wfn.org | Task force brainstorms on tribal economic development

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 23, 1999  News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.   10-21-34-71BP{154}

NOTE:  This story is accompanied by photographs and a sidebar, UMNS #155.

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (UMNS) - The Choctaw community presents a tidy picture
of stability, with busy factories, modern schools and a full range of public
services. 

The centerpiece of the economy is the Silver Star Resort & Casino, a slice
of Las Vegas in the heart of Mississippi that draws stars such as Bill
Cosby, Paul Anka, Wayne Newton and Charlie Pride to entertain the patrons.

In contrast to the gala style of the casino, the Choctaw United Methodist
Mission's Green Hill church goes about its ministry in a 14,000-square-foot
metal building. On a wet day, a visitor has to watch out for the red mud
that surrounds the building. Once it gets on your shoes, it doesn't come
off, the local people say.

Its pastor, the Rev. Wayne Taylor, reflects the church's low-key appearance
in his own approach to ministry. When he came to Philadelphia two years ago,
he immediately had two strikes against him: he was white, and many of the
local people distrusted the church. So now he wears the same type of
everyday clothes as his church members, he's learning to speak Choctaw, and
he's quietly trying to heal old wounds and build trust in the community. 

"We've really come a long way," Taylor said. When he took over in June 1997,
for example, Green Hill, also known as the Pushmataha Family Life Center,
had only six active children. Today, it has as many as 90 on a Sunday
morning, though the number of active adults is at about six. All three of
the mission's churches - Green Hill, Great Spirit and John Memorial - have
175 people on the rolls.

Ten members of a United Methodist task force met with Taylor and toured the
Choctaw community recently to get insights into economic development and
observe the church's ministry. The March 19-20 meeting of the Native
American Economic Development and Empowerment Task Force was arranged by the
Board of Church and Society. Representatives from the Board of Global
Ministries, the Native American Comprehensive Plan (NACP), the Native
American Communications Office and each of the denomination's five U.S.
jurisdictions are on the task force. 

Task force members were impressed with the economic development that has
occurred on the Choctaw reservation in the last 20 years. The Mississippi
Band of Choctaw Indians has eight communities throughout the state,
representing a total of 8,400 people. The reservation at Philadelphia is the
capital of the Mississippi Choctaw nation. The band has virtually no
unemployment, and its economic development is so strong that 65 percent of
the work force is non-Indian, according to Creda Stewart, director of public
information for the Choctaw.

The tribe's industry includes Chahta Enterprises, which produces electrical
wire harnesses for automobiles, trucks and vans, and American Greetings,
which provides hand-finishing work on greeting cards and related products. 

However, the casino stands head and shoulders over the rest of the industry,
both in appearance and economic impact. The tribe collects an average of
$500,000 a month in gaming-related taxes for the state alone, plus
additional sales tax dollars for the city of Philadelphia.

The subject of gaming is a sticky issue for the United Methodist Church,
which supports tribal sovereignty and Indian empowerment but opposes
gambling.

"Gaming was a very tough issue for this tribe to get into," Stewart told the
task force. The band approved the casino by a narrow vote, and the Silver
Star was opened in 1994. Unlike Indian-owned casinos elsewhere, it actually
came after other economic development on the reservation. The Choctaw are
one of the only tribes that has its own gaming commission, Stewart said.

In September, the tribe will open a $13 million elementary school totally
funded by gaming revenue, Stewart added.

Several task force members said they were impressed with the economic
development and diversification on the Choctaw reservation.

"Everything was just laid out so beautifully," said Olivia Schwartz, a task
force member and Lumbee from Upper Marlboro, Md. "I kept reminding myself
that in order to get to that point, a lot of things had to happen before."

Task force member Ray Buckley, of Nashville, Tenn., noted that the Choctaw
have had consistent, long-term leadership. Much of the band's progress is
attributed to the vision of Chief Phillip Martin, who has been involved in
leading the tribe since the 1960s. Serving in the military in Europe, Martin
saw how the countries there recovered after the utter devastation of World
War II. He wondered, Why can't the Choctaw do the same thing?

