Co-founder of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast goes full-blown racist on Native Americans

On July 30, 2019 renown Catholic Austin Ruse chose to fully expose himself as an Indigenous People-hating racist.

This after attacking Native Americans on Twitter.

Ruse commented, "Indians were bloodthirsty killers and rapists and tortures too. Not terribly bright though. Had a problem with trust and whiskey."

This isn't the first time Austin Ruse has gone unhinged on Twitter. His previous hate speech tends to have him deactivate his account, when the heat gets to much. That has allowed him to dodge social media suspension of the account. Later, he'll pop back up, as if nothing ever happened.

Frequent keynote speaker President George W. Bush

Ruse is co-founder of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, which is an annual gathering in Washington, D.C. of politicians, representatives of the Catholic clergy, businessmen, and religious activists.

President George W. Bush was the keynote speaker in the 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 gatherings.
Other prominent politicians and figures involved in the breakfast, include former Senator Rick Santorum, who helped Ruse co-found the event.

Ruse has been ranting on Native Americans for a few days now.

Known mainly for his anti-LGBT views, Ruse is the descendent of early English colonists. He's a Catholic convert having been raised in Missouri as a Methodist. His wife, Cathleen, is a senior legal advisor at the hate group known as the Family Research Council.

Their marriage could use a healthy dose of Netflix & Chill.

Racist Austin Ruse

According to his website, "Austin Ruse has headed the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) since shortly after its creation in the summer of 1997. Austin has held the title of President since 2000.

"Austin was a founder of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and founding columnist at TheCatholicThing.org.

"He has appeared on a number of national cable network programs discussing UN and Catholic issues, including news programs on CNN, CBS News, MSNBC, and Fox News.

Austin serves on various boards including Catholic Action for Faith and Family, Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Trailways Publishing House, and Imago Dei."

The Southern Poverty Law Center considers Ruse's Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) an anti-LGBT hate group. That hate monitoring group has questioned the organization being given the United Nations distinction of having a Special Consultative Status to the UN.

Now it should definitely be considered a racist hate group.

Native Americans have suffered under Catholic abuse since first contact.

Genocide on the Indigenous People began after the Catholic Church released its Doctrine of Discovery May 4, 1493.

The Doctrine is noted as being, "The Papal Bull "Inter Caetera," issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, played a central role in the Spanish conquest of the New World. The document supported Spain’s strategy to ensure its exclusive right to the lands discovered by Columbus the previous year. It established a demarcation line one hundred leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands and assigned Spain the exclusive right to acquire territorial possessions and to trade in all lands west of that line. All others were forbidden to approach the lands west of the line without special license from the rulers of Spain. This effectively gave Spain a monopoly on the lands in the New World.

"The Bull stated that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be "discovered," claimed, and exploited by Christian rulers and declared that "the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself." This "Doctrine of Discovery" became the basis of all European claims in the Americas as well as the foundation for the United States’ western expansion. In the US Supreme Court in the 1823 case Johnson v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in the unanimous decision held "that the principle of discovery gave European nations an absolute right to New World lands." In essence, American Indians had only a right of occupancy, which could be abolished."

That church directive remains part of Catholic Canon, as every pope since it was issued has refused to retract it.  

The end result of the Doctrine of Discovery would be the murder of tens of millions of Indians - genocide.

Ruse's church used this Papal bull to commit genocide. 

Later, they'd use it to justify the abduction, detention, rape, and torture of Indian children being held at their Catholic residential schools.  

Austin Ruse falls under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, who can be contacted at 804-359-5661.

OKC’S City Sentinel: Where Native Americans are bullies, but convicted Nazi war criminals and white master race scientists are good people

As it’s been done throughout colonization, Native Americans are being framed as the bad guys, so that white men can steal from them without guilt.

It’s a tale as old as 527 years, when psychopath Christopher Columbus stumbled upon a New Land…or close to it.

“Let’s kill them. Let’s take their land. Let’s rape their women. Let’s feed their babies to our dogs. Let’s pillage their villages. And let’s make them look like savages, while doing it.”

Indians are used to bad press.

An Oklahoma City-based newspaper called The City Sentinel is leading such a propaganda campaign for Gov. Kevin Stitt, who wants to get his grubby claws on Indian gaming revenue.

In compacts made years ago with the State of Oklahoma, tribes agreed to pay from 6-10% of gaming revenues brought in from their casinos.

In those legal agreements, the state would bear no risk or cost. They’d just rake the money in after the tribes took on all risks and costs associated with the business ventures. It was a pay to play racket by the state, but it was working out until Stitt – jealous of Native American prosperity -- decided he wanted to raid Indian treasuries for even more cash.   

Stitt now wants to ride in and take 20-25% of the gaming revenues, which are used for education, nutrition, housing, and other services for tribal members. Plus, that revenue is used to help the infrastructure in the towns and schools found within Indian country.

