1988-11-09 Char-Koosta News

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Chief Charlo of the Salish VOLUME 17, NUMBER 25
A news pubtication of the Saiish and 'Kootenai "Tribes
of the ^fathead Indian H(eservation
THE HUNTING MONTH
Chief Koostatah of the Kootenai NOVEMBER 9,1988
Tribal Council votes to open gambling talks at state's request
The Tribal Council voted Nov. 2 to go ahead and begin talking with the state about the future of certain kinds of gambling on the Reservation.
Tribal Chairman Mickey Pablo said that the state Department of Commerce wrote to all the tribes in Montana, encouraging them to open negotiations under the new Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, signed into law last month.
Vice-chairman Fred Matt said the Council voted to follow through on the Commerce Department's request to contact the governor due to concern over the economic impact of the law locally.
The vote to negotiate means that existing games — cards, electronic machines and the state lottery — will be allowed to continue while negotiations toward a Tribal-state compact proceed.
Pablo said the Council still doesn't like the new rules, but they're the law now.
The law requires states and tribes to negotiate and enter compacts before certain kinds of gambling can take place on reservations. Traditional Indian games remain under sole Tribal authority. Games illegal under state law are now prohibited on reservations, as well.
Pow wow talks cover funding, philosophy
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Seventy-five percent of the Arlee pow wow committee - - Lee Ann Matt and Phillip and Debbie Paul - - met with members of the Tribal Council at two meetings to ask for support of the annual 4th of July weekend celebration.
Speaking first at the Oct 27 meeting at the St. Ignatius community center, and again the following day in Pablo, Matt said she heard the Council had voted to not fund the pow wow next summer because its dancing for money wasn't cultural.
Executive Secretary Joe Dupuis explained that the money wasn't cut out, but rather was set aside for repairs to the pow wow grounds.
Matt acknowledged that while the repairs were badly needed, the committee couldn't afford to lose the $8,000 -10,000, which covers about one-third of
the event's expenses each year. The event's other revenue sources - - bingo proceeds, concessionaire fees and non-Indian spectator admission fees - - just aren't enough to pay all the bills, she said.
Charging people to watch the dancing didn't sit well with her anyway, she noted, because it turned the pow wow into a sideshow for tourists.
Fred Matt, Tribal Council vice-chairman, countered that it also didn't seem right that the membership's money was going to support non-Salish and Kootenai dancers who, in effect, spend the summer on the pow wow "circuit".
It's the prize money that attracts the large number of dancers, though, she answered. It's not even big money compared to other celebrations, she (Concludes on page two)