2330 SIOUX TRAIL NW

• PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA - TRIBAL OFFICE: 952-445-8900 • FAX: 952-233-4225

SMSC Supports Cheyenne River Elderly Village

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe will construct an Elderly Village on their reservation in Eagle

Butte, South Dakota, due in part to a $3 million loan from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. The

nursing facility on an Indian reservation.

This press release and other information may be downloaded from the SMSC website at www.shakopeedakota.org.

-End-

OFFICERS

Chairman

Glynn A. Crooks

Vice Chairman

Keith B. Anderson

Secretary/Treasurer

FBI posts fake hyperlinks to snare child porn suspects

CLICK HERE FOR CHILD PORN?

Screen snapshot: This now-defunct site is reportedly where an FBI undercover agent posted hyperlinks purporting to be illegal videos. Clicking the links brought a raid from the Feds.

The FBI has recently adopted a novel investigative technique: posting hyperlinks that purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them.

 

Download mp3 (6.36MB) 

Undercover FBI agents used this hyperlink-enticement technique, which directed Internet users to a clandestine government server, to stage armed raids of homes in Pennsylvania, New York, and Nevada last year. The supposed video files actually were gibberish and contained no illegal images.

A CNET News.com review of legal documents shows that courts have approved of this technique, even though it raises questions about entrapment, the problems of identifying who’s using an open wireless connection–and whether anyone who clicks on a FBI link that contains no child pornography should be automatically subject to a dawn raid by federal police.

Roderick Vosburgh, a doctoral student at Temple University who also taught history at La Salle University, was raided at home in February 2007 after he allegedly clicked on the FBI’s hyperlink. Federal agents knocked on the door around 7 a.m., falsely claiming they wanted to talk to Vosburgh about his car. Once he opened the door, they threw him to the ground outside his house and handcuffed him.

AUDIO

News.com daily podcast
Reporter Declan McCullagh talks about the FBI’s
hyperlinking tactic for getting child porn suspects.

Download mp3 (6.36MB)

Vosburgh was charged with violating federal law, which criminalizes “attempts” to download child pornography with up to 10 years in prison. Last November, a jury found Vosburgh guilty on that count, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 22, at which point Vosburgh could face three to four years in prison.

The implications of the FBI’s hyperlink-enticement technique are sweeping. Using the same logic and legal arguments, federal agents could send unsolicited e-mail messages to millions of Americans advertising illegal narcotics or child pornography–and raid people who click on the links embedded in the spam messages. The bureau could register the “unlawfulimages.com” domain name and prosecute intentional visitors. And so on.

“The evidence was insufficient for a reasonable jury to find that Mr. Vosburgh specifically intended to download child pornography, a necessary element of any ‘attempt’ offense,” Vosburgh’s attorney, Anna Durbin of Ardmore, Penn., wrote in a court filing that is attempting to overturn the jury verdict before her client is sentenced.

In a telephone conversation on Wednesday, Durbin added: “I thought it was scary that they could do this. This whole idea that the FBI can put a honeypot out there to attract people is kind of sad. It seems to me that they’ve brought a lot of cases without having to stoop to this.”

Durbin did not want to be interviewed more extensively about the case because it is still pending; she’s waiting for U.S. District Judge Timothy Savage to rule on her motion. Unless he agrees with her and overturns the jury verdict, Vosburgh–who has no prior criminal record–will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years and will be effectively barred from continuing his work as a college instructor after his prison sentence ends.

How the hyperlink sting operation worked
The government’s hyperlink sting operation worked like this: FBI Special Agent Wade Luders disseminated links to the supposedly illicit porn on an online discussion forum called Ranchi, which Luders believed was frequented by people who traded underage images. One server allegedly associated with the Ranchi forum was rangate.da.ru, which is now offline with a message attributing the closure to “non-ethical” activity.

In October 2006, Luders posted a number of links purporting to point to videos of child pornography, and then followed up with a second, supposedly correct link 40 minutes later. All the links pointed to, according to a bureau affidavit, a “covert FBI computer in San Jose, California, and the file located therein was encrypted and non-pornographic.”

Excerpt from an FBI affidavit filed in the Nevada case showing how the hyperlink-sting was conducted.

Some of the links, including the supposedly correct one, included the hostname uploader.sytes.net. Sytes.net is hosted by no-ip.com, which provides dynamic domain name service to customers for $15 a year.

When anyone visited the upload.sytes.net site, the FBI recorded the Internet Protocol address of the remote computer. There’s no evidence the referring site was recorded as well, meaning the FBI couldn’t tell if the visitor found the links through Ranchi or another source such as an e-mail message.

With the logs revealing those allegedly incriminating IP addresses in hand, the FBI sent administrative subpoenas to the relevant Internet service provider to learn the identity of the person whose name was on the account–and then obtained search warrants for dawn raids.

Excerpt from FBI affidavit in Nevada case that shows visits to the hyperlink-sting site.

The search warrants authorized FBI agents to seize and remove any “computer-related” equipment, utility bills, telephone bills, any “addressed correspondence” sent through the U.S. mail, video gear, camera equipment, checkbooks, bank statements, and credit card statements.

While it might seem that merely clicking on a link wouldn’t be enough to justify a search warrant, courts have ruled otherwise. On March 6, U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Nevada agreed with a magistrate judge that the hyperlink-sting operation constituted sufficient probable cause to justify giving the FBI its search warrant.

The defendant in that case, Travis Carter, suggested that any of the neighbors could be using his wireless network. (The public defender’s office even sent out an investigator who confirmed that dozens of homes were within Wi-Fi range.)

But the magistrate judge ruled that even the possibilities of spoofing or other users of an open Wi-Fi connection “would not have negated a substantial basis for concluding that there was probable cause to believe that evidence of child pornography would be found on the premises to be searched.” Translated, that means the search warrant was valid.

