Blogger banned from Reservation

[Raidien{MEOW}]

Source: http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=37971&section=News

Blogger banned from Turtle Mountain reservation
By Susanne Nadeau
Herald Staff Writer - 05/16/2007

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa has banished somone from its reservation for the second time since creating an "exclusion code" in 2006.

But the banished individual this time is not a suspected drug dealer, high-risk sex offender, or someone who has committed a serious crime. He's an Internet blogger.

Friday, the Turtle Mountain tribal council banished North Dakota political blogger Rob Port from the reservation after a column critical of the reservation appeared in a state political magazine.

Port, of Minot, is webmaster for SayAnythingBlog.com, a political Web site.

The tribal resolution says Port's column was "injurious to the peace and seriously threatens the general welfare, health, safety, political security and prosperity of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, its members, and other tribes in the state of North Dakota."

Port is under fire for a column that ran in the January issue of The Dakota Beacon, a political magazine published monthly in North Dakota. The column also appears on Port's blog.

Titled "The Appalling State of North Dakota Indian Reservations," the column stems from Port's daylong experience at the Turtle Mountain reservation, where he says he spent about 15 hours "going around neighborhoods and knocking on doors."

In his column, Port talks about the conditions of the homes he saw and the people he came into contact with while on the Turtle Mountain reservation.

He writes that living conditions on the reservation are "abhorrent" and continues with: "Most of us would probably consider living in a squalid apartment in a nasty housing complex a pretty serious consequence for not getting ahead in life, but it seems to me as though most of these Indians are perfectly content to live there. Probably because they don't know any better. They were likely raised in housing projects by their parents, who in turn were probably raised in housing projects themselves."

Port's column also calls for an end to reservations and "cradle-to-grave entitlements." "The safety net needs to be taken out from under Indians. The reservation system needs to end. . . . The time of tough love needs to begin, because that's the only way things are going to get better on these reservations."

Eight tribal council members voted to exclude Port from tribal lands. Tribal Chairman David "Doc" Brien signed the resolution into law Friday.

Attempts to reach Brien were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Turtle Mountain Vice Chairman Ted Henry said the council was approached by a group of people demanding Port be banned from the reservation.

"We were getting a lot of calls asking that we do something," Henry said Tuesday, explaining that the column was the source of tribal members' ire.

Last year, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa adopted its exclusion code, a tribal ordinance that creates a process to permanently banish or withhold services from tribal members and nonmembers who are involved in serious crimes.

It was put into place because of growing concerns about illicit drugs on reservations and the lack of jurisdiction tribes have over nonmembers who deal with, possess, or use drugs. Only serious felony offenses committed by members or nonmembers of the tribe are federally prosecuted.

The exclusion ordinance has been used once before, when the tribe banned Calvin John Andrist, who is not a member of the tribe but living on the reservation. Andrist was removed after a request to the tribal council from tribal law enforcement officers, who said Andrist was involved in numerous drug-related actions from the summer of 2005 to March 8, 2006.

Tribal members and non-tribal members who are repeat offenders either dealing in drugs or committing sex offenses can be banned from the reservation permanently, according to the ordinance. Tribal members are given warnings before they are banned, according to the ordinance.

Non-tribal members can be banished without warning if the tribe deems immediate removal necessary.

Port said Tuesday his opinions do not warrant such a reaction.

"How do you ban somebody from land without even telling them about it?" he said. "It doesn't seem very straightforward, banning somebody for an opinion piece."

Port has been writing his opinion on politics for about four years. After his article appeared in print and on the Web, some outraged Turtle Mountain tribal members responded at Port's SayAnythingBlog site.

"I didn't write it thinking I am going to tick these people off," Port said. "I thought I am writing it because people don't think about what's going on in the reservation very often. In North Dakota, we have a pretty nice standard of living. I just wanted to hit people over the head that not a hundred miles away, some people are living like they do in third-world countries."

Turtle Mountain's Henry said the column unfairly generalizes what life is like on the reservation.

"It cut our people down," Henry said. "I am sure we are having troubles already, and this just seems to make it worse. We do have a lot of good people here. The article doesn't say anything about that. A lot of our Indian people work hard."