Neither Stitt, nor the State of Oklahoma, have put up a single penny, but, like typical gangsters, are there to fill their bags with money extorted from Indians. Pay to play.  

Darla Shelden via Facebook

Yesterday, an editorial was written by Darla Shelden and packed with lies, which had already been disproven the day before they published their hit piece.

That op-ed framed activities to make Indian tribes look bad, while not addressing factual data.

The writer and paper need exposed on the lies, deceptions, and…one particular person’s really dark past.

So, Hate Trackers is going to do just that.

Shelden has been with the paper for just under a decade. She previously worked as a senior television producer for Ackerman McQueen, who until recently were the notorious propaganda arm for the NRA.

So, before Shelden joined in on the scheme to steal from Indians, she was helping to get school children shot down in their classrooms.

She tries to pass herself off in public as a liberal with progressive beliefs, but in actual practice Shelden is just the opposite and cannot be trusted.

Thus, lies and more damn lies are Shelden's bread and butter.

Her paychecks have come from dead school children blood money and attacking People of Color on behalf of a rightwing fanatic.  

Now about her editorial writing...

Passages from Shelden's editorial are in red. We’ll be addressing those, as well as dropping a dime on the man helming the newspaper and his dark, sinister past with dominionists, a Nazi war criminal, and a master race scientist.  

In a recent letter to leaders of the state’s Indian Nations, Stitt said, “[T]here has been no governmental action … or court order authorizing electronic gaming in the State, since the effective date of the Compact,” and therefore “I have been advised that the Compact will not automatically renew.”

Larger tribes oppose negotiation, contending that compacts should automatically renew under existing provisions. Smaller tribes have joined the chorus for the status quo.

Stitt is right. Tribes here pay less through compacts than do Indian nations elsewhere in the U S.. He wants to address that now. Prudence and foresight indicate the wisdom of his communication to the nations.

Gov. Stitt with VP Pence

The author is trying to make the Indians look like they’re opposed to negotiation. 

That’s a mistruth. They’ve invited Gov. Stitt to come to council. However, tribal leaders have made it clear they were not going to get swindled and expect the state to negotiate in good faith, which the governor has failed to do.

The editorial further made false accusations that the larger tribes were bullying the smaller tribes and taking the lion’s share of gaming revenue.

They particularly pointed towards the Chickasaw Nation.

In truth, smaller tribes have been hurt, in market share, because of decades of federal decisions permitting politically more powerful tribes to garner more gaming operations than they would have secured under a fairer process.

Here in Oklahoma, six tribes (15 percent of the 39 federally recognized tribes here) have cornered 85 percent of the Indian gaming market. As noted in previous reflections, “Further analysis shows that just three tribes (Chickasaw, Cherokee and Choctaw) have two-thirds of all the tribal gaming businesses. And, one (the Chickasaw Nation) has one-third of all of the tribal gaming market under its control.”

The City Sentinel knows how this works, but the truth would not work for their deception.

This is not a political game. It’s a matter of historic boundaries and population. Shelden is an Oklahoman, who would’ve had an Oklahoma History class back in 9^th grade where these things were taught to the students paying attention.

She may or may not have an education in these concerns. What is certain is that Darla Shelden has always done the bidding of her rightwing masters. She's a sell out.

The reality is it’s all about LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!

Oklahoma does not really possess the reservations most Indian tribes are known for. It’s more a matter of allotment and assignment. Most the land within an Indian nation’s area has been taken over by whites, so what you have is a patchwork of land with a mix of Indian and white acreage. In a town, one house can be considered as being on Indian land, while a house next to it would be on white land. One farm may be Indian, while the farm next to it is white owned.

A large tribe would cover several Oklahoma counties. Small tribes may just have their land in a part of a county.

A tribal nation serves all Indians living within its borders. It runs all the social, housing, and educational programs within their service area/nation.

The larger tribes are larger tribes, because their traditional land assignments encompass a larger area. For instance, the Chickasaw Nation covers 11 ½ of Oklahoma’s 77 counties with Interstate 35 running through them from the Oklahoma/Texas border right up to the border of Oklahoma County. They get a lot of traffic coming by their casinos.

Just like the Cheyenne and other tribes get a lot of traffic coming from Interstate 40.

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!

Indian Territory was at first divided up between the Five Civilized tribes, which remain the largest nations within Oklahoma – both land and population wise. Over time, however, as other tribes were relocated here, the Five Civilized tribes had to surrender parts of their land, so the U.S. government could give it to the smaller tribes coming in. 

That was okay. There was plenty of land to share with other Indians. Sure, there were conflicts at first, but the Indians worked it out and, despite what Shelden wants to imply, get along quite well these days, because, unlike she and Gov. Stitt, we actually live in the 21^st Century and possess 21^st Century thinking.

