BAD RIVER AND ST CROIX CHIPPEWA RESPOND TO HO CHUNK
NATION ATTEMPT TO HALT BELOIT CASINO PROJECT AT BIA

In a letter to George Skibine, Director, Office of Indian Gaming Management at
The Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C., the Bad River and St. Croix
Chippewa Tribes have formally responded to recent claims by the Ho Chunk
Nation that there are major flaws in the Beloit Casino Project Trust Land
Application. 

Ho-Chunk Nation President George Lewis and Vice President Wade Blackdeer
sent a letter to Skibine on January 25.  They have incorrectly asserted, without
any factual support, that because the Ho Chunk Nation was not properly
consulted, and because they believe that the Chippewa have no historical
connection to Beloit, that the Beloit Application process should be stopped.

The Bad River and St. Croix Chippewa response to Skibine is attached.  It is a
careful rebuttal of the Ho Chunk Nation position and is taken directly from the
data that is part of the Application.

The records indicate that consultations with Ho Chunk Nation began in July of
2000. The Ho Chunk have met with the BIA about Beloit and they participated in
a public meeting about the project in Beloit in 2003.  The record also documents
three separate archeological surveys that have been completed at the proposed
casino site – one conducted by the Ho Chunk.  The conclusion of all three was
the same.  There are no Indian artifacts on the casino site. The criteria of Section
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act has been met.

The issue of the Chippewa connection to the land in Beloit and southeastern
Wisconsin is summarized in Appendix G of the Environmental Impact Study.
It is beyond dispute that the Chippewa were parties to the Treaties of 1816, 1829,
and 1833. One of the treaties actually places the Chippewa and the United Tribes
on the east bank of the Rock River. The casino site is east of the Rock River.

The Ho Chunk, Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawatomi all have roots in southern
Wisconsin – this was a shared Indian territory. 

The Ho Chunk Nation has not put forward any evidence of Ho Chunk exclusivity
over the casino site.  What they have done is testify before a congressional
committee and supported the Chippewa position.

In testimony presented to the House of Representatives Resource Committee on
April 27, 2005  - the subject was off reservation gaming, Wade Blackdeer, the
current Vice President of the Ho Chunk Nation (co-signor of the January 25 ltr)
stated:

                       … all off reservation gaming should be conducted on land
                       to which the Tribe seeking gaming has a historical connection.
                       that connection could be established on the basis that the land
                       was ceded by the Tribe in a treaty, the land was once a
                       reservation of the Tribe, or the land was the original aboriginal
                       territory of the Tribe.

The historical and consultation records clearly support the Bad River and St. Croix
position.

The Ho Chunk Nation demand that the Beloit Casino Application be stopped for
feigned violations of their rights - clearly that is not occurring, is a stalling tactic. 
The Bad River and St. Croix are very sensitive to the kinds of concerns that have
been raised, as are all Native People.  The Ho Chunk Nation opposition to this
project is a smoke screen because of their concerns about competition in the
marketplace.