Port agreed, to a point. "Not everybody up there lives like that," he said. "There are tribal members with very high levels of education, with jobs and who aren't using drugs. But, it's also crime-addled, with poverty and drugs. It's ludicrous to me that I get people angry with me for pointing that out."

The tribal resolution banning Port from Turtle Mountain tribal lands accuses Port and people commenting on the site of using demeaning terms about Indian women, children and other reservation residents.

Port denies having used such terms, but added that his blog isn't censored: "I don't think it's fair for me to be held responsible for what other people are saying."

The tribal resolution also demands a retraction of the column published in The Dakota Beacon column in a letter that might be published throughout the state.

"It makes me a little sad that this is their reaction," Port said. "You have free political speech, and their response is to ban me from the reservation. That's not American as far as I am concerned. That's not how we do things."

The resolution was not only for the Turtle Mountain people, but also for Port's "own safety," Henry said. "A lot of people were pretty upset with the article," he added.

"I don't think he'll retract it, and I suppose there will be more writing now," Henry said. "But (Port) won't be allowed back on."

any thoughts on this? I've been to several reservations and seen the same results as what's mentioned at the ones I have visited. just wondering if anyone else has any views...

[NighEve*{MEOW}*]

I don't think anyone aught to live like that.   With the limited knowledge I have of Indian here in Mississippi, I would say at least part of the banning of the guy is to coverup the tribe's leaders faliures.   They make the matter worse by banning him. 
Someone aught ot go look and see what the story is. 

What is the problem this causes? Unrest? Crime?  Yes, if the people blame the tribe's leaders it certainly would do that.  It's highly suspicus that they handled it this way.  I belive they jsut want to hide the truth.

The Choctaw and Chickasaw around here are ticky like that too.  The leaders want to paint a rosey picture.  However the story got out the tribe (especialy children) were suffering and several things were done to improve the level of living there.  Today only 17% live below the poverty level compared to a majority around WW2.  This is thanks to the Indian Gaming Act.  There are still pockets of problems they try to hide.

[THEKATZ*{MEOW}*]

I may be a little out of bounds here but we are talking sovernty correct?  I mean, what ever chads the indians shorts, it is entirely their call.  The little peice of realistate they have is under (in most part) their control.  This is of course unless it involves the Feds.  If there is wrong doing and it doesn't involve the Feds, they can do it all wrong and it is of no concern to the rest of the USA. 

[Raidien{MEOW}]

yeah they have their own laws and basically if a native american commits a crime outside the reservation, is chased by police but then enters a reservation, he cannot be followed or arrested while on the reservation. some reservation officials will cooperate with outside officials, but there are many who will not... but since we cater to the res, if someone from outside the reservation commits a crime on the reservation and leaves, the outside officials are obligated to bring the criminal back to the reservation for trial...

I have a few native american friends who work hard and try to better themselves and make a living, but I have also seen many who do not care about anything or anyone except themselves. Unfortunately, its those who care nothing about anyone else that cause all this ruckus. we have no right to explain to them the issues we see, but they have every right to generalize us as bigots who know nothing about their culture and should not meddle in their affairs. if thats the way they want to be, so be it... but when they (or rather the individuals) do come running for help, I don't see why our government should care... since they (or rather certain individuals who cause the stinks) obviously don't care.

There's a lot of other related articles to this story over at http://www.sayanythingblog.com that i've been reading and I've been appalled by many of the replies not only the native american's have posted, but other individuals as well... here's another example:

http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/when_internet_debate_gets_ugly_and_bloggers_get_threatened/

[Kitty*{MEOW}*]

well being part native american Myself i Fell that this Gamming act is a total wast of Indian money. These tribal leaders will pore MILLIONS of dollars into a casino. Now a days when I got to the clinic to see the doctor i have to site for hours, go trough screening, sit for a nother hour and then go see the doc, he says ok and if the problems out of their hands and U gotta see a specialist then U have to take a referal to another office give it to them and then the council will take all of these and decide who's is more important and will either approve or reject the referal to the specialist. I had a growth in my ear that I had taken out last year. I fought with the indians for 2 years trying to get them to take care of it. All i got for 2 years was " We don't have the Funds to do this at this time". BUT in those 2 years they built 3 Casino's, each costing around 1 million dollars each to build. U tell me where the money is going. When  the Gamming act was passed so much of the money generated from the casinos was supposed to go back to health care and things like that. I do not see this going on. Who do U blame? Of corse the leaders but it doesn't do any good. They just do what they like.

