Date: Thursday, April 05, 2007

* * * * * * * * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * * * * * * * *

Pawnee, Okla. -- To the good people of the Pawnee Nation:

Most regrettably due to unforeseen events, I will not be giving the State of the Nation Address orally. However, in printed form I will disclose some of the concerns, issues and accomplishments we have experienced of the last years (8) that I have served as an elected official. I have decided not to pursue serving in a council position at this time, so I say thank you for allowing me to serve as a council member as the Vice-President and President of the Pawnee Nation. As a Nation we have seen many positive steps taken to build and develop our Nation in a progressive fashion. If you look about our Reserve you will see many new programs that are now actively serving our people. Some of these new structures and programs are noted later in my message to the Nation.

In these days of promise and reckoning, we can be confident that our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our determination strong. Those of us who were elected or appointed to our offices must understand and adhere to the Pawnee Nation’s Constitution. For, without the Constitution, we have no sovereignty. If we disregard our Constitution’s principles, we disregard and threaten our sovereignty. If this happens, then the possibility of great peril looms.

As leaders, we must serve the Pawnee people to our greatest abilities. We must lead without personal agendas. We must possess the clarity of thought necessary to make our own decisions based on sound reasons—not because someone tells us. We must seek to compromise rather than divide, to unify rather than vilify or belittle others.

We are charged with taking care of all people within the Nation—whether they live here in Pawnee or elsewhere. This includes the youth, their parents, and their grand parents. Comprehensive plans have been put in place, set in motion, which will benefit the many, not just the few. Tribal leaders, administrators, and employees of the Nation have worked tirelessly to develop and implement strategies that will offer a pathway for future growth.

We have sought to provide a multitude of opportunities in the areas of economic development, education, environmental rights, and expansive nation building—what I call the 4 E’s of future growth. Each element is vital to the others. By acting in one area, we enhance other areas and thereby create new opportunities for tribal members to better themselves.

The first of the four E’s, Economic Development, must be the foundation upon which the Nation builds in order to realize future growth. Economic development takes many forms—whether manufacturing, small business enterprises, gaming, or industry.

As many of you know, the Nation has already benefited greatly from the business ventures managed by TDC. In the last year alone, TDC provided over $614,000 in revenue to the Nation. This is historic. Never in the history of the Pawnee Nation has a revenue stream so been so lucrative. This is why the Nation’s leadership and management must work together to ensure that the revenue generated continues to be a beneficial resource for our Nation and for our tribal members.

We should let those with management expertise and good ethics assist the Nation in its endeavors to establish major gaming ventures. If the Nation possessed the knowledge to implement and manage such an enterprise as the proposed Chilocco resort, then those individual tribal members would have been identified and brought on board.

Through sound management and good business practices, the Nation can put in place a gaming plan that will benefit this and future generations. We can begin to realize a future in which all Pawnee tribal members who want to work can work. We can absolutely obliterate all unemployment. We can hire tribal members at good wages. We can attract those tribal members who live elsewhere to return to Pawnee and be a vital part of the Nation’s future growth. We can build upon our Nation’s history and be a respected leader in Indian Country.

By acting in this manner, the Pawnee Nation will be able to expand its business operations beyond gaming. Through the revenue that gaming can provide, the Nation can take a leading role in developing other economic areas such as establishing a construction company, developing wind generation opportunities, and securing 8(a) status and thereby receiving government contracts in a variety of manufacturing and industry sectors. Doing so will require individuals to have access to education and training opportunities.

This leads to the second of the four E’s for future growth, and that is Education. As many of you are aware, the Pawnee Nation is one of only four tribes in the state of Oklahoma to establish a tribal college. We are one of only thirty-nine tribes across all of North America to have an institution of higher learning.

The importance of obtaining an education isn’t just about getting a degree or certificate. Education is a gateway to opportunities that wouldn’t exist otherwise. That is why the establishment of the Pawnee Nation College is so significant to the future of the tribe.

Through the College, tribal members and others in the region can gain the tools and skills necessary to competently operate, manage, and participate in a variety of professions both within and outside of the Nation. Never before have so many tribal members in Pawnee had the chance to take college courses and progress toward college degrees than right now and right here. Newly renovated facilities provide the space needed to carry out instruction.

Moreover, additional resources have been secured for ITV and web-based courses. The College has just received a $60,000 grant from the USDA that will allow the College to purchase and set up a state-of-the-art classroom. This added technology will increase learning opportunities for students here and students elsewhere.

Many tribes have lost their federal-recognition status because they did not take steps to preserve their language or to create new speakers. Through classes at the College, nearly forty tribal and non-tribal students have taken and completed Pawnee Language courses—all in less than two years. By offering courses in Pawnee, by giving tribal members the opportunity to take classes in Pawnee history, the College is doing its part to preserve the Nation’s sovereignty.

To assist the College in its efforts to provide educational opportunities, the Pawnee Business Council has donated almost $280,000 to the school so far—since 2003.