Of course after the Indian land assignments, the white man came in during the Land Runs and took almost all of what the Indians were sharing, because they were not taught to share. They were taught to take…and take…and take. Like Stitt wants to do now with The City Sentinel’s endorsement.

Tribes can only build casinos within the traditional boundaries set by the white man. Chickasaws cannot build on Comanche land any more than Comanches can build on Chickasaw land.  

Darla Shelden’s suggestion of a “fairer process” would mean…wait for it!...white men taking Indian land again and dividing it up to how they see fit. Hey! It’s 1830 and 1889 all over again!

Fairer Process

Winner: White man

Loser: Indians

How mighty white of the land grabbing-minded Darla Shelden!

I wonder if she’d feel it were fair were someone to come take her home and give parts of it to neighbors with smaller lots?

Between the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, half of Oklahoma’s border with Texas is covered. That has flooded Oklahoma with Texas money, as Texans cross the Red River to come play in the casinos. Those Texans aren’t going to go into more isolated areas where smaller casinos are operating. Thus, a lot of money goes to large tribes, because of geography, not because they’re bullying smaller tribes as the duplicitous Darla Shelden implies in her editorial.  

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!   

No one can undo events of the Nineteenth Century. Neither Stitt nor his allies want to reverse progress over recent decades in addressing past iniquities.

Everyone should desire for smaller tribal nations and the whole state a more rational share of revenues that flow from a multi-billion industry in which larger tribes have operated as the equivalent of monopolies.

Further, there are under-reported stories from Indian Country, including vendors making more here than elsewhere because of sweetheart deals with large operations, and the equivalent of insider trading.

Shelden’s Trump-style logic is bewildering here.

One may not be able to undo past iniquities (more commonly known as atrocities), but you can damn sure not repeat them as Stitt wants to do playing a B-western villain out to steal Indian possessions with Shelden's endorsement. Taking even more money from  Indians damn sure is reversing progress made over past iniquities *ahem* atrocities.

The Nineteenth Century saw a land grab and this is a money grab.

As for “under-reported stories” well, the City Sentinel is a newspaper so why aren’t they reporting them in order to give weight to their claims?

Because they don’t exist. Shelden simply dropped a false accusation in to make Indians look bad and give the impression that a white man was riding in to save the warring Indians from each other. Her fabrications are just a sneaky way to make the readers view the Indians as shady and to give the real crooks cover.

I’d suggest Shelden stay the hell off Indian land for the remainder of her racist life.

The Midtown area of OKC, which her newspaper normally covers, is gentrification taken to its extreme. Upper middle-class whites land grabbed from the poor people living in the area and relocated People of Color, so that they could build overpriced apartments, patio restaurants, and microbreweries.

That’s where Darla Shelden needs to stay her ass, because she wants no part of Indian Country.   

Darla, this is your official notice that you are now persona non grata. Indian Country deems you an enemy.

Although the editorial was penned by the race-baiting Shelden, she’s just a water carrier. This has Patrick J. McGuigan’s fingerprints all over it.

He’s the senior editor of the paper and runs the whole show. Under McGuigan's direction the editorial was printed.

He’s, also, the shadiest bastard you could ever find.

McGuigan with his history of racist hiring practices was doing Fox News long before there was ever a Fox News.

The following material was originally published on Dec. 17, 2008, by Hate Trackers during our 2007-2014 run.

Patrick J. McGuigan
The Jew with Nazi friends.

Patrick J. McGuigan has an extensive employment history that includes working as a long-time aide to one of the most notorious gay rights opponents and Nazi sympathizers in America.

McGuigan became a Free Congress Foundation (FCF) employee in 1980 and worked directly under key dominionist figure Paul Weyrich (co-creator of the Moral Majority), in Washington DC, for ten years. He, also, became a member of another Weyrich group heavily involved in racial oppression and attempts at squashing gay rights -  the Council of National Policy. 

The FCF was founded by Weyrich and beer baron Joseph Coors as the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress in 1974, but changed its name in 1977. Coors, who funded the project, later attempted to have gays with AIDS imprisoned. The beer baron was featured as an enemy of the gay community in the movie ‘Milk’ and gained notoriety for spending millions on anti-gay initiatives. The FCF is considered one of his first efforts to destroy homosexuality.

Richard Viguerie, who fundraised for the group, has commented, “Even the Free Congress Foundation's precursor, the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, used an anti-gay and anti-lesbian platform as a vehicle to attract and unite followers, and they were the forerunners in the national campaign to demonize homosexuality as a threat to Americans. Gays and lesbians had been so thoroughly suppressed that mainstream heterosexual America really knew little about the gay/lesbian community. Weyrich recognized early on that this ignorance could be manipulated into fear and then hatred--and then political power.”

The FCF website claims, “Our main focus is on the Culture War. Will America return to the culture that made it great, our traditional, Judeo-Christian, Western culture? Or will we continue the long slide into the cultural and moral decay of political correctness?”