Entrapment: Not a defense
So far, at least, attorneys defending the hyperlink-sting cases do not appear to have raised unlawful entrapment as a defense.

“Claims of entrapment have been made in similar cases, but usually do not get very far,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a professor at George Washington University’s law school. “The individuals who chose to log into the FBI sites appear to have had no pressure put upon them by the government…It is doubtful that the individuals could claim the government made them do something they weren’t predisposed to doing or that the government overreached.”

The outcome may be different, Saltzburg said, if the FBI had tried to encourage people to click on the link by including misleading statements suggesting the videos were legal or approved.

In the case of Vosburgh, the college instructor who lived in Media, Penn., his attorney has been left to argue that “no reasonable jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Vosburgh himself attempted to download child pornography.”

Vosburgh faced four charges: clicking on an illegal hyperlink; knowingly destroying a hard drive and a thumb drive by physically damaging them when the FBI agents were outside his home; obstructing an FBI investigation by destroying the devices; and possessing a hard drive with two grainy thumbnail images of naked female minors (the youths weren’t having sex, but their genitalia were visible).

The judge threw out the third count and the jury found him not guilty of the second. But Vosburgh was convicted of the first and last counts, which included clicking on the FBI’s illicit hyperlink.

In a legal brief filed on March 6, his attorney argued that the two thumbnails were in a hidden “thumbs.db” file automatically created by the Windows operating system. The brief said that there was no evidence that Vosburgh ever viewed the full-size images–which were not found on his hard drive–and the thumbnails could have been created by receiving an e-mail message, copying files, or innocently visiting a Web page.

From the FBI’s perspective, clicking on the illicit hyperlink and having a thumbs.db file with illicit images are both serious crimes. Federal prosecutors wrote: “The jury found that defendant knew exactly what he was trying to obtain when he downloaded the hyperlinks on Agent Luder’s Ranchi post. At trial, defendant suggested unrealistic, unlikely explanations as to how his computer was linked to the post. The jury saw through the smokes (sic) and mirrors, as should the court.”

And, as for the two thumbnail images, prosecutors argued (note that under federal child pornography law, the definition of “sexually explicit conduct” does not require that sex acts take place):

The first image depicted a pre-pubescent girl, fully naked, standing on one leg while the other leg was fully extended leaning on a desk, exposing her genitalia… The other image depicted four pre-pubescent fully naked girls sitting on a couch, with their legs spread apart, exposing their genitalia. Viewing this image, the jury could reasonably conclude that the four girls were posed in unnatural positions and the focal point of this picture was on their genitalia…. And, based on all this evidence, the jury found that the images were of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and certainly did not require a crystal clear resolution that defendant now claims was necessary, yet lacking.

Prosecutors also highlighted the fact that Vosburgh visited the “loli-chan” site, which has in the past featured a teenage Webcam girl holding up provocative signs (but without any nudity).

Civil libertarians warn that anyone who clicks on a hyperlink advertising something illegal–perhaps found while Web browsing or received through e-mail–could face the same fate.

When asked what would stop the FBI from expanding its hyperlink sting operation, Harvey Silverglate, a longtime criminal defense lawyer in Cambridge, Mass. and author of a forthcoming book on the Justice Department, replied: “Because the courts have been so narrow in their definition of ‘entrapment,’ and so expansive in their definition of ‘probable cause,’ there is nothing to stop the Feds from acting as you posit.”

_________________________________

For a Dawn FBI Raid On Your Home, Click Here
The FBI’s new child porn investigative technique…

Roderick Vosburgh, a doctoral student at Temple University who also taught history at La Salle University, was raided at home in February 2007 after he allegedly clicked on the FBI’s hyperlink. Federal agents knocked on the door around 7 a.m., falsely claiming they wanted to talk to Vosburgh about his car. Once he opened the door, they threw him to the ground outside his house and handcuffed him.

Vosburgh was charged with violating federal law, which criminalizes “attempts” to download child pornography with up to 10 years in prison. Last November, a jury found Vosburgh guilty on that count, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 22, at which point Vosburgh could face three to four years in prison.

Lawyers defending Vosburgh have not used entrapment as a defense, given such defenses “usually do not get very far,” according to one attorney. In Vosburgh’s case he added to his problems by destroying a hard drive and thumb drive just as FBI agents were about to raid his home. He was found to possess a hard drive with two grainy thumbnail images of naked female minors.

 

N O Y B

COMMENTARY:

“Illegal Hyperlink” - What?

How am I to know which hyperlinks are legal and which are not? Do these people even understand what a hyperlink actually is? What constitutes a hyperlink as being illegal?

If I create a hyper link at my web site that says “free pedophilia tutorials and coaching” and “free kiddie porn available here”, in order to boost traffic to my advertising site and the links take them to the Vatican web site. Would clicking on the links be illegal.

“Vosburgh faced four charges:
1) clicking on an illegal hyperlink;
2)knowingly destroying a hard drive and a thumb drive by physically damaging them when the FBI agents were outside his home;
3)obstructing an FBI investigation by destroying the devices;
4) and possessing a hard drive with two grainy thumbnail images of naked female minors (the youths weren’t having sex, but their genitalia were visible). “

It’s using honey-pot posts to trap potential wrong-doers.

The US agency is posting hyperlinks purporting to be, “illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them,” says Declan McCullagh.

A review of legal documents shows courts have approved of this technique, “even though it raises questions about entrapment, the problems of identifying who’s using an open wireless connection - and whether anyone who clicks on a FBI link that contains no child pornography should be automatically subject to a dawn raid by federal police,” says the story, going on:

“Roderick Vosburgh, a doctoral student at Temple University who also taught history at La Salle University, was raided at home in February 2007 after he allegedly clicked on the FBI’s hyperlink. Federal agents knocked on the door around 7 a.m., falsely claiming they wanted to talk to Vosburgh about his car.

