Ramsey, Mumpower snake fake "American Indian" bill through TNGA for Johnson County Indian casinos

[doeriver]

Isn't it amazing that TNGA GOPers are busy trying to kill off the Tennessee Ethics Commission under the pretext that the state taxpayers cannot afford the yearly expense of operating the TEC, while other GOPers are wanting to extend the life of the Tennessee Commission on Indian Affairs? Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and Rep. Jason Mumpower represent Johnson County in Northeast Tennessee where there is an over-abundance of federal lands that could be converted to bogus "American Indian" reservations in order bring fake Indians casino gambling into Johnson County:

Ramsey pushing bill to let Tennessee recognize Indian tribes
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9013607
By Hank Hayes
Published May 3rd, 2009

Legislation exposing divided feelings among Tennessee’s Native American Indian groups is before state lawmakers with a couple of heavy political hitters behind it.

The legislation’s main sponsors are two of the state’s most powerful lawmakers — House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey.

At issue in their bill is whether Tennessee should grant state recognition to certain Indian groups — a decision with economic and cultural considerations.

“The Tennessee Commission on Indian Affairs (TCIA) voluntarily gave up their right to recognize tribes,” Mumpower, R-Bristol, recently told a House State Government Subcommittee. “We have a situation in our state where there is no mechanism possible for people to realize their heritage without the involvement of the legislature.”

The Indian group promoting the legislation from the Kingsport/Sullivan County area is led by Lee Vest, chief of the Remnant Yuchi Nation.

The Mumpower-Ramsey legislation would appoint the Confederation of Tennessee Native Tribes — headed up by Vest — as the entity to review tribes seeking state recognition.

“I guess I’m the tip of the spear point,” Vest said of his leadership role in the confederation. Besides the Yuchis, there are five other Indian groups mentioned in the bill as seeking recognition.

Earlier this year, TCIA took a vote opposing the Mumpower-Ramsey bill. The commission had initiated rulemaking for the state’s Indian recognition criteria and procedures but repealed the move, said TCIA Chair Valerie Ohle. Ohle indicated the commission would still be receptive to establishing state recognition criteria.

“We would want it as close to federal guidelines as we can take it,” she said.

Cherokee Nation spokesman Richard Allen told House State Government Subcommittee lawmakers that matters concerning Indian tribes have been the “exclusive domain” of the federal government.

“Many states, including Tennessee, that forcibly removed the Cherokees are now recognizing illegitimate groups without any standard criteria or authority to do so,” Allen said.

...



http://www.capitol.tn.gov/districtmaps/senate02.pdf">Tennessee Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville (Adobe Acrobat file of district map)

After a similar Indian recognition bill was filed last year by former state Rep. Nathan Vaughn, D-Kingsport, there was a concern that Indian groups could bypass state law and start gambling operations. Vaughn’s bill was taken off notice in the House and failed to get through a state Senate subcommittee.

A 2008 attorney general’s opinion said a state-recognized tribe would have to earn federal recognition and would then be able to conduct gambling activities if they operated on federally acquired land. Bays Mountain Park is owned and operated by the city of Kingsport.

A side issue in the Mumpower-Ramsey legislation is a separate bill to extend TCIA as a state entity for another year.

HB1692
HOUSE BILL 1692
By Mumpower



http://www.capitol.tn.gov/districtmaps/House03.pdf">Rep. Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol
District 3 — Johnson and part of Sullivan Counties (Adobe Acrobat file of district map)>

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, relative to recognition of Native American Indian Tribes, Bands, Groups and Associations.