The leadership classes within the FCF organization require the reading of Adolph Hitler’s book Mein Kampf. That book is a treatise on Hitler’s national socialistic ideology and includes a passage that claims homosexuals are race traitors and should be condemned to death, which many were once Hitler gained power. 

Paul Weyrich

During McGuigan’s tenure as Weyrich’s key aide, another employee named Laszlo Pasztor was outed as a convicted Nazi war criminal. Pasztor was responsible for executing homosexuals and Jews during a German extermination effort in Hungary with a group known as the Arrow Cross.

It should be noted that Patrick J. McGuigan practices the Jewish faith, but willingly worked side-by-side with a Nazi.

What's that word they used in the concentration camps?

Kapo.

Weyrich has founded or been the co-founder of the FCF, Coalitions for America, Council of National Policy, and the Heritage Foundation. Most those groups began as rightwing religious groups targeting communism, but turned their efforts towards attacking gays and ending the separation of church and state.

He and Coors also founded the Heritage Foundation in 1974, which now employs former Oklahoma Congressman Ernest Istook Jr. 

Istook recently penned an article for the Heritage Foundation, where he works as a distinguished fellow, called ‘The Danger in Appeasing Gay Rights Activists’.

During its history the FCF has supported: the National Christian Action Coalition, who wanted a return to segregation in schools; anti-gay bastion the Moral Majority; and Intercessors for America, a rigidly homophobic fundamentalist group

They hired fascist ideologist Roger Pearson as editor of the foundation’s publication. Pearson, a British native, was a known race scientist, who believed in the inferiority of non-white races. He later left the Heritage Foundation after the Washington Post exposed his background as organizer of the Nazi Northern League to become a leader in America’s neo-Nazi movement. He became a strong advocate of using genetics to clean out human kind by altering genes to eliminate what he dubbed inferior races.

THE CNP

Tim LaHaye

Weyrich began governing a group he co-founded with Left Behind writer Tim LaHaye called the Council of National Policy in 1981, the year after he employed McGuigan, who became a member of that group as well. Besides his “End of Days” literature, LaHaye is also known as claiming homosexuals are vile in his book The Unhappy Gays, which is considered a precursor to gay reparative programs. In the book he asked who was happier: the people who accepted gays or the people who practiced Biblical capital punishment on gays.

The CNP is referred to as the who’s who of the religious right that prefers to do its business with as much secrecy as possible. Mark Crispin Miller, a media critic with New York University, claims the CNP is a "highly secretive theocratic organization -- what they want is basically religious rule."

The CNP is considered a dominionist umbrella group. Goals of the dominionists include infiltrating government entities like state legislatures, the media, and putting plants within groups they consider to be the enemy, like LGBT organizations, in order to gather intelligence and create chaos.

During Apartheid in the 1980s, the CNP assigned member Richard Bott, chairman of Bott Radio - a string of fundamentalist gospel stations, to use his Christian radio influence in order to spread pro-Apartheid propaganda in the United States for the South African white ruling class. Bott, using funds supplied by the South African government and Joseph Coors, began a misinformation campaign in this country to convince citizens that things were just fine in the country and the blacks were doing well under Apartheid. Attempts to convince Congress to not place sanctions on South Africa failed and Apartheid soon dismantled under growing international pressure. Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, who was vilified by Richard Bott in frequent radio shows, was released from prison and became South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994.

Another ranking member of CNP is Phyllis Schlafly, the founder of the Eagle Forum.

PFLAG has said of Schlafly, "She has consistently opposed full equality for women and for gays and lesbians, and has pushed her anti-equality agenda in our schools and our state houses.”

Other prominent members of CNP, besides McGuigan, Bott and Schlafly, include Pat Boone who recently claimed LGBTs would be causing a terror event, as had recently occurred in India, in American streets. Additional members include Jesse Helms, Joseph Coors, Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Gary Bauer, Ernest Istook Jr., Bob Jones III, Don Nickles, and Pat Robertson – all of whom have led anti-gay campaigns in Oklahoma and around the nation. 

CONCLUDING NOTES

Among the small staff at McGuigan’s City Sentinel are LGBT community personality Robin Dorner, who works for the paper as an advertising representative and news writer. Dorner is closely involved with the Cimarron Alliance Foundation (CAF) and on the board of DBA Metro.

[Editor’s Update: Robin Dorner, a straight woman, managed to get her hands on Oklahoma’s only gay newspaper The Gayly. Yes, the gay paper in this state is run by a straight woman, who carefully sidesteps many important LGBTQ issues.]