“Once he opened the door, they threw him to the ground outside his house and handcuffed him.

“Vosburgh was charged with violating federal law, which criminalizes ‘attempts’ to download child pornography with up to 10 years in prison. Last November, a jury found Vosburgh guilty on that count, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 22, at which point Vosburgh could face three to four years in prison.”

The implications are sweeping, McCullagh correctly notes.

“Using the same logic and legal arguments, federal agents could send unsolicited e-mail messages to millions of Americans advertising illegal narcotics or child pornography - and raid people who click on the links embedded in the spam messages. The bureau could register the ‘unlawfulimages.com’ domain name and prosecute intentional visitors. And so on.”

The story says Vosburgh’s attorney, Anna Durbin, is trying to overturn the jury verdict before her client is sentenced, says CNET, going on >>>

“In a telephone conversation on Wednesday, Durbin added: ‘I thought it was scary that they could do this. This whole idea that the FBI can put a honeypot out there to attract people is kind of sad. It seems to me that they’ve brought a lot of cases without having to stoop to this.’”

Civil libertarians, “warn that anyone who clicks on a hyperlink advertising something illegal - perhaps found while Web browsing or received through e-mail - could face the same fate,” says the story, adding:

“When asked what would stop the FBI from expanding its hyperlink sting operation, Harvey Silverglate, a longtime criminal defense lawyer in Cambridge, Mass. and author of a forthcoming book on the Justice Department, replied:

“Because the courts have been so narrow in their definition of ‘entrapment,’ and so expansive in their definition of ‘probable cause,’ there is nothing to stop the Feds from acting as you posit.”

Da and Da

Meanwhile, there’s a mystery attached to the so-called ‘honey pot’ site.

The pic in the upper right is from the CNET story with the caption, “Screen snapshot: This now-defunct site is reportedly where an FBI undercover agent posted hyperlinks purporting to be illegal videos. Clicking the links brought a raid from the Feds.”

It gives http://www.da.ru/closed as the url.

However, http://www.da.ru/ is online with a 1998-2004 copyright.

Whois lists it as:

domain: DA.RU
type: CORPORATE
nserver: ns2.incru.net.
nserver: ns3.incru.net.
nserver: ns4.incru.net.
nserver: ns1.incru.net.
state: REGISTERED, DELEGATED
org: NET Limited
phone: +7 812 5780903
fax-no: +7 812 5780903
e-mail:
registrar: RUCENTER-REG-RIPN
created: 1998.03.28
paid-till: 2009.04.01
source: TC-RIPN

The ‘Da’ is the same but it doesn’t look like any kind of honey pot site.

So did the FBI in effect hijack it, abandoning it when it had served its purpose? Did it rent it? Or what?

The FAQ (top pic) page is no help.

It says, ‘Under construction,” but when you enter http://www.da.ru/closed (as per the CNET pic) you get, “The site you are looking for is closed, due to non-ethical and/or abusive activity.”

Mysteriouser and mysteriouser.  But there’ll be a simple explanation. Right?

HERE ARE ACTUAL PHOTOS TAKEN OF THE EARLY DAWN RAIDS ON SOME OF THE HOMES IN QUESTION!

Kahentinetha Horn, publisher of Mohawk Nation News, hospitalized with a heart attack on June 14, 2008, after being attacked by special forces in Canada at the Cornwall/Akwesasne border. Photo by Sagowaiaks.

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

http://www.NewsForNAtives.com

CORNWALL, Ontario — Kahentinetha Horn, 68, was handcuffed in a police stress hold at the border crossing. Kahentinetha told them she was having chest pains and to loosen the handcuffs. The officers responded by tightening the handcuffs. Kahentinetha was told to bend over in the presence of a male and female officer. She was suffering a trauma induced heart attack. During the attack Katenies, Mohawk Nation News editor, was beaten and jailed by the gang of at least 10 special forces. Kahentinetha is out of the hospital and is recovering. Please consider contributing to the legal fees for a lawsuit against the Canadian police and special forces who attacked the two Mohawk grandmothers.

For more information on Kahentinetha’s condition and letters of support: waneek@msn.ca
Please send checks and money orders to:
Mohawk Nation News
Box 991
Kahnawake, Quebec
CANADA J0L1B0

The Lone Ranger and Tonto walked into a bar one day and sat down to drink a beer. After a few minutes, a big tall cowboy walked in and said, “Who owns the big white horse outside?” The Lone Ranger stood up, hitched his gunbelt, and said, “I do. Why?”

The cowboy looked at the Lone Ranger and said, “I just thought you would like to know that your horse is just about dead outside!!” The Lone Ranger and Tonto rushed outside and, sure enough, Silver was about dead from heat exhaustion. The Lone Ranger got him some water and made him drink it, and soon Silver was starting to feel a little better.

The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and said, “Tonto, I want you to run around Silver and see if you can create enough of a breeze to make him start to feel better.”

Tonto said, “Sure Kemosabe”, and took off running circles around Silver. Not able to do anything else but wait, the Lone Ranger returned to the bar to finish his drink.

A few minutes later, another cowboy struts into the bar and announces, “Who owns that big white horse outside?”

The Lone Ranger stands again and claims, “I do. What is wrong with him this time?”

The cowboy says to him, “Nothing much, I just wanted you to know………… you left your Injun running!!!”

Ohhh, I know, it’s terrible, offensive and rude…. a little funny, but , oh hell… say, is it kimosabe, kimo sabee, kemosabe…which is it?   speaking of the long ranger and Tonto, here’s a photo you won’t see too often. wow!

click the photos to make them bigger if you like…

below? I couldn’t resist:

 
The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert.
After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep.
Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says,
“Kemo Sabe, look towards sky; what you see?”
The Lone Ranger replies, “Well, I see millions of stars.”
“What that tell you?” asked Tonto.
The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says,
“Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies.
Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning.
Theologically, the Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
Now tell me my friend, What does it tell you Tonto?”
To which Tonto replies: “It tell me someone stole our tent.”