WHEREAS, The original inhabitants of North and South America were peoples who became known to European immigrants as Indians and, therefore, the original inhabitants of this State were members of various tribes of American Indians; and

WHEREAS, These tribes have strongly influenced the heritage of this great State and have left their mark by way of names of rivers, mountains, towns, and counties, by introducing local crops and medicinal herbs, and in countless other ways; and

WHEREAS, The Native American Indian culture in all its forms is manifested by the year-round Powwows and Festivals held across the country and the completion of the National Museum of the American Indian in the Smithsonian complex in Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, This has been further manifested within the surrounding states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama which have given recognition to the Native American Indian Tribes, Bands, Groups and Associations within their borders; and

WHEREAS, The struggles of the Native American Indian Peoples including physical confinement, separation of families, suppression of language, traditions and culture as well as pervasive restrictions on arts, crafts, industry and agriculture have contributed to an economic
disadvantage with which the Native American Indian People still contend; and

WHEREAS, There is an economic benefit to the particular communities wherein the Native American Indians reside because of the ability of Native American Indians to impact positively tourism development, jobs, new economic development incentives, new health care opportunities, new education opportunities and to remove current barriers for Native American Indian Artists and Craft Persons to expand their trade in compliance with Federal law; and

WHEREAS, Attorney General's Opinion No. 07-21, dated February 27, 2007, stated:
"Congress has acknowledged that state governments have the authority to recognize Indian tribes."
"States have the authority to recognize Indian tribes as long as there is no conflict with federal laws. There is no conflict between Tennessee's recognition law and federal laws."; and

WHEREAS, The Tennessee Legislature possesses the power to recognize Indian tribes,
bands, groups, and Indian associations; now, therefore,

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:



SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, is amended by adding Sections 2
through 6 of this act as a new, appropriately designated chapter:

SECTION 2. The general assembly hereby extends state recognition with full legal
rights and protections to certain Indian-descended entities that have functioned in specific ways
over time.

SECTION 3. An Indian tribe, band, or group is a population of people related to one
another by blood through their Native American Indian ancestry and tracing their heritage to a
Native American Indian tribe, band, or group indigenous to Tennessee. Petitioners must submit
a petition requesting state recognition specifying the type of recognition sought.

SECTION 4. In order to be recognized as a tribe, band, or group, the petitioner must
present a list of members of the group along with proof that each of its members is a
descendant recognized as a member of a historical Tennessee tribe, band, or group by means
of rolls which are compiled by the federal government or some other compelling documentation
that shows their heritage. In addition a statement with the notarized signatures of the three (3)
highest ranking officers of the petitioning group is required.

SECTION 5. The general assembly hereby appoints the Confederation of Tennessee
Native Tribes as the entity that shall review and present for recognition any tribes, bands, and
groups which seek such recognition.

(1) The Confederation of Tennessee Native Tribes is the formation of the Tribes
and Clans of Native American Indians across the state who have joined together in one
voice to represent the well-being of the Native American Indian in Tennessee; and

(2) The Confederation of Tennessee Native Tribes is comprised of the Remnant
Yuchi Nation, the Upper Cumberland Cherokee, the Chikamaka Band, the Central Band
of Cherokee, the Cherokee Wolf Clan, the Tanasi Council of the Faraway Cherokee, the
Native Cultural Council and the American Indian Association of Millington.

SECTION 6. The general assembly recognizes for purposes of state Native American
Indian recognition with full legal rights and protections the following tribes, bands and groups:
Remnant Yuchi Nation - Counties: Sullivan, Carter, Greene, Hawkins, Unicoi, Johnson, and Washington; Upper Cumberland Cherokee (also known as the United Eastern Lenape Nation) -
Counties: Scott, Morgan, Fentress, and Campbell; Chikamaka Band - Counties: Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Sequatchie, Warren, and Coffee; Central Band of Cherokee (also known as the Cherokee of Lawrence County) - 1806 Congressional Reservation; Cherokee Wolf Clan - Counties: Carroll, Benton, Decatur, Henderson, Henry, Weakley, Gibson, and Madison; and Tanasi Council of the Far Away Cherokee -Counties: Shelby, Dyer, Gibson, Humphreys, and Perry.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring
it.