Funding is needed for full-time staff and instructors, for recruiting students, for establishing scholarship programs, for equipment and furniture, and for a host of other expenses.

With very limited funding, the College has served nearly 150 students during its four semesters of operation. Over eighty percent of the College’s students are enrolled tribal members of one Indian nation or another. Students from the Sac & Fox Nation, from the Creek Nation, from the Ioway, the Comanche, and the Pawnee Nation have taken courses.

We will now consider the third of the four E’s for future growth.

The Pawnee Nation is leading a nation-wide charge by Indian tribes to secure Environmental Rights—specifically, water rights. Like economic development and education, environmental rights are important because these rights involve issues of sovereignty. As stipulated by the U.S. Congress, Indian nations have the right to develop and enforce their water quality standards. Accordingly, tribes must be granted “treatment as a state” status.

In November of 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency gave its approval to the Pawnee Nation to set its own clean water standards. Since then, the state of Oklahoma filed a suit against the EPA—citing concerns that other Indian nations in Oklahoma will follow suit, which would result in potentially thirty-some different standards. And in August of 2005, Senator Jim Inhofe included language in the Transportation Bill that blocks the EPA from recognizing the sovereignty of Oklahoma tribes without the state’s approval.

This is unacceptable, of course. It harkens back to the 19 th century when U.S. politicians continually strong-armed Indian nations to give up all or parts of their traditional lands in order to benefit non-Indian constituents.

What’s at stake, however, is our right as a sovereign to dictate what kind of water enters our national borders. No one has the right to pass contaminated waters through the Pawnee Nation. Just like no one has the right to enter our lands to conduct business without our approval. This is our land base by treaty, and we have an inherent right to protect our land and resources. We must act to protect and preserve our land and keep it pristine for our grandkids and their grandkids. We have a responsibility to ensure that the water that enters the Pawnee Nation will not harm us or the environment.

As leaders and as citizens of the Pawnee Nation, we have to see to it that we are good stewards of the land and good citizens to one another. We must lead and act with intelligence and compassion for each other. We must expand our nation building efforts—the fourth of the four E’s for future growth.

We now have an opportunity to build upon our previous successes. These successes include: the renovation of two historic buildings for use by the College—with two more Gravy U. buildings to be renovated within the next year; the construction of a Family Development Center, which allows tribal members to work out at a Fitness Center and to receive child care; the construction of the Travel Plaza; the construction of the Wellness Center and this Multi-Purpose Building, and, of course, the construction of the new $19 million dollar Pawnee Nation Health Clinic.

All of these projects have benefited hundreds, if not thousands, of Pawnee Nation tribal members as well as non-Pawnees. With each project, tribal members played a significant role managing or assisting with its completion. And we should be proud of what we have accomplished in the last ten years. In the last three years alone, we have received nearly $6 million dollars in federal grants.

Our nation-building initiative will allow the Nation to expand its services and to establish an infrastructure that does not over-burden tribal members or employees. By re-examining all of our policies and procedures, by creating departments, by re-structuring the organizational chart, all will benefit. Members of both Councils will clearly understand their roles and responsibilities as elected officials. Employees will better understand how the Pawnee Nation government is designed—and why. Tribal members will come to the Nation and receive better services from the employees.

It is up to each of us to do our part and fix what is broken. The future of our nation is at stake. Every tribal member has a right to partake in their Nation’s government. And now is the time. Now is the time when we must put aside personal differences and seek solutions. Now is the time that we must work for a prosperity that is broadly shared. Now is the time that each voting-age Pawnee tribal member must exercise their right to voice their opinion.

I urge every Pawnee tribal member to think about all these things. I urge you to play an active role in your national government. I ask that you think about the four E’s for future growth—economic development, education, environmental rights, and expanding our nation-building initiatives—and how the Nation will benefit.

In closing I say, many challenges have arrived in a single season. In a short time, the Pawnee Nation has gone from a sense of enormous hope and great promise to an awareness of peril. And we go forward with confidence, because we know that we will survive.

Pawnees are a resolute people who have risen to every test of time. Adversity has revealed the character of our Nation. The Pawnee Nation is comprised of strong people who want great things for themselves and future generations. We Pawnees have faith in ourselves, but not in ourselves alone. We do not know—we do not claim to know all the ways of Atius, yet we can trust in him, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history. May He guide us now. And may Atius continue to bless the Pawnee Nation.

Thank you my people.

Ron Rice, President - Pawnee Business Council

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The Pawnee Nation is a federally-recognized tribe, originally residing in the Northern Plains of the United States, re-located to north-central Oklahoma in the late 1870s. The tribal government provides services to over 3,122 tribal members living in the city and county of Pawnee, in the State of Oklahoma, and beyond. Tribal members of this proud nation speak two distinct dialects of their native language, and belong to four distinct Pawnee bands: the Skidi, the Kitkehahki, the Pitahawirata, and the Chaui.

Contact: Lyle Fields, Personnel/Enrollment/Communications Director
lfields@pawneenation.org
(918) 762-3621 ext. 25