_____________________________________________________

 
Tonto, I’m not quite sure what this means,
but everyone in the bar seems to think were’ the Village People…

this humor came from www.newsfornatives.com enjoy, laugh have fun

By CARSON WALKER Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Friday, July 04, 2008

BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, S.D.

The north end of this national park bustles with roughly a million tourists a year who pull over to view and photograph the majestic canyons, spires and tables, hike the trails and learn about fossils.

The park’s mostly undeveloped and far less-traveled South Unit, which also boasts mile upon mile of moonscape-like vistas, lies within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In the 1940s, the federal government seized it from more than 800 American Indian families for a military bombing and gunnery range that was used until the 1960s.

In 1976, the land was returned to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which has since co-managed it with the National Park Service.

As that agency drafts its operating plan for the South Unit, it’s thinking about returning complete control to the Oglala Sioux, which it has never done with a tribe.

“Many people want more tribal involvement and management and some want it turned over to the tribe,” said Paige Baker, Badlands National Park superintendent.

“My job is to balance the Park Service mission and very strongly listen to what the tribe is suggesting and maybe do something that should have been done long ago.”

Baker knows what it’s like to lose land to a federal project.

He is a member of the Hidatsa-Mandan tribe of North Dakota. Around 1950, his family had to move to make way for the Garrison Dam.

Now, as an Indian managing the Badlands, he’s asking tribal members how the South Unit should be managed.

“The thing we haven’t done with each other is listen,” Baker said.

The four concepts being discussed would:

_ Keep things the way they are with the Park Service and tribe co-managing the area;

_ Have both contribute equal funding and staff to manage the South Unit;

_ Let the tribe manage the unit with technical assistance from the Park Service;

_ Turn over total management to the tribe and remove it from Park Service territory.

Either of the last two would require congressional approval.

Those also are the options most favored by tribal members, but with a transition period of several years and congressional funding, said Birgil Kills Straight, director of the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority.

“That’s what seemed to prevail,” he said.

Most tribal members are cool to the idea of allowing mining or increased foot traffic on the land, Kills Straight said. Instead, likely uses would be expanded tourism, replacing grazing cattle with buffalo and perhaps allowing more - but controlled - access to some of the fossils, he said.

“Most people that we’ve had contact with would still like to keep the land as pristine or as environmentally safe as possible,” Kills Straight said.

Some tribal members want to give the land back to the families displaced, said Clarence Yellow Hawk, chairman of the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority board of directors.

Others who support turning the South Unit over to the tribe are concerned whether it would work, given the natural instability of tribal government, he said.

“I’m going to rely on my elderlies as to what direction to take,” Yellow Hawk said.

If the South Unit were run by the tribe as a park, “that’s another part of America that can be opened up and viewed and utilized for everybody,” he said.

Comments from 14 public meetings this spring will be compiled into a document that will be the subject of another comment period before a preferred option is chosen.

The Badlands park is one of several places where the National Park Service has done more to accommodate tribal interests, said Robert Holden, deputy director of the National Congress of American Indians and a member of the Choctaw-Chickasaw tribe of Oklahoma.

“Tribes are getting a fair shot at being able to do this. I think it’s commendable for the Park Service, and every effort should be made to make this happen,” he said.

The government should return land that was taken from tribal members - often without consultation, Holden said, and turning over the South Unit to the Oglala Sioux Tribe makes sense because it has a vested interest.

“They would be careful in managing these areas. But they also know the areas from a traditional cultural standpoint. They know the critical habitat, the items of cultural significance, not only sacred sites but also plants and animals,” he said.

The Park Service also co-manages with the Navajo tribe the Canyon de Chelley National Monument in Arizona, which is on tribal trust land, and works closely with Nez Perce tribal members who live in parts of the national historic park by that name in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

“When we deal with tribes, it’s a nation-to-nation relationship,” said Jeff Olson, National Park Service spokesman.

Though the agency has other such arrangements with tribes, deauthorizing the South Unit of the Badlands and turning management over to the Oglala Sioux Tribe would be unique. But the way the land came into federal possession is also rare, said Sandra Washington, chief of planning and compliance for the Midwest Region of the National Park Service.

The government took the South Unit from individuals and returned it to the tribe only if it agreed to allow the National Park Service to manage the unit. The alternative was for the land to be auctioned, so tribal leaders took the safer route and agreed to the co-management plan, she said.

“To some degree they were over a barrel,” Washington said.

Because of that uncommon history, the Park Service does not believe it would set a precedent if the South Unit were turned over to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, she said.

“What we’ll do in our plan is to make a recommendation for the management structure of the park. Also in that plan we’ll make decisions about how resources and the visitor experience should be managed if it stays within the system,” Washington said.

Then, it’s up to Congress, she said.

“This is one of the most important projects I’m working on now and probably one of the most important projects I’ve worked on in my lifetime,” Washington said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.newsfornatives.com news and politics for the concerned native american indian. www.newsfornatives.com

Badlands National Park plan: http://www.nps.gov/badl/parkmgmt/planning.htm

The tribe is considering several casino locations, including one in Stanley County on the west side of the massive Missouri River reservoir. That location would be on tribal trust land outside of the reservation boundaries.

“It’s near the lake. It’s a beautiful location,” Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe administrative officer Harold Condon said Wednesday.

With its proximity to the capital city of Pierre and the recreation draw of the Missouri River, the casino would be much more successful than if it were built on the isolated reservation itself, Condon said.

“I know gaming has helped out a lot of tribes, if it’s strategically located where the population base is,” Condon said. “I don’t know that we’d ever get to the point of the Shakopee or Pequot nations. But I know our tribal council would have plenty of places to use the revenue.”

