It may be legal, but...
By Dan Agent
(Cherokee, Choctaw & Anglo)
Editor
It's bad enough when a sovereign Indian nation violates the jurisdiction and sovereignty of another nation as the Choctaw Nation did when they purchased the Blue Ribbon Downs racetrack in Sallisaw, Okla., which is located within the historical and jurisdictional boundaries of the Cherokee Nation. But it's a bit over the top and out of bounds when Mike Bailey, Choctaw Nation assistant chief, publicly brags about outsmarting the Cherokee Nation to purchase Blue Ribbon Downs as he did April 8 at the University of Oklahoma's American Indian Symposium.
Bailey, according to a story in the Daily Oklahoman, said the Choctaw Nation had outwitted the Cherokee Nation and state gambling regulators by setting up a corporation called Backstretch LLC and chartering it in Austin, Texas, "so no one would know who it was." The Choctaw Nation then made a "stealth purchase" of the track three days before the Nov. 4 scheduled auction of the track.
What the Choctaw Nation did may have been legal in the free market system, but it is less than honorable and questionable ethically, especially considering the fact that Indian Nations have endured such "stealth purchases" by non-Indian entities since the first treaty was signed with the European invaders, as well as the subsequent treaties and agreements with the federal government.
Of course, when the purchase by Backstretch LLC was made and announced, the scheduled auction was canceled, and Cherokee Nation citizens expressed their chagrin about what had happened. (See Cherokee Phoenix, Feb. 2004, Page 3; April 2004 issue, Page 26; and May 2004 issue, Page 26.)
The Cherokee Nation would never have considered the possibility of purchasing a business or land within the historical boundaries of another Indian Nation, and certainly not by a "stealth purchase." It cannot do the latter because business operations of the Cherokee Nation, Cherokee Nation Enterprises and Cherokee Nation Industries are public. Before Cherokee Nation Enterprises could attempt to bid in auction for the purchase of Blue Ribbon Downs, the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council in its public meeting and the CNE Board of Directors had to authorize the bid.
On Oct. 14, 2003, newspapers reported that on Oct. 13 the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council approved a resolution authorizing Cherokee Nation Enterprises to bid on the financially strapped Blue Ribbon Downs at the Nov. 4 auction.
Perhaps there should be a state or federal law that when auctions are announced to the public, offers to purchase property or items scheduled for auction will be prohibited until the auction is held. If such a law had been in effect in November, Cherokee Nation Enterprises, Backstretch LLC and others could have bid on the property on Nov. 4, although the bid by the Choctaw Nation's Backstretch LLC would remain questionable, if not legally, certainly regarding honoring another nation's sovereignty and jurisdiction.
And although the Cherokee and Choctaw nations do not have reservation boundaries, there are historical and jurisdictional boundaries that should be honored.
It has become obvious, since the "stealth purchase" and Mr. Bailey's undiplomatic, public boasting about it, that the Cherokee Nation and the Choctaw Nation conduct business in different ways.