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JUNE 2, 2000

As "real" Indians from Nebraska, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, Indianz.Com finds it disheartening that Tim Giago's recent letter to a Connecticut newspaper places the alleged authenticity of Indians from the Western states in the context of white tourists.

"I don’t believe tourists come out west to visit the Indian casinos. I believe they come out west to experience real Indians," writes Giago in a letter published June 1 in The New London Day.

We hate to inform Giago, but we assert that we are Omaha, Winnebago, Pueblo, and Choctaw because of our families, culture, and heritage, not because white people find us more "real" than Indians on the East Coast.

Not only does Giago's letter mislead readers of the newspaper, most of whom are white, he also reinforces one of the major flaws of Jeff Benedict's Without Reservation. Like Benedict, Giago wants to punish certain Eastern Indians for having too much money but not enough blood quantum. So, like Benedict, Giago tries to steal sovereignty from them.

As Giago praises the Navajo Nation and the Great Sioux Nation for fighting the "real battle for tribal sovereignty," he conveniently ignores precedent setting battles which were fought and won as early as the 1920s by Eastern tribes like the Oneida and their fellow Haudenosaunee Nations of New York, the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Nations of Maine, and the Narragansett of Rhode Island. Their sovereignty battles continue even today.

Giago further misinforms readers on the factual history of gaming in Indian Country. Not only does Giago forget that the Maine and Rhode Island tribes, along with the Gay Head Wampanoag of Massachusetts, do not operate casinos, he writes that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988 led numerous groups to seek recognition solely for monetary reasons.

Yet of the 12 tribes who have received federal recognition since IGRA became law, only one is on the East Coast, the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut. The Mashantucket Pequot were recognized in 1983, a good five years before IGRA.

So where are these "brand new" and "wealthy" tribes of the East Coast Giago alleges to exist? We only count two wealthy tribes. Like Benedict, Giago is making a mountain out of molehill.

Giago also writes that the gaming craze began on the East Coast. He must have forgotten that the reason why IGRA was passed was due to a landmark California v. Cabazon decision of 1987 which involved gaming in California. For the seemingly geographically challenged Giago, California is on the West Coast.

California's gaming tribes deserve the true credit for making self-determination on reservations a reality for many tribes. Today, they stand as strong examples of sovereignty and economic development.

But if tourists visit these reservations in California because of casinos, does this make them less real in Giago's eyes?

As a longtime reporter on Indian issues, the publisher of the Lakota Nation Journal should know better than to leave out important facts that encourage anti-Indian and anti-sovereignty sentiments among the white neighbors of the Pequot tribes. If non-Indian backlash is imminent, as Giago claims, his letter has played a part.

The Indianz.Com Editorial Staff.

Indianz.Com was founded by Mia Merrick (Omaha) and Acee Agoyo (San Juan Pueblo) in August 1999 on the Omaha reservation in Nebraska. Indianz.Com currently operates out of its main offices on the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska.

Read Giago's Letter:
Tim Giago: Out where the Indians are real (The Talking Circle 6/1)