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in tribal revenue. Tribal casino operations in South Dakota are much less profitable, although most provide important revenues for tribal government and members.

Tribes and the state negotiate gambling compacts. Gov. Mike Rounds said he had not heard of the Cheyenne River tribe’s casino proposal. In the past, governors have resisted proposals by tribes to locate casinos outside reservation boundaries.

The Cheyenne River tribe’s plans are very preliminary, said Jim Stoeser, a Stanley County commissioner. The Cheyenne River tribe is the only one of nine Native American tribes in South Dakota that does not have a gambling operation.

Stanley County commissioners were told Tuesday that the casino would feature slot machines and card games and eventually would have a motel and boat dock on the Missouri River reservoir.

Global Gaming Solutions, owned by the Chickasaw Nation, would serve as general contractor of the project.

Rounds said he is willing to speak with Cheyenne River tribal officials about plans for the casino. When considering Native American gambling compacts, Rounds said he has to consider how a change would affect other kinds of gambling in South Dakota.

“I don’t have a problem talking about these types of things with tribes,” Rounds said. “It would be better for me if I just keep an open mind for what they’re asking and listen to what they’ve got to say first, and then work my way through the process,” he said.

Condon said he is optimistic about the tribal gambling venture.

“It’s going to happen,” he said. “We’re working out the details. When we do complete it, I think it’ll be successful.”

this story found at www.newsfornatives.com news for natives http://newsfornatives.com politial satire native american indian news and politics

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Lakotaninja
wrote on Jul 5, 2008 12:50 AM:

” The CRST can’t operate anything they/we have right now. The tribe is run by uneducated people that have great talking skills but no business experience. There are many tribal members that are sucessful business men/women but stay away from the tribal political positions because they are so disfunctional. The tribe should step back and look at what business are sucessful in Eagle Butte and seek out help from those individuals. The casino can work but watch out for the sticky fingers syndrome which is very common around here. “

nativereader
wrote on Jul 3, 2008 2:08 PM:

” take a chance; custer did. “

CRST Member too
wrote on Jul 3, 2008 12:55 PM:

” The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe also has trust land in Wyoming, why not build a casino there also? We also have other natural resources that we can utilize and profit from, one being wind energy. I was also told that our reservation sets on one of the largest aquafiers in the nation, If this is true we can start our own water bottling company among other things. But.. what the tribe needs to set all this in motion is the RIGHT people and money! I believe that this is were the proposed casino can play an important part in obtaining that need. “

CRST-EB
wrote on Jul 3, 2008 11:11 AM:

” As a CRST member I am all for a casino but right now isn’t the time. As everyone has pointed out, there is some business that needs to be taken care of. The tribe will have to sustain it’s economic situation before taking on such a venture as this. It all starts with the voters and members of the reservation. It’s funny how given a certain amount of authority may change a person. The tribe is a government, and it should be run or treated as such. How much money is the US Goverment in debt, what comes after trillion? What options does the tribal government have for taxation? How many businesses does the tribe actually operate and the revenue trickles back to tribal programs and services? Here comes that darn education problem again. “

CRST Member
wrote on Jul 3, 2008 10:00 AM:

” Golly Gee!….this might just work! “

Stupid Stupid and one more time Stupid
wrote on Jul 3, 2008 8:35 AM:

” CRST Tribal Council has not taken care of the responsibility given to them as elected officials. They assume themselves to the position of knowing all and how to fix all. The problem is they don’t know it all and they break everything, including the people. The debt they created or helped create will paid by low income people who can’t afford to have a casino so near. The casino market is so over saturated in South Dakota it’s a joke to put even another gas station casino in place, much less another tribal casino. I recall plans to turn the super 8 into a casion, or build a resort near Bob’s. Well the tribe was in much better condition when those plans were made, and now, the plan is to go deeper into debt to make the tribal member fixed income pay to bring that debt up a bit. Again, Tribal Council is banking on JTAC for healing all the wounds they caused…. problem is the bleeding still hasn’t stopped. Why not try to get tribal employees to show up at 7:30 AM? Service that are paid for by federal funds are limited because of a 4 day work week that is actually only about 3 1/2 days a week… Take care of your people and don’t dig another hole that will affect the future. Don’t be stupid. “

Good luck
wrote on Jul 3, 2008 7:23 AM:

” Do not end up like Pine ridge and pay $20,000,000 for a $10,000,000 facility like Walt & Paul did!! Keep a close eye on your elected officials so you won’t get ripped off like the Oglalas!!!!! “

REZIFIED
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 11:52 PM:

” I have to give kudos to the CRST for standing up and taking on this initiative….. it sounds like a plan from a leadership point of view. Would it be wise for all the other tribal casino’s to invest in THIS casino along with CRST to make and have a casino that would benefit all the SD tribes? Wishfull thinking or not,.. the casinos that would be left behind on the REZ’s could be made into factory type businesses or such….. I think, from my point of view,..the SD Native People have suffered enough,..it is time for all to work together to help each other, for are we not all related?, or is that phrase just being made to be another “tourist draw” to the state and to ourselves to dishonorably and disrespectfully market our ancestral way of thinking to the masses? Would these places that would be left behind employ more tribal members with benefits and higher pay for a more respectfull and livable wage to finally have the pride brought back to some of us to help others and ourselves back unto a road of self sustainability…. after-all… was it not an elder of long ago suggest that “we learn what is good and throw away what is not good”? Me,..as a struggling mother and friend to many other struggling mothers…please take some thoughtful consideration into what can really become of this leadership proposal,..for we all have many talents and skills and may be we “ARE ALL RELATED……” “

re SODAK
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 11:13 PM:

