Before I respond to Chris Carlson’s recent column attacking the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and Indian Gaming, I want to start by disclosing a few things. First, I support Indian gaming. I have seen first-hand how gaming on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation has transformed this community and delivered our people from abject poverty and a century-long dearth of opportunity. I see the pride in our people that comes from the hope and opportunity that gaming provides. That is precisely the reason Indian gaming was embraced by the United States and the state of Idaho. Second, I echo what many wonderful people in this community have already expressed; I too am tired of the hostility directed toward the tribe based on false information and inaccurate half-truths. That type of hate-inspired rhetoric should not and cannot be tolerated any longer/Chief Allan, Coeur d'Alene Tribe chairman. More here.

• Questions remain unanswered/Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette Record
• Kroc Center is great, but …/Chris Carlson, The Carlson Report

DFO: Chief Allan of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe is at odds with Publisher Dan Hammes of the St. Maries Gazette Record and Chris Carlson, who writes for the weekly newspaper, re: state oversight of required donations of gaming proceeds to area schools. Carlson has also question the propriety of the tribe contributing designated school donations to the Coeur d'Alene Kroc Center.

Those who think the days of Native American tribes fighting other Native American tribes are long gone, best think again. The advent of and phenomenal growth in Indian gaming has created a division of haves – the tribes with revenue producing and political powerful casinos – and the have nots. Gaming tribes in Idaho, the Coeur d’Alenes, the Nez Perce, and the Shoshone/Bannock, appear to have natural markets where there is no real competition. They appear at peace with neighboring tribes. … Where the warfare begins is when two tribes relatively near to each other decide to co-locate casinos. It becomes especially vicious if one tribe perceives the other as encroaching and there is a belief that the market cannot sustain two enterprises/Chris Carlson, Ridenbaugh Press. More here.

Question: Which area casino do you consider best?

The biggest strike against EchoHawk (shown as a 1994 gubernatorial candidate with Republican winner Phil Batt and Independent Ron Rankin) has been repeated time and again throughout Indian country: When he served as Idaho’s attorney general from 1991 to 1995, he called on the governor to change the language of state legislation so the state no longer would have a legal obligation under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to negotiate for Class III gaming with Idaho’s tribes. It’s a true charge, and EchoHawk is now making a special effort to indicate that he isn’t in favor of taking away any tribal gaming rights if he gets the nod to head the BIA/Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today. More here.

Question: Should local Indian tribes support Larry EchoHawk’s nomination for the Indian Affairs post, given his past opposition as Idaho attorney general to Indian gaming?