Hate Trackers has previously reported how in recent years CAF has been infiltrated by individuals, who are employed by anti-gay people in the state. Dorner has not responded to requests to discuss her status with McGuigan. CAF’s current chairman, Richard Ogden, has geared his law practice towards serving Express Services and Bob Funk. Funk is a leading contributor to anti-gay candidates in the state. Corporation Commissioner Jim Roth, who previously led the non-profit board in a decision not to prosecute a man for allegedly embezzling from the group, has continued close financial and political ties to Aubrey McClendon, who has given over half a million dollars to fight gay marriage.

The weekly City Sentinel began operations under that name on June 25, 2008, after previously being known as the Mid-City Advocate.  The paper bills itself as "Your Premier source for news straight from the heart of Oklahoma City." and lists only three employees on their website: McGuigan, Dorner, and Rod Jones. It claims to be independently owned, but the owner’s name is not listed. 

Patrick J. McGuigan is also a member of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, which is a self-styled “think tank”. The group was founded in Oklahoma in 1993 by Dr. David Brown, the then chairman of Weyrich’s Heritage Foundation in Washington DC. The major goal of the group is to deregulate the health insurance industry in Oklahoma. Serving on the board of trustees is Ralph Harvey, who was one of Kern’s largest campaign donors and is named on this website as one of the Top 25 Enemies of the LGBT Community.  The OCPA stands in stark opposition to gay rights.

After leaving the Free Congress Foundation in 1990, McGuigan went directly to work as top editor for the Daily Oklahoman. During his tenure there he was quoted as saying, "We're trying to change the political culture; we're trying to make Oklahoma a conservative bastion."

Journalism peers accused McGuigan of being blindly conservative, simple minded, and claimed he played loose with the facts.

In 1999, during McGuigan’s tenure, the Columbia Journalism Review called the Daily Oklahoman the worst newspaper in America for its far-right views and racist hiring practices.  

Killers of the Flower Moon II: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt Wants to Steal from the Indians Again

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt - French fried pataters.

But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes...and when Indians get something, white men will come take it.

When whites invaded this land, they started taking and haven't stopped taking. That's especially true in Oklahoma. As the tribes here have started to thrive and gain wealth in modern times, a new round of white men have shown up to take it away from them.

They're being led by a shady businessman, who became the governor of Oklahoma and immediately started plotting how he could get his hands on Indian money.

It's a story straight out of a B-western with a black hat-wearing villain named Kevin Stitt riding into town and looking to swindle the Indians. 

The Land Grab, Dawes Commission, statehood in 1907, assimilation schools, and even marrying Osage women so that you could murder them and take their land are some of the things white men have done to take what isn't theirs in Oklahoma. Be it land, natural resources, or children, when a white man wants something he'll do anything to get it.

Gov. Kevin Stitt is such a white man.

Whites robbing Indians has a long history, tribes such as the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee (known collectively as the Five Civilized Tribes) had their traditional homelands taken away from them in the Southeastern United States. They were put on a Trail of Tears and given land in Indian Territory, which became the State of Oklahoma after most of the land given to Indians was taken back and given to whites.

It was under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that the forced relocation began. It became known as the Trail of Tears due to the brutal and harsh journey. As many as half of the 17,000 Cherokee forced on the journey, died before ever making it to Indian Territory.

Expanding West, white settlers demanded even more land, so the U.S. government started relocating the tribes in that part of the country, such as the Comanche and Kiowa, to Indian Territory where land was taken from the Five Civilized tribes and given to other tribes.

Despite pushing so many tribes - Oklahoma has 39 federally recognized tribes - into the territory, they decided to do a land grab for whites. Thus began the Land Run in 1889.

1889 Land Run - White settlers rush into the territory to take possession of Indian lands.

What was once considered tribal land was divided into allotments with Indians maintaining possession of very little of it.

Director Ron Howard, who was born in Duncan, Oklahoma - that being traditional Chickasaw land - made heroes out of the white invaders participating in the Land Run in his movie Far and Away starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

The movie poster says "What They Needed Was A Country Big Enough For Their Dreams."

In reality, that meant taking Indian land and making it their own. Their prosperity meant Indians would suffer. The story is based on the Land Run of 1993.

The Land Runs, there were a few of them, were devastating to the tribes trying to eke out an existence on hostile land.

The Five Civilized Tribes were used to farming fertile land in the South. They had no experience with the harsh red dirt in the state they were forced to move to. But, as Indians do, they learned to work with the land.

A mountain of buffalo skulls

The Indians brought from the West and North were predominately nomadic hunting tribes. Many traveled with the great buffalo herds to feed their tribes. However, the railroad companies brought the buffalo to near extinction, which brought starvation to the Indians.

In Indian Territory those relocated tribes found very little game to hunt.

As they adapted to the new land and developed farming techniques to feed their tribes, the white men came in during the Land Runs to take the prime farming lands.

The white man attempts to farm Oklahoma would contribute to destruction of the land and to the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Their farming practices were unsuitable for the land and created vast soil erosion. Add in a drought and strong winds and everyone suffered greatly.

Indians learned to adapt to the land. The white settlers didn't. So this happened.

