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FEBRUARY 23, 2001

In an address to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) on Thursday, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton promised to listen more than talk and she lived up to her pledge as she fielded questions from some of the nation's tribal leaders.

Trust land acquisition, the new head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the environment were just a few of the issues raised by tribal leaders who participated in a question and answer session with Norton. Although she didn't have the answers to all of the questions posed, she did defend the Department's recent decision to approve an off-reservation casino proposed by three Ojibwe tribes in Hudson, Wisconsin.

The Interior has taken considerable heat on the matter ever since it first declined to take 55 acres of land into trust for the Lac Courte Oreilles, Red Cliff, and Mole Lake Ojibwe tribes five years ago. But it looks like the controversy won't be ending any time soon as Audrey Kohnen, President of the Prairie Island Indian Community in Minnesota, challenged Norton to explain why the Interior on Wednesday reversed the decision.

"I'm not here to lobby on that issue or repeat Prairie Island's position," said Kohnen. "I'm trying to understand how the Department reached its decision. I'd like to spend some time discussing that with you to get some understanding."

Kohnen may soon get her wish of a session with Norton but it might be in court. Her tribe is suing the Department and claims the approval of the Hudson proposal violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA).

For now, though, Norton defended the decision in light of its prior legal history. The three tribes sued former Secretary Bruce Babbitt who eventually agreed to reconsider the decision, but based only on the facts on the record as of July 1995 and supplemented with additional environmental reports.

"It was a matter in litigation for many years," said Norton. "A decision was based on the record in litigation as the proceedings required it to be."

Tex Hall, Chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation of North Dakota, also addressed another complex and controversial issue at the Interior. At the NCAI, Hall worked on the recently finalized regulations which make it more difficult for tribes to take land into trust and said he has been worried about a call for a moratorium on acquisition decisions.

Norton didn't have a response to Hall's moratorium question but said the Department plans on taking a "close look" at the regulations. Facing lawsuits from the state of Connecticut and South Dakota over recent decisions to take land into trust for tribes, Hall also said the Interior needs to recognize several exceptions to the regulations, including decisions affecting landless tribes and Alaska Natives.

Typical of NCAI gatherings, Norton's session was also filled with warm invitations from tribal leaders who invited her to visit their reservations and lands in Alaska, New York, Arizona, and beyond. Norton said she plans in headed to Alaska within the next two months.

Relevant Links:
The National Congress of American Indians - www.ncai.org
The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation - www.mhanation.com

Related Stories:
Norton outlines Indian Country priorities (Politics 2/23)
BIA approves off-reservation Ojibwe casino (Money Matters 2/21)