Opinion

Chief Allan: Tribe supports education with gaming enterprise

Thursday, January 12, 2012

"In my experience as Chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and as a tribal member living in this region, I have learned most people that attack Indian gaming or other tribal issues are usually, simply misinformed. Based on the points in Mr. Carlson’s letter, he is no different.

Maybe most important to this discussion is the history behind the Tribe’s 5% donations, which has been completely lost in the rhetoric. It was the Tribe that insisted on including a provision in our gaming compact that gave 5% of our net gaming revenues back to education – not the State. In fact, federal law prohibits states from taxing or assessing fees on tribal gaming. We wanted to give back to education because giving back is part of our culture. It’s who we are.

Furthermore, there is a huge disparity in what Carlson claims the “law” mandates and what the gaming compact actually says. The provision we offered, and that was included in the compact states “the gaming operation shall contribute five percent (5%) of the net revenues from authorized Class III gaming for the financial support of education. The sum each year is to be divided equally between Tribal and public education in the region on or near the Reservation” (emphasis added). Most importantly, the final sentence of that provision makes clear that “disbursements of these funds shall be at the sole discretion of the Tribe.” That means the Tribe gets to decide how we choose to define education and to which organizations and institutions we donate. This fact has been completely ignored by Carlson and others who oppose the Tribe and Indian gaming."

Get the Story:
Chief Allan: Tribe’s education funding above reproach (The Coeur d’Alene Press 1/12)