The white man had taken the land and destroyed it. Indian way is to adapt to nature, while the white way was to control nature. Indian way is to honor the land and protect the water. White way is to ravage the land and poison the water.

They should've done it the Indian way.

More great evils were conducted against Indians to take even more of the little land remaining to them.

Among whites profiting off stolen Indian land
include television personality Ree Drummond.

The book Killers of the Flower Moon recounts how the FBI originated with their investigating the murders of Osage women.

In the 1920's white men schemed to wed land-owning Osage women. They would marry them, take ownership of the land, and then kill their wives. They wanted the rich reserves of oil beneath those tribal lands. And they got them.

The book suggests hundreds of Osage died during this malevolent time.

As you enjoy watching The Pioneer Woman on television, just think that much of the land the  Drummonds of Osage County claim for their massive 433,000 acre ranch was siphoned down from land grabs and murdered Osage women.

A Martin Scorsese movie about the Osage murders has started production with Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio leading the cast.

During the time of the Osage murders, the Indian population was around 220,000. Before the white man came, Indians numbered in the tens of millions. The impact of removing women and preventing child birth, even in small numbers, was catastrophic.

Later, from the 1960's to 1980's, Native American women were forcibly sterilized around the country, including in Oklahoma. That would cost the Indians nearly half a generation.

Right beneath everyone's eyes, the United States government was committing genocide on Indians by preventing them their right to reproduction. This wasn't long ago. This was in our time.

Others were lost and traumatized as Indian children were forcibly removed from their homes and taken to residential schools where they were taught to be white. Mainly, they were beaten, raped, and exorcised of their Indian culture.

Despite having almost everything taken away from them, the Indigenous People of Oklahoma managed to survive and eventually prosper.

Thus, it was time for white men to come take it all away from them again.

This time Gov. Kevin Stitt has his greedy eyes on casino revenue brought in by the tribes, who have invested their own money to build on what little remains of their sovereign lands.

A little about the businessman turned governor...

Born in Florida, John Kevin Stitt was raised by his pastor father in Norman, Oklahoma.

Norman, which lies in the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation, is known for the University of Oklahoma, which itself is known for their Sooner football program.

Boomer Sooner!

That call has its roots in the land grab thefts previously mentioned.

Boomer is the term for the white settlers that demanded the federal government take Indian land and give it to them.

Sooner comes from shady people who snuck in before the official Land Rush of 1889 to claim the prime pieces of real estate. The Land Run meant you lined up and when the shot rang out you rushed to stake your claim on the opened up Indian land.   

Stitt became Oklahoma governor back in January after being endorsed by President Donald Trump and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

Prior to entering politics, he had founded Gateway Mortgage Group. Stitt campaigned that he wanted to apply his business practices to running the State of Oklahoma.

Some would say Stitt's business practices are rather shady.

The governor's company was banned for life from origination mortgages in Georgia. After coughing up money to the state, Gateway was allowed to do business there again.

Business Insider named Stitt's company one of the 15 shadiest mortgage lenders in America.

When applying to do business in Wisconsin, Stitt failed to reveal past problems with state banking regulators resulting in a $4,000 fine.

Prairie pirate Stitt follows a long, long line of those coveting Indian wealth. We've seen his ilk before. Like the ones coming before him, he's going to lie and cheat to get what he wants.

Indian tribes in Oklahoma entered into gaming compacts with the state despite sovereignty rights that suggest individual nations, as the tribes are, cannot be controlled by state governments.

Still, the tribes chose to help the state by turning over a portion of their gaming proceeds.

Supposedly, that revenue was to go to helping out Oklahoma schools, but, like with most things in the state, it never actually improved schools, as the Republican-controlled legislature just kept reducing general revenue funding to education.

That sleight of hand, ended up placing Oklahoma in the bottom ranks of education. By 2017, the Sooner State was 47th in educational quality. 

There was plenty of money available for education, but between Republican governors and legislators major malfeasance ruled the day.

Oklahoma is a major energy producer. Large corporations control the natural resources taken away from Indians. Oil barons have deep pockets and control the state's treasury.

One of the ways the barons use the legislature is by directing them to keep the gross production tax low.

The Oklahoma Policy Institute describes this as, "The gross production tax, or severance tax, is a value-based tax levied at a basic rate of 7 percent upon the production of oil and gas in Oklahoma (the tax rate is lower when oil and gas prices fall below a certain threshold). Under legislation approved in the 2017 special session (HB 1010xx), oil and gas from newly-spudded wells will be taxed at 5 percent for the first 36 months of production effective June 27, 2018. Previously, new production was being taxed at 2 percent for 36 months. One percent of gross production tax revenues is divided between counties and school districts, with the remainder going to the state."

In comparison, other states charge energy companies a much higher gross production tax, as well as property taxes. That has allowed those states to prosper.

