Mid-Michigan Indian Gambling Bonanza Leads Chippewa Into Political Morass
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Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, heads the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and promises more hearings to focus on proposals for off-reservation gaming as well as corrupt lobbying that roped in the Saginaw Chippewa.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the last of three articles about Indian gambling operations and allegations of lobbyist fraud involving the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of mid-Michigan.)
"Show me the money!"
That undying line fromthe movie "Jerry Maguire" is aptly applied to the widening scandals involving the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and their "goose that lays the golden eggs" -- the Soaring Eagle Casino at Mt. Pleasant.
"One of the most massive transfers of wealth in the nation's history is taking place right here in mid-Michigan," says a local politician, adding: "Vast sums mainly from factory retirees in Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint, Saginaw, Midland and Bay City are flowing to the casino at Mt. Pleasant."
That's one view of the source of about $400 million a year taken in by the Soaring Eagle.
The bonanza makes the area casino one of the most cash-flush in the country and in about a decade has made the Saginaw Chippewa one of the nation's wealthiest tribes.
Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, heads the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and promises more hearings to focus on proposals for off-reservation gaming as well as corrupt lobbying that roped in the SaginawChippewa.
"Every kind of charlatan and every type of crook has deceived and exploited America's native sons and daughters," McCain said at a hearing last year. "What sets the tale apart, what makes it truly extraordinary, is the extent anddegree of the apparent exploitation and deceit."
Gambling addictions grease the flow of cash from mid-Michigan area pensioners and, according to reports, many working people including public officeholders and those in positions of publictrust.
"I see people who obviously can't afford it continually going to the ATM machines with credit cards," said one casino regular from Bay City. "And I see public officials who should be back home at work for the people instead wasting time and spending their money in the slots and at the tables."
A benefit of the bonanza is that conditions have improved for the Indians living on the Isabella Reservation in Mt. Pleasant, and the associated small Saganing Reservation near Standish, just north of Bay County.
The dark side of the bonanza is a reported high incidence of illegal drug use by cash-flush tribal members, according to the Isabella County Sheriff's Department. The Central Michigan Life, student newspaper, reported drug dealers targeting Indians because of their money from "per-capita" checks. The tribe denies the charges that per-cap checks are fueling increased drug use and says it is working with BAYANET, the six county Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team out of Bay City, to control drug use.
Folks who laughingly head for Mt. Pleasant to "give some money to the Indians" rationalizing their addiction as a sort of benevolent contribution may have second thoughts when they hear what happens to some of the money.
Perhaps just good business sense is the motive behind the local tribe's hiring of lobbyists to mastermind their influence-peddling in Washington. After all, they have hundreds of models in corporate America likeEnron.
The Chippewa's support of Proposal One on last fall's election ballot, passage of which restricts the expansion of gambling, could be considered self-serving at worst and a benefit to the public at best.
Or, as somestrait-laced gambling opponents say, plain old fashioned greed may be at the root of the Indian tactics.
It wouldn't be hard to impute greed to a failed attempt last year to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants in Michigan in a purported attempt to drive more smokers to the casino.
The latest allegation is that the Saginaw Chippewa were among gaming tribes that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the political funds of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Among the top personalities being investigated by the Senate, the FBI and the Justice Department is Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition and a Bush-Cheney regional campaign chairman now running for lieutenant governor of Georgia.
Below:(Left)Ralph Reed and (Right) Jack Abramoff
At the center of the on-going probe are lobbyist Jack Abramoff and public relations consultant Michael Scanlon, who reportedly got about $82 million, mainly fraudulently, from about a dozen tribes, including the Saginaw Chippewa.
"These lobbyists smeared the reputations of other candidates running for Tribal Council through a series of slick brochures sent to Tribal members," testified Bernie Sprague, sub-chief of the Saginaw Chippewa.
The lobbyists bragged about electing seven candidates to the Tribal Council. After allegations of fraud surfaced, the group was voted out of office. Abramoff financed a recall effort against the new council that had canceled his contract. Another recall effort is underway, its source uncertain.
"It is difficult to understand why some of our Tribal members are standing behind what these opportunists did to hurt our people, Tribal sovereignty and draining our Tribal treasury," said Chief Audrey Falcon.
The local news reporter most informed on the subject, Mark Ranzenberger of the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun, recently revealed that Abramoff's former firm, Greenberg Traurig, has offered to refund $9 million of the $14 million bilked from the tribe in the past few years, allegedly by Abramoff with Scanlon secretly receiving some of the proceeds.
The Washington Post reported: "Abramoff and Scanlon secretly worked with conservative religious activist Ralph Reed to help persuade the state of Texas to shut down the Tigua casino in 2002, and then they persuaded the tribe to pay them to lobby Congress to reopen it, according to e-mails obtained by government investigators last fall."
Testimony at Senate hearings last fall revealed the contempt the lobbyists had for their Indian clients from whom they allegedly were stealing millions.
One example is from an e-mail from Abramoff to Reed: "I wish those moronic Tiguas were smarter in their political contributions. I'd love us to get our mitts on the moolah!! Oh well, stupid folks get wiped out."
A New York Times editorial recently headlined "Lobbyist as snapping turtle." The paper quoted Sen. Conrad Burns, Montana Republican who oversees the budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Burns told the Washington newspaper Roll Call that Abramoff was "like a snapping turtle. When he hooked on, he stayed on."
The Saginaw Chippewa have come under criticism from media and investigators for receiving about $9 million in federal grants, some allegedly because of lobbyist influence on Washington policy-makers through campaign donations.
The Tribal Council voted last May to receive a $3 million grant from the Bureauof Indian Affairs to build a school, Mr. Ranzenberger reported this week.
The federal omnibus appropirations bills contained $1.2 million for streets, $750,000 for the residential treatment center, $300,000 for the tribal police, $300,000 for a windpower study, $200,000 for water mains and $150,000 for improvements to the Mt. Pleasant Airport.
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