Connecticut Attorney General To Tribal
Casinos: No Smoking On My Watch
Friday, March 14th, 2008
Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal of Connecticut
Unrest is stirring in the states of
Connecticut, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota among
a portion of the Native American population This month, The
Foxwood Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun - owned by the
Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes,
respectively - have locked horns with Connecticut Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal over whether or the CT smoking ban should apply to the
sovereign tribe. In the other states (ND, WY, SD, and NE), the
Republic of Lakotah - which numbers their Native American
group at around 13,000 - are still protesting alleged mistreatment by the
U.S. federal government.
Attorney General
Blumenthal of Connecticut issued a formal legal opinion yesterday,
concluding that "under the state's compacts with the Mashantucket
Pequot and Mohegan tribes - the legislature has the authority to extend
the state's smoking ban to Connecticut's tribal
casinos."
According to the press
release, "Blumenthal issued the legal opinion at the request of State
Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr., Senate Majority
Leader Martin M. Looney, Speaker of the House James A. Amann and House
Majority Leader Christopher G. Donovan."
Blumenthal
also insisted this will hold up all the way to federal court if need
be. The casino owners believe that their business will suffer
considerably if subjected to the smoking ban, as their resorts are limited
public places left in the state of Connecticut where smokers and
nonsmokers can converge in peace.
They've expressed their
willingness to meet with state officials regarding smoking in the casinos,
but maintain that the circulation and air quality in their establishments
is not a second-hand smoke health hazard, and that a state ban should
not apply to their casinos because they have tribal
sovereignty. The Attorney General and leaders of the tribe are expected to continue
negotiations.
As for the Lakotah tribe, they made
an announcement to the U.S. Department of State in December of 2007 that
they withdrew from all treaties between the federal government and the
Lakotah Republic. The Lakotah tribe's Republic consists of multiple
sections of land, including areas of Nebraska (primarily in Omaha and
Bellevue); Rapid City, South Dakota; Casper, Wyoming; and areas of
Montana.
The withdrawal was signed by Native
American activists Russell Means, Gary
Rowland, Duane Martin, Sr., Canupa Gluha
Mani, and Phyllis Young. Lakotah is now
considered an "unrecognized state." Some Sioux tribal leaders,
however - including Rodney Bordeaux, president of the Rosebud Sioux
Tribe - claim that Indian actor/activist Russell Means was not
speaking on behalf of all Sioux tribes (Rosebud has approximately 25,000
members).
According to Indian Country Today, Bordeaux acknowledged
"Russell made some good points. All of the treaties have not been
lived up to by the federal government, but the treaties are the basis for
our relationship with the federal government and also the basis for the
trust relationship to our lands. We're trying to recover the lands
that were wrongfully taken from us, so we are going by the treaties...We
do not support what Means and his group are doing."
A spokesman for
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) told Indian Country that the
"leaders" that signed the petition "are not legitimate tribal governments
elected by the people. These are just groups who don't have any
government-to-government relationship with the federal
government."
The Republic of Lakotah's website refers to "colonial apartheid conditions imposed
on Lakotah people," referencing a life expectancy of
less than 44 years for Lakotah men, high incarceration rates, disease with high medical
expenses, low income, and an 85% unemployment rate. It states that
"the United States has consistently violated the treaties between Lakotah and the U.S.,
resulting in loss of life, resources, and territory for
Lakota."
Thanks,
Kelly!
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