To appease the Oklahoma energy corporations, state republicans find ways to suffocate services. In order to pay for some services the legislature robs education and the money meant to be going to it.

Unwilling to raise the gross production tax further, Oklahoma has to find revenue elsewhere.

So, they've come to rob the Indians again. They want more of the gaming revenue and the governor is intent on getting it. 

In early July, Stitt sent out a money-grab letter to tribal leaders.

When I took office as Governor of the State of Oklahoma in January, one of the first matters of which I was apprised was the upcoming termination of the Tribal-State Gaming Compacts. As I believe you are aware, Part 15 Section B of the Compact referenced above, provides in part that the Compact shall expire on January 1, 2020. Moreover, since there has been no governmental action of the State, or court order authorizing electronic gaming in the State, since the effective date of the Compact, I have been advised that the Compact will not automatically renew. Therefore, I believe it is necessary, prudent, and in the best interests of the State of Oklahoma and the [Nation/Tribe] to begin negotiating the terms of a new gaming compact as soon as reasonably practicable.  

Accordingly, pursuant to Article 6 of the Oklahoma Constitution, 74 O.S. § 1221 C.1., and Part 15 Section B of the Compact, I am hereby requesting that we renegotiate not only the terms of Subsections A and E of Part 11 of the Compact, but the rest of the terms of the Compact as well. Obviously, because of the January 1, 2020, termination date, it is imperative that we reach an agreement and obtain the approval of the Department of the Interior prior to the end of 2019, so that the [Nation/Tribe] may continue to lawfully conduct certain class III games in Oklahoma after that date.

Stitt wants to raise the 6-10% tribes currently pay to 20-25%. Further, he claims the Oklahoma entities pay the lowest rates in the nation, which is just not true.

Tribal leaders are calling him out on the Bullstitt.

Having a long history with white men wanting Indian wealth, tribal leaders expressed their dissatisfaction.

Governor Bill Anoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation responded to Stitt with, “The Governor’s position, as stated in his editorial and letter, came as a surprise to us. A position of this significance warrants respectful and purposeful conversations, particularly given the complexity of the compact and the law. We are evaluating the Governor’s letter and will consider our options. We have always placed a high value on the partnership we have enjoyed with the state of Oklahoma. This constructive relationship has benefited the economy and the citizens of Oklahoma. It is our hope to preserve this positive partnership so we can continue to work together for the betterment of our state.”

Governor Reggie Wassana of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes responded to Stitt as well.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have read the notice to the tribes for renegotiating the gaming compact. The initial intent of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA) was to support the development of tribal economies. Since the passing of State Question 712 which authorized Class 3 gaming in Oklahoma, our Tribes have paid the state of Oklahoma around $50 million in exclusivity fees and all of the Tribes in Oklahoma combined have paid more than $1.2 billion in exclusivity fees to the state of Oklahoma.

The Tribes bore the financial risk and built all of the infrastructure and facilities to build casino gambling in Oklahoma while the state has been fortunate to reap the rewards without any investment or risk on its part. The Tribes use every penny of its gaming net revenues to provide for our tribal members, to operate our tribal government, to fund tribal programs and to assist our surrounding communities. 

Although the Tribes are certainly open to Governor Stitt's request to negotiate new terms for a gaming compact, our view is we do not feel that taking away from our tribal members services is the best option for the Tribes. Any negotiations that involve raising the fees would be detrimental to the Tribes and does not protect the interest of our Tribal government. 

As we have always done and will continue to do, our Tribes invest in our futures and stabilize the neediest of elders to maintain a decent quality of life. We invest in our children. Our investment far outweighs the investment that may or could be offered through the Governor's plan. As the language of the compact implies, if no new compact negotiations are agreed upon between the Tribes and the State, the current Compact shall automatically renew for successive additional fifteen-year terms. The language of the law should prevail.”

In a recent opinion piece published in the Tulsa World, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said “Today, most state-tribal compacts around the country provide for exclusivity fees to the state of 20% to 25% [emphasis ours]."

That's a flat out lie.

He didn't misspeak. He lied. Shady B-western villain Stitt lied. Imagine that.

The governor of Oklahoma flat out lied.

To address Stitt's speaking in a forked tongue, Stephen Greetham, Chickasaw Nation general counsel, told the Tulsa World, "...as of June 2015, only 14 out of 276, or 5% of the tribal-state gaming compacts across the country, provided rates that high."

"The most common tribal-state gaming compact rate is zero, Greetham said. Some 107 of the 276 compacts, or 39%, have a payment of zero. The majority of compacts, 56%, have a rate of less than 10%. [emphasis ours]"

The State of Oklahoma has a long losing streak, when it comes to providing services for its citizens. Money doesn't get to education, roads, hospitals, or empty bellies. It just floats back into the hands of the energy barons that destroy the land, as they try to suck every last drop of oil they can out of it.