” What are you talking about??? Do you think this would be the first Casino to be built on land off the reservation??? If so, you are very wrong. There are many Native American Casino’s that are built on land that is not on the reservation. It is called trust land. This would be a great thing for everyone exept the politicians in Pierre who have commitments to the video lottery establishments in the Pierre area. That has been one of the issues with the Governor who is influenced by some of those in Pierre. The other issue in the past has been due to past Tribal officials who refused to entertain the idea of a Casino but that changed a few years ago and the Tribe is now serious and determined to build a Casino which would benefit the Tribe and it’s members greatly. The post by CRST MEMBER is innaccurate and misleading. This Casino would benefit the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (CRST) and it’s members in a very big way. As long as they start small and expand as the market allows, this Casino will be a huge success and will benefit not only the Tribe but the surrounding communities. It amazes me how some insist on keeping others from doing the right thing and being successful. Congrats to the CRST and their leaders for finally recognizing the opportunity they have!!! “

You can take that to the bank
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:30 PM:

” A Casino owned and fully operated by a Tribal Nation near the ol’ Fort Pierre. My gosh, Gen. Custer must be rolling in his grave! The naysayers fail to realize. This excercise in soverignty, sad but true will have more of a positive impact on this State than any of the glorious Janklow or Mike Rounds administrations combined. You can take that to the bank. “

To ASAD
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:29 PM:

” Don’t forget the Buffalo herd. “

Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:15 PM:

” Indian Gaming Regulatory Act

Public Law 100-497-Oct. 17, 1988 100th Congress Sec. 2701

******Re: Asad***********
As long as the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has land that is held in trust by the United States for the Tribe, the Tribe can have a casino even if that land is off reservation. It’s still Tribal land and the Tribe can build a casino if they want it there.

It needs to be a business proposition to see if the likelihood of the casino in that area being profitable and from all indications the Tribe has already had a study done on the fiscal decision making in placing a casino in the Ft. Pierre area.

Makes sense to me and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe should go ahead with their option of building a casino for profit. Other casinos have done the same and placed theirs in a high traffic, population area.

Thanks. “

Asad
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 5:35 PM:

” re: Broke - But they did such a good job with Huron College.

Mark my words, it will never happen at that location. It will need to be within in the boundries of the reservation and there is not the population/visitor/passerby base to support it. There is a reason they don’t have one already. “

CRST MEMBER
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 4:29 PM:

” being a CRST MEMBER, I am one of many Victims of countless mismanagements of tribe programs, i see more of the same (mismanagement) our so called leaders can not think for the people, all the energy is focused on pleasing non-members. it is easier for a white man to get enrolled as a tribal member than it is for a member to get help. - this CASINO is not going to help anyone but the State of South Dakota and a little pocket money for the tribal politicians. “

Re SODAK
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 3:51 PM:

” SODAK
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 3:09 PM:

” Who would have jurisdiction?? I can forsee problems on this if it is off the reservation and the tribe wants jurisdiction>>> “

*****Re: SODAK*************
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe would have jurisdiction. The land is held in trust by the U.S. for the benefit of the Tribes and its members. Any Tribe anywhere can purchase or buy land and have the U.S. hold it in trust for them even if it is off the Reservation. Buying addtional lands by the Tribe only makes its land holding larger.

Good luck Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Have a good day. “

Tribal jurisdiction of course land held in trust by U.S. for Tribe
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 3:47 PM:

” When you talk about land held in trust by the U.S. for the benefit of the Tribe, it is Tribal jurisdiction of course.

Tribes can own land anywhere they want and it can be held by the U.S. in trust.

Tribal sovereignty has its benefits, that is the way it goes. Good luck Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Thanks. “

SODAK
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 3:09 PM:

” Who would have jurisdiction?? I can forsee problems on this if it is off the reservation and the tribe wants jurisdiction>>> “

Tribal Member Living off the rez.
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 3:05 PM:

” The Casino will never happen! We are a sovereign nation. They tried before but they did a bad purposal. Who will work there? Our tribal members can’t drive 2 hours daily to work. Who would it attract? There’s not much population in the Pierre/Ft. Pierre area to go gambling up river a few hours a day. Each tribal member is worth $4000.00 a month to keep the tribe operating. Factories need to be brought in the bring employment to the rez. Who will think of that? No one. I guarantee there will be no casino! “

Get it
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 2:59 PM:

” Tribal Gaming is no different than gaming in Deadwood isn’t it? How many of their patrons are on a fixed income yet still can’t afford quality health insurance, put healthy food on their table and afford any prescriptions drugs they may need? In Western SD we’ve sold our souls to developers and big box retailers putting our small business owners out to the cold. There is a lot of sin going on yet our cowboy and indian mentality in SD wants to keep us fractionized instead of joining to meet a common enemy. All famlies struggle, even Mayor Hanks, Even our Tribal Presidents, if Indian gaming is what we need to support our headstart programs, our health systems, than non-indians should “allow” that so our tribal leaders can build stronger communities for our youth. Indian gaming is good for the goose and the gander. We are chasing the American Dream. “

D Ward
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 2:41 PM:

” As a CRST member I think that I should get delt pocket aces on the hold’em table once every half hour at this new casino. GO GAMBLERS!!!! “

Whitney M
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 2:33 PM:

” Location, location, location. In any business plan, location is a key factor; and especially important for any gambling venture. Some of the Indian casinos do not have ideal locations, as the rez is in an isolated portion of the state.

Gambling in SD is probably stagnant, with little growth. This opinion is just based on the local casino on Rosebud, with revenue being down in some months. Many factors contribute to a decrease: the economy being the largest, marketing, social impacts, etc. Bottom line, can SD economy support another casino? It will be extremely difficult to develop outside of trust lands, or off-reservation. “

broke
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 1:50 PM:

” the crst can’t even run their own tribal government, they are broke, recently, they borrowed $8 million dollars from a 3rd class bonding company and $3.1 million as interest. Law Enforcement Department is $2.5 million dollars in the RED, former Super 8 motel is about $800,000 in the RED, and other failed businesses. Before they venture into new businesses, they need to find out why the present businesses failed. The tribal government lack business minded people to run the tribal government. “

To Jimmy
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 12:33 PM:

” “…..and 90% of the people that waste there mony at Indian casinos are white people…. “

Evidently you have not been to Praire Winds. “

Truthinator
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 12:22 PM:

” To: its just not right - I can’t agree with what you are saying about the tribes catering to their own members.

