Fairness for California NDNs?

When do Indians get treated fairly?


By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer

While the politically correct wring their hands over the governor's veto of a bill to ban the use of the name "Redskins" by any public school in California, the latest crop of election ads from conservative interests gleefully pillory California's tribes for supposedly not paying their "fair share."

Want to talk fairness?

Then let's talk about banishing the American Indians to the most agriculturally worthless land in the United States, denying them their self-sufficiency, forcing them to rely on welfare and government handouts to feed their families. Let's talk about decades of federal policy that prohibited the use of Native American languages, causing entire tongues to become extinct.

Let's talk about an entire way of life eradicated by the march of European "progress."

At what point did the Indians ever get fair compensation for having their land taken from them, for being banished to barren reservations where they couldn't feed their people, for being forcibly removed from the regions their ancestors settled hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of years ago?

Now, with the rise of reservation casinos, the Indians finally find a way to screw the white man almost as much as they got screwed, and we're going to whine about fairness?

Please.

Suggesting that the Indians are morally bound to pay taxes on their gambling profits is a heck of a lot more offensive than calling a high school team the Redskins. Or Braves, Aztecs, Seminoles, Indians, etc.
Besides, a recent survey showed that most American Indians don't care if sports teams use the term "Redskin." And the Seminole Nation has publicly endorsed their name being used as a sports mascot. Nobody suggests that the use of the "Fighting Irish" at Notre Dame is somehow disrespectful to my Celtic forebears (although having a school with a French name compete as the Irish is at least a bit confusing).

For anyone but the wishy-washy left, honoring someone's warrior spirit is a sign of honor and respect.

Suggesting they're not paying their "fair share," however, is a slap in the face.

California's tribes have worked within the rules to find a way to generate enough income to take care of their own. Those who frequent the tribal casinos do so because the tribes have created competitive venues that offer the amenities and entertainment the gambling public wants. Locally, too, we've seen the tribes expanding beyond their casinos to create shopping destinations and live entertainment venues that rival the best in the region.

Pay taxes? They paid an eternal annuity when we took their land at gunpoint, stole their heritage, wiped out their languages.

Fight over the upcoming ballot measures all you want; take whatever side your conscience or wallet dictates.

But don't start talking about the tribes' lack of fairness.

Jim Trageser is assistant online editor of the North County Times. Contact him at jtrageser@nctimes.com.