Tuesday, March 25, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
LOS ANGELES -- More than 3,000 of California's American Indians and their supporters rallied Monday against a federal move to stop casino-style electronic gaming on reservations.
"We're here for jobs and justice," said Lynn LeRoy, chairwoman of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations, which organized the protest, prayers and a sage-burning ritual.
The activists contend 15,000 jobs are in jeopardy.
Mary Ann Andreas, tribal chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, warned the crowd about federal usurpation of tribal rights.
"If they take over gaming, tomorrow, it could be our religion," she said.
Representatives of nine bands or tribes from the central part of the state carried colorful placards proclaiming their right to economic self-sufficiency.
The messages included: "I'm Not on Welfare. I Don't Want to Be on Welfare. Pete Wilson, You Go on Welfare," "No More Broken Treaties" and "Hell No, We Won't Close."
They gathered at the steps of the federal courthouse to protest suits filed by U.S. Attorney Nora Manella after the tribes refused to sign an agreement to terminate "illegal games" or enter into compacts with the state of California by May 1.
Under a 1988 federal law, Indian tribes have the right to open casinos and offer the same kind of gambling that is legal elsewhere in a state.
In California, federal and state prosecutors interpret that to mean lucrative video slot machines are off-limits because California law prohibits slots.
The tribes contend the video machines should be permitted because they are not true slot machines. An estimated 12,000 of the gaming devices operate statewide in nearly three dozen Indian casinos.
Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Clinton administration to consider whether California should be forced to negotiate a gambling compact with Indian tribes. It could take months before the high court speaks to the issue.
"Nora Manella, come face us!" one woman shouted at Monday's gathering before representatives of the nine tribes went off to be served with summons and complaints connected to the federal suits.
Richard Milanovich, chairman of the tribal council for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, said the games are essential to tribal livelihoods. He said 65 percent of the gambling revenue produced by his tribe's casino in Palm Springs is generated by the electronic games.
He said the tribes want the U.S. attorney's office to provide "as much time as we need ... to give us a chance to accomplish a compact with the state of California."
The state is negotiating with the Pala Band of Mission Indians in San Diego County for what could become a model compact, said Dan Tucker, chairman of the California-Nevada Indian Gaming Association. He said about 10 percent of the state's 15,000 Indian gaming jobs are held by Indians.
archive