On the other hand, when the state's tribes started prospering through various business ventures, including with gaming revenue, they began employing tens of thousands and not just Native Americans either. Combined, the tribes make up the largest employer in the state.

According to Cherokee Chief Bill John Baker, "Through self-determination, tribes have prospered in business and rebuilt government institutions. As of 2017, tribes had a nearly $13 billion economic impact on the state, according to a new study commissioned by the Oklahoma Tribal Finance Consortium. In that year, tribes directly employed more than 50,000 Oklahomans and indirectly supported over 96,000 jobs."

The profits tribes make are poured into educational and health services to benefit tribal members. They're used to fund roads, buy fire trucks, build water and sewage systems that benefit all citizens.

The State of Oklahoma and its corrupt leaders, like Stitt, do not know how to serve the people. The Indigenous, however, have proven they know how to spend the money they make and everyone benefits from it.   

Stitt is just another land-grabbing varmint with dollar signs in his eyes.

It's time the tribes stop negotiating with men of bad faith. Their word is no good. There are piles of broken treaties and compacts already that prove their corruption and bad intent.

Stitt wants to break another treaty.

Well, he needs to circle the wagons, because this time the Indians are ready to fight and put an end to the machinations of greedy white men.

Leaders of the Five Civilized Tribes met in council and are ready to do battle with the governor.

Indians are experienced in battling the schemes of greedy men. They know when to put down the peace pipe and grasp the tomahawk.

Stitt has no understanding of the power and wealth this council has built.

He will now have to deal with an Indian confederacy that can make this Stitt's Last Stand.

Media Contact
Amanda Rutland
O: (918) 732-7615
arutland@mcn-nsn.gov

TRIBAL LEADERS SIGN JOINT RESOLUTION OPPOSING GOVERNOR STITT’S REPUDIATION OF THE STATE-TRIBAL GAMING COMPACTS

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes (ITC)  provided a unified, formal and firm response to Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s recent repudiation of the Oklahoma Model Tribal Gaming Compact through a joint resolution signed by the leaders of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole Nations.  The Tribal leaders unanimously agreed and adopted the resolution at the Inter-Tribal Council meeting today at the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Okla.

The ITC is an organization that unites the tribal governments of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole Nations.

Leaders of all five nations, which collectively represent more than 750,000 Native people, jointly signed the resolution outlining a clear and strong response to Governor Stitt’s letter dated July 5, 2019, proposing the Tribes negotiate a new Class III gaming compact.

Tribal leaders expressed their disappointment in the action by Gov. Stitt to take a matter of such great importance to the media before engaging in respectful and purposeful conversations given the complexity of the compacts and the law.  The ITC memorialized through the joint resolution their collective intent to reject the state’s attempt to unlawfully and unilaterally terminate the compact.

The gaming industry has become a significant driver of Oklahoma’s economy, employing over 55,000 Oklahomans, primarily in rural areas, and paying more than $1.5 billion in exclusivity fees over the past 15 years, mostly for public education. In response to the exclusive fee arrangement outlined in the compacts, Tribes have invested hundreds of millions of those dollars into education, roads, health care, public safety, and tourism to support the betterment of our state for the benefit of all residents.  The tribes’ investments have allowed the state to channel tax revenue to other high priority needs.

During Friday’s general session of the ITC, the tribal leaders detailed the extensive legal history and complexity surrounding gaming compacts and highlighted the current compact, which was approved by Oklahoma voters on November 4, 2004, and approved by the U.S. Secretary of Interior.

The tribes also detailed their concerns that Gov. Stitt made no proposal of any terms, nor presented a framework, for any renegotiation. That noted, the ITC pledged their support for the continuation of the exclusive fee structure and amounts outlined in the current compact. They underscored their confidence in the legal reality that the compact does not expire, but in fact renews on January 1, 2020.

Joint Statement from the Five Tribal Leaders:

“We have considered the state of Oklahoma a trustworthy partner through the years. Working together we have made strides in building a better, stronger and more prosperous Oklahoma for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of members of our Tribes who live and work here as well as all residents of this great State.  We can trace the starting point of our constructive partnership to the carefully crafted and balanced approach represented in the current compact negotiated in a respectful manner between the State of Oklahoma and the sovereign Tribes residing in Oklahoma. This compact represents a continuing and mutually beneficial partnership. The recent action of Governor Stitt puts into question his sincerity to work with us in a cooperative manner moving ahead. We are resolute in our position, and it is our hope Governor Stitt and his advisors will not attempt any bad faith interference on the compact which could set back the progress we have achieved by working together.”

 Bill John Baker, Principal Chief, The Cherokee Nation

Bill Anoatubby, Governor, The Chickasaw Nation

Gary Batton, Chief, The Choctaw Nation

James R. Floyd, Principal Chief, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Greg P. Chilcoat, Chief, The Seminole Nation