All the casinos that could be are built with the best exposure to people who will visit the reservation area to enjoy the casino offerings. The reason the tribal casinos are located where they are is because of the necessity to form a “gaming pact” with the state of South Dakota. Several of the casinos, such as those at Flandreau and Watertown are in a bigger population area. The casino at Ft. Randall is in a pretty good position, too, though it is not in a high population area.

I have seen so many cases where the employment offered there has taken many, many families off welfare and food stamp roles and has restored economic pride. Along with that, sadly, is the fact that some people lose all their money and there is undoubtedly corruption in some of the operations - just like any other government- run enterprise.

Tribes should have the maximum amount of self-determination, but also should be ready for the maximum amount of self-reliance, too. You simply can’t have maximum self-determination and still be a ward of the government, or can you? Perhaps they should check with the Halliburton lobbyists… “

James swan
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 11:44 AM:

” tooo hmmm……its not the same thing….not all land is sacred…..the reservations are not sacred …….but there are sacred places on the rez……….would you want a bar or adult book stores next to a place you pray?….I would think not…..but I suppose for the right price …it would be ok?….at least the tribe has enough respect to put this in a place where it wont infringe someones rights…..and 90% of the people that waste there mony at Indian casinos are white people…. “

Sturgis resident
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:47 AM:

” That is a good one, This is interesting! You thought the CRST council was doing a good job and they didn’t need the money? Must have been because of that booming buffalo business and college they had, right? Oh wait, nevermind. At least , if it goes through, they are doing it right by not placing it in ir near an established town on the reservation.

I still think the tribe dropped the ball and should have put one on the river across from Bob’s, before they built their current facility. While it would have been close to Swithbird, it would have hopefully received the hunting and fishing money that rolls into the area annually. Isn’t that what has helped the Grand River Casion across the river from Mobridge? “

Wrong place
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:43 AM:

” The land around Bear Butte would be the perfect place for a tribe to build a casino. Get’em before they get to Deadwood. The property can be bought as long as a profit can be turned. It is not to late. As far as the Meade County Commisioners are concerned they did the right thing and used common sense in thier decision. Laws were not broken and there was no reason to deny the license. Emotions should always take a back seat to written law other wise nothing would ever get built or organzations,good or bad, would never be formed and criminals would run free. “

Pierre
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:36 AM:

” This casino 25-30 miles up river from Pierre,I would reccomend Deadwood,use the millions on a clear bet. Pierre has already to many casinos plus the shuttles going to the other reservation casinos are almost never running unless you put a group together. A casino to work needs to be where there is a constant population of people who like to gamble.tribes next to Minneapolis,Phoenix ect.. have millions of people and do fantastic.Creating jobs on the rez not off should be where this money could be spent. “

hmmm
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:26 AM:

” i find it interesting that an article about protesting sale of liquor on bear butte is in the paper as well as an article about a tribe building a casino for gambling and drinking…

i guess this area is not land that is considered sacred? or since this is to benefit native americans financially no one is fighting this like they are bear butte? just intriques me “

James Swan
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:25 AM:

” Did I miss something here?……..Good luck to in gods country ……hope it works out for you….. “

kevin
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:12 AM:

” As James Swann says,”greed,just pure greed”. “

its just not right
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:04 AM:

” yeah most casinos are built with one thing in mind to make money from anybody..a few business minded ppl actually think right about location and to please the money crowed but reservation casinos cater to their own ppl who live off of welfare and tribal jobs..the whole point is to get money from out side to bring in to the tribe but so much goes down hill like the rosebud casino which looks like a prison with out the guard towers and there are so many drunks in that place its hard to have fun and feel safe and the machines are so tight pl spend thousands a night and get pennies back thats not vegas style or good business you have to give a lil to get alot back ..but who know they trust those ppl they hire as gaming managers to i guess they think they know what they are doing ..peace “

This is interesting
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:01 AM:

” This is very interesting because I was proud to say that we didn’t have to depend on gambling to run our government, although its true that its just getting by day to day financially. If the CRST has Social Economic brains this wouldn’t happen. I am so against this “

Reader
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 10:00 AM:

” The land is on north Hwy 1806 a couple miles from the emergency spillway. It borders Buffalo Ridge Estates. “

sgj
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:40 AM:

” All we need is another Casino in the state so there will be more poeple broke and in poverty and more kids hungry. Can’t people figure out that these Casinos aren’t built with winners money. In the long run you always lose! Duh! “

If We Build It They Will Come
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:32 AM:

” I think while we are at it, the cowboy and indian fight and all, we should build a joint tribal casino at Sioux Addition in Rapid City. That too is still under tribal jurisdiction. If we build it, they will come. As the recession worsens, State budgets will soon be begging the Native community to build tribal gaming so the State will have revenue to pay teachers, State troopers and failing infrastructures. What part of a win win situation does Gov. Mike Rounds not understand? “

wondering
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:27 AM:

” where exactly is the land they plan to build this on? “

Truthinator
wrote on Jul 2, 2008 9:05 AM:

” This should be interesting. Rounds is a well-known Indian fighter and the land they are planning to build on is not considered trust land. They went through this same program before, with the state denying the project and the tribe threatening to put a landfill there, instead. I hope the casino goes through! “

 
MinnPost photo by Mike Mosedale
Arthur “Archie” LaRose, chairman-elect of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe:
“I want to restore the work ethic in our people.”

