Article by: Rick Hill, a resident of the Tuscarora Nation. His column
appears monthly:

In the rush to open a Mohawk casino, the developers, while drilling a water
well for the casino, struck bad water. The contaminated water not only
flowed to the new casino, it spilled out into the existing water table and
increased the levels of sald and heavy metals. The tribal council informed
people not to drink or cook with the containated water. Who is responsible
for this mess?

I called the National Indian Gaming Commission to ask who is the
management company for the Mohawk casino. They replied, "Which one?" They
had applications for three Mohawk casinos, but none for the casino
currently under construction. They were not sure who was going to develop,
manage and therefore, be responsible for the casino that has contaminated
the water.

Not many Mohawks know who is in charge either. The Mohawk Council of Chiefs
has been trying to find out. They have repeatedly asked the St. Reigs
Tribal Council, the puppet governmenmt set up by New York State, for a copy
of the management contract for the casino. The tribal council has refused.
The Haudenosaunee chiefs then asked the state of New York for a copy under
the Freedom of Information Act, and the state declined to honor that
request. What makes the management contract so secret?

The Mohawk Chiefs then asked Presdient Clinton, New York state senators and
the Department of the Interior to halt the construciton of the casino until
management issues could be investigated. Only Interior responded, but said
that there is nothing they can do. They said that depsite the fact that the
Mohawk officials who signed the compact have pleaded guilty to operating
the tribe like a racketeering organization that there was no legal recourse
to withdrawing their approval.

As it turns out, there are several management companies vying for Mohawk
favor and have provided millions of dollars of "incentives to the tribal
officials. Worse yet, there was a rebel "people's govenrment" formed that
signed several other management agreements on casinos without the approval
of the tribal council, the Council of Chiefs or anyone. Those who once ran
the "people's government" have now been elected to the tribal council and
are implementing those previously signed secret casino contracts.

On June 9, 1993, four days after their election, L. David Jacobs and John
Loran, two of three elected leaders, signed the gaming compact. Norman
Tarbell, the other leader, refused to sign and threatened suit against the
others, claiming that they pushed through the compact without a proper
referendum.

Tarbell also accused the two chiefs of meeting privately with potential
developers in violation of tribal and state laws. Nonetheless, the Bureau
of Indian Affiaris approved the compact on Dec. 4, 1993.

There actually were four managment plans. Three casinos would be
>operated by the Mohawk Tribe and one by President Casino. In 1996 federal
>testimony by convicted felon Tony Laughing, a multi-million dollar scheme
>emerged.

Laughing sold his private casino to Native American Gaming Consultants,
which was incorporated by the tribal council. They, in turn, sold it to the
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe for $8 million with funds loaned by Showboat Casino.
Laughing said that Showboat then planned to hire him as a consultant and
hire his construction company, American Indian Builders, to renovate the
facility for $630,000.

Laughing also said that Luc Maurice, an Italian jewelery dealer, loaned
$3.1 million to Native American Gaming Consultants to finish the
construction of the casino. That casino was never built. Norman Tarbell
said fellow elected chiefs Loran and Jacobs were working with Laughing on
the deal. What happened to all that money?

In June 1994, Philip Tarbell was elected as head chief. Tarbell was a
critic of the gaming plans of Loran and Jacobs, who reportedly signed
different management contracts with two other casino companies. Phil
Tarbell halted all progress until the people could have more say in the
management contracts. Internal fighting led Norman Tarbell to side with
Loran to reapprove the President Casino managment contract, as well as
three other casino managment proposals, including the one from Tony
Laughing. However, President Casino lost favor of the tribal officials and
the project was also abandoned. There has been no accounting of any money
put forth by President Casino.

Enter Alpha Hospitality Corp., which formed a casino managment company
named Alpha St. Regis in 1995. SEC filings by Alpha state they made a
payment of $2.5 million to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and have promised an
additonal $9 million once the casino opened.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. No matter how you read it, there
already have been millions and millions given to the pro-casino Mohawks.
There has been zero accounting for those funds. The state and federal
government have been strangely silent on these matters. So far, the only
thing that the Mohawk people have to show for this is three half-built
casinos and contaminated water that threatens to destroy their water pipes,
septic tanks and planting fields. On this great gamble, the Mohawks appear
to have already lost. Who will be the next to make a bet?

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Last modified May 8, 2000