all over the country to up hold that age-old tribal council tradition of partying and getting drunk!   

3. So the tribal council can redo their tribal council chambers for $100,000 and then add some $30,000 more for chairs just for laughs!   

2. So the tribal council‘s greed and bad land deals can deprive our children and grandchildren out of per caps and other benefits we now have!   

And the number one reason why the per cap is so low is…

1. The Chairwoman needs extra money for first-class plane tickets to go to her full-time job out in California!

A Reservation Heroine?

A Reservation Heroine?

 

A Book Review of the 'Unquiet Grave.'

The Unquiet Grave leads to an unquiet controversy

by Paul DeMain

Any individual spending a couple of years writing a book about Indian Country has to have learned something, but a fish out of his bowl, is just that.

Suffice to say that I give Steve Hendrick’s new book, The Unquiet Grave, a C for average, some great updates, plenty of old smoke and mirrors, missed opportunities, and an inability to see beyond his own biases about the poor, manipulated Indians.

Us as Native people, don’t need non-Natives apologizing for our conduct. It is we, who need to hold our own accountable for being thieves, drug dealers, thugs and for committing murder. Blaming Christopher Columbus or the FBI for our problems is not taking responsibility for our own affairs.

Hendricks dismisses some of my thinking as “ludicrous” – my problem – but then lowers himself to the “snitch-jacketing” AIM mongering intended to inflict ethical and character damage. I did not, as Hendrick’s suggests, either record a conversation with Bernie Lafferty, where she, for the first time, admits that “Peltier bragged about shooting an FBI agent,” nor did I, as he suggested, give it to federal prosecutors.

Vetting facts is difficult in multiple murder cases. By not asking after I willingly provided him with many other background documents for his book, as he started it – Hendricks sets himself up to have other alleged, probable, and might have positions questioned more deeply. There is a lot more to be said, but I will leave it there, noting that the famous Peltier mouthpiece Bobby Robideau recently asked online if Hendrick’s might not be an agent “provocateur.”

But Robideau is mostly an uncredible, old story, filled with unplausible diversions, just like a good portion of The Unquiet Grave is.

An Unquiet Grave leds to an Unquiet Controversy

Ochoa wins AP Female Athlete Award

Lorena Ochoa wins AP Female Athlete Award in Landslide In this article it says Lorena reaches out to her people where ever she plays on the LPGA tour. I could not stop from thinking, when I read this about Lorena Ochoa, about the Native American concerts I have gone to since the seventies and have watched our female Native American performers on stage. They have never been friendly to any natives out in the crowd, nor did they ever try to talk to anyone as they walked by. The only one I saw that was ever friendly to anyone was Martha Redbone.

If seems to me if our Native American female stars ever tried to reach out to native people, like Lorena Ochoa does with her people, maybe they would sell more books and Cds. But then again I don't claim to know anything about public relations 101.

Merry boxing day, solstice, many gift returns, etc.

Eric at the blog 'Native Art, Bingorage, and other Stuff' has posted illustrations and of portions of my book "Potawatomi Tracks: The Ballad of Vietnam and Other Stories." The post entry is called Merry boxing day, solstice, many gift returns, etc.

My book is going out of print, there was a lot of misery along the way, bad publishers, no reviews, no interest from Indian country, but I had a great time promoting it, I did some book-signings, got on 'Native America Calling' to do an interview about my book, that was a great experience, although at the time giving a radio interview was all new to me! I can't think of a better way for my book to exit the stage and go to the book graveyard, than a Native brother taking the time to do these illustrations of my book. I thank Eric for the taking the time to do all that, it means a lot to me, for you to take an interest in my book!

2006 Mantle of Shame Awards

'Indian Country Today' has the Harjo's: 2006 Mantle of Shame Awards, it is one writer's version of stereotypical stuff kept on her fireplace mantle that represents the worst that society has to offer about Indian Country!

The writer left out the top news story that happened in Indian Country in '06, and that was the story of the two missing Red Lake boys. The mainstream media covered this story and then lost interest faster than you say JonBenet Ramsey. The mainstream media coverage of these two missing Red Lake boys was by far the most shameful and the worst that society had to offer to Indian Country in '06!

Happy X-mas (War is Over)

Happy X-mas (War is Over)

'Tis The Day Before Xmas

The blog 'Fire Witch Rising' has this post Humvee Pinata stuffed with US Soldiers Fire Witch Rising asks are these suppose to be for kids GI Joe parties or Anti-American rallies?