By Mike Mosedale

by Carol Berry

DENVER - The big March pow wow held here annually may be over for 2008, but the work of 2009 is already under way.

Grace Gillette, Arikara and executive director of the Denver March Powwow (informally known as ”Denver March”), is busy tallying, recording and planning - generally carrying out the nuts and bolts of designing and executing a major yearly event.

Part of Gillette’s post-pow wow job every year is to crunch numbers, send out vendor applications and begin the process of head staff selection for the next year, among countless other chores.

This year, there was good news and less-than-good news, the latter due to increased costs.

The 34th annual pow wow itself was a success, drawing 952 registered dancers, 1,742 dancers at the main grand entry, 34 drum groups, more than 185 arts and crafts booths, and participants and attendees from 25 countries and 49 states. Held in early spring, it is generally recognized as the kickoff event for the pow wow season nationally.

”People ask why it has been successful,” she said, theorizing that the event may accommodate ”people who have cabin fever.”

But she fundamentally attributes the pow wow’s success to the strong traditional and Christian practices of those on the five-member board of directors.

Of central importance is the Denver March’s unique status as a major pow wow that avoids the lure of huge cash prizes, thereby playing down competitiveness, she said.

Adult first-prize money at Denver March is $400, while at some of the large pow wows held by casino tribes, adult first prizes may be $3,000, she said.

”A lot of people like to come to Denver March Powwow because they think it’s the closest thing to a traditional pow wow that is a contest pow wow.”

In any case, the definition of what constitutes a traditional pow wow may be open to discussion.

For example, Mdewakanton Wacipi, the annual gathering at Flandreau, S.D., ”is always billed as a traditional, not contest, pow wow,” she said; but drums are asked to register, dancers are placed in categories and people are paid small amounts according to age group.

She attended that gathering, where her granddaughter, Larissa No Braid, was Gordon Weston Lodge Princess, in July, just after traveling to the Arikara Celebration in White Shield, N.D., where another granddaughter, Lara Jewell No Braid, was traveling princess.

The pow wows follow an old tradition of exchanging goods for services in the northern Plains, she said, and the giving of cash prizes is compatible with that tradition.

The Denver March has also ”avoided advice from others to use special effects - spotlights, fog - that kind of thing.”

At the annual Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma, for example, a new grand entry was tried in which dancers lined up across the arena by dance category and then moved forward together across the dance circle as spotlights were turned on and machines emitted fog.

The cross-arena entry became disorganized, some of the Golden Age women had difficulty breathing because of the fog, and the overall effect was too commercial, she said.

At some places, there are sports events, art shows, other kinds of musical performances and other entertainment which, she said, are really festivals, not pow wows.

As is the case with many nonprofits, the pow wow always operates on a thin fiscal margin, she said, and is still reeling from the setback dealt by the March 2003 blizzard that kept many potential Denver attendees - critical to the pow wow’s success - snowed in.

As a result, the pow wow committee looked last year at the possibility of a Thanksgiving pow wow and market at the National Western Events Center, which was a ”perfect setting”; but when it was carried out, there were essentially no shoppers and the pow wow proved to be a ”drain, rather than an asset,” she said.

That particular drain could, in fact, become an asset for the city of Denver if some very preliminary thinking were to become reality.

To date, the pow wow has kept its head above water in spite of increasing expenses for coliseum rental - $4,500-plus daily this year - and the services of coliseum staff, she said.

But in 2003, 73 drum groups registered and ”we realized we had to do something, so a $100 drum registration fee was charged.” With $50 day money, free pow wow passes and free parking, the drum groups were not penalized, they got to sing more often during the pow wow and the dance circle was more manageable, she said.

Although admission is charged, there are a lot of exceptions - over 60 and under 6 years of age, $10,000 in passes to nonprofits whose clients cannot afford to pay, and passes for Native students, student groups and others. ”If we charged everyone admission, we’d be OK,” she said. ”Problem is, costs were substantially higher this year.”

Gillette first volunteered for Denver March in the 1970s and left for a while, but became convinced she should begin volunteering again when she learned someone on the pow wow committee at the time had been asked about pow wow songs and said, ”There’s no meaning - it’s just chanting.” She went on to become pow wow board secretary, then co-chair with Ken LaDeaux, Sicangu/Oglala, of Rosebud, S.D., whose business acumen helped the organization, she said.

The pow wow receives support from Denver County Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and other contributors; and the arts and crafts booths rentals are another major source of revenue.

For 17 years, the pow wow committee functioned solely with the use of volunteers, and the resulting in-kind hours eventually made it possible to hire three staff. Denver March Powwow Inc. remains a federally registered nonprofit organization.

Corporate officers in addition to LeDeaux are Virginia Quintana, Hunkpapa, vice president, and Diane M. Buck, Assiniboine, secretary/treasurer. Committee chairs of the board of directors are LeDeaux, arts and crafts; Buck, contest; Quintana, feast/concession; Nancy Rouillard, Oglala, registration; and Virginia Irving, Oglala, sales.

Outgoing 2007 Denver March Powwow Princess Autumn Zotigh, Kiowa/Santee Dakota/Ohkay Owingeh, crowned the 2008 princess, Amanda Joy Ironstar, Nakota-Lakota from Oceanman First Nations in Saskatchewan, Canada, who resides in Anadarko, Okla.

The 2009 pow wow will be held March 20 - 22. For more information, visit http://denver marchpow wow.org.

___________________________

PHOTO CREDITS
Photos by Carol Berry — The 34th annual Denver March Powwow was a success, drawing 952 registered dancers, 1,742 dancers at the main grand entry, 34 drum groups, more than 185 arts and crafts booths, and participants and attendees from 25 countries and 49 states. The Denver March Powwow, held in early spring, is generally recognized as the kickoff event for the pow wow season nationally. Plans are already under way for the 2009 event.

___________________________

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