[THEKATZ*{MEOW}*]

Bureaucracy Kitty, it is a tainted legal corruption.  Sad, very sad.

[Raidien{MEOW}]

I'm sorry to hear that, Kitty... I am, however, glad to see your back with us and killing me lots :P

I just hope that good comes of all of this, but seeing a lot of ignorance, I don't think anything will... It's as though the council fears they will lose their income if their nation succeeds... I feel for those that suffer at the greed of others... and this is not only in the tribes, but everywhere else as well... but people need to be willing to make a difference, and trying to covering up their problems will not get anything accomplished...

I agree with you, Kitty, that the Gaming Act has caused many of these issues. Though I have no Native American blood in me, I have seen the affects of this in the towns and reservations that have casinos. Yes, they can blame it on all the white men that come to their casinos, but I think its safe (probably not, but I'm going to anyways) to say that this "Pride" word that is used to cover everything isn't really Pride at all... If there was pride for their land, we would see this reflected in the land they own and the lives they lead. Again, there are many beautiful reservations out there and proud, hardworking individuals, but I must stress that I am not pointing my finger at them, as they DO indeed have something to be proud about. However, there are many reservations that have no Pride in their land, but only the money that can be gained from their casinos.

The purpose of this post is not to try to piss off any Native American's, but only to point out some of the ridiculous things I've seen in my own town and home state. I do not live on a reservation, however, the city had a vote to build a casino in our town and we said HELL NO!!! we've seen the effects on the towns that have casino's, and its nowhere I'd want to live. Our college has the name "Fighting Sioux" and there has been ALOT of controversy over the past few years over the name change. Ralph Englestad (Tomkat or Johnson may have heard of him) used to own a casino in Las Vegas before he died, but he was once a student at our college and spent some of his fortune on building a hockey arena for the Sioux (which is what really stirred up a lot of the controversy). Because of the controversy, he made it a point to make sure they Sioux logo was on EVERYTHING that went into the arena... Every single seat in the arena has a Fighting Sioux logo on it and this town is proud of it... but outsiders came in and wanted it abolished (did I mention the person who started this whole controversy wasn't even Sioux himself???) and are still fighting to keep their name.

All of this leads to one purpose... money... If you can make a college change its name, you can sue them for lots of money... then you can write a book about how you did it and make more money... then you can use that same case to do it all over again. I'm tired of outsiders coming to my town and telling us that our Pride offends them... but hey, we'll ban you if you call our reservation dirty because it offends us... where's the sense in that? Many Native American's have succeeded in life and done great things they should be proud of. So have many white people, and non-white people... Many people of all races have also failed miserably... and because of that, they try to build themselves back up making hell for everyone else... I am seeing this more and more and it bothers me... where is the American Pride? where is our freedom? the miserable people are taking it away... and I'm tired of it... we all need to stand up and fight back as one. Americans are not only a people of a sovereign nation,  but a family... and its the misery of others that try to break our family bonds. Everyone has problems... but we need to work together as brothers and sisters to build a better tomorrow, not ban people for pointing out our flaws and working to improve our community.

[NighEve*{MEOW}*]

I hear ya Kitty on the gambling thing.  I know a lady that works for the casino in Philadelphia MS and she sees how they treat their own and what their priorities are.  Gaming changes the priorities, it promises to help but makes things worse in my opinion.  They were supposed to 'share the wealth' and they still have poverty.  Who gets the millions generated by these gaming organizations is a mystery. 

Our church does missions into the reservations and we see some pretty bad situations.  However, generally I will say that the native people we help, unlike some others in our society, actualy want to improve.  The situation has them trapped somehow. I'm not smart enough to know just how.  The opportunities are jsut not there.  Gaming is not an opportunity because of mishandeling or what ever..I duno.

[NighEve*{MEOW}*]

but outsiders came in and wanted it abolished (did I mention the person who started this whole controversy wasn't even Sioux himself???) and are still fighting to keep their name.

This may be the problem with the casinos.

Vicksburg is is not the great place it once was to live in before gambling came to this city.