Reinvesting profits in the community has been an important part of the
growth. Several task force members noted the importance of reinvesting, not
divesting, the money. Other tribes reinvest less in their industries and
instead send fatter checks to tribe members, creating what the  task force's
Rev. Charlie Morrow, a Chickasaw from Tama, Iowa, described as a
casino-based "welfare system." The Mississippi Choctaw limit their checks to
tribal members to $1,000 a year.

The Choctaw have four goals, Stewart said: 1) preservation of the culture
and tradition; 2) economic development; 3) education; and 4) maintaining
tribal sovereignty.

Task force member Vera Sonneck, a Nez Perce from Spalding, Idaho, was
impressed that the people recognize the need to regain and preserve their
culture. She was glad to see that the tribe is teaching its language to the
younger people. Sonneck is vice chair of the church's Native American
International Caucus.

The Choctaw band is doing a good job of public relations, letting people
know what the state is getting back from the economic development and just
what the facts are, said David Wilson, a Choctaw from Oklahoma City and
chairman of the task force.

Throughout the meeting, the task force members tried to envision ways that
the church can serve Indian communities more effectively. A key obstacle, as
Pastor Taylor discovered, is the suspicion that Native Americans harbor
toward Christians, a distrust rooted in more than 200 years of mistreatment.

"We have to go backwards," said Cynthia Kent, a Southern Ute and executive
with the Board of Global Ministries' Mission Contexts and Relationships
Unit: Native American and Indigenous Ministries. That means establishing
relationships with people on the reservations by working with them on their
own issues first, then starting a church later. The effort must focus on
working with people where they are, she said, "because most of them hate
Christians, and 99 percent of them hate Indian Christians."

Another challenge is finding out exactly what native people want and need.
To that end, Kent and task force member Anne Saunkeah, a Cherokee and
executive director of the NACP, will develop a questionnaire for
distribution to annual conference directors of  Native American ministries
in April.

Dispelling myths about Native Americans is also important. Stewart described
her efforts in setting non-native people straight on issues such as where
the Choctaw tribe's revenue goes.

Sonneck ticked off some of the myths about Indians: "You receive that
(casino) check every month. You don't pay taxes.

"It's almost like we have to re-educate, re-educate, re-educate the
non-Indian people," she said.

The task force endorsed sending to members of Congress a booklet by Buckley
called "Dancing With A Brave Spirit: Telling the Truth About Native
America." The booklet, a special edition of the publication Voices from
United Methodist Communications (UMCom), addresses misperceptions about
Native Americans. A letter will be sent with the booklet to each United
Methodist member of Congress. Buckley, an Oglala Sioux and Tlingit, is
director of UMCom's Native American Communications Office in Nashville,
Tenn.

Native American ministries must be broadened beyond just one desk at the
Board of Global Ministries, Kent said. Other denominational programs can
play a role, she said, citing the United Methodist Committee on Relief
(UMCOR), the United Methodist Development Fund, the board's Women's Division
and the Advance Special. 

She would like to talk to UMCOR about the possibility of doing grants to
Indian communities that offer good plans for using the money. The
development fund could support a co-op for community development. And
designating Native American economic development as an Advance Special
project would give  United Methodists a way to support that cause and know
that all of their donations were going straight to it.

It is important for Native American ministries to be integrated into the
work of the whole church, she said. The denomination must have ownership,
she said.

Mark Harrison, staff member of the Board of Church and Society, suggested
the possibility of setting up Native American Shalom Zones, through which
Indian churches could be in outreach in their communities. 

The task force will invite executives with the other denominational programs
- UMCOR, the development fund,  the Shalom Zone and so on - to attend its
next meeting, Aug. 27-29, in New York City. The group will also invite Gary
Brouse, a Native American and staff member of the Interfaith Center on
Corporate Responsibility, who works on sustainable development.

The task force must look at the levels at which things get done in the
church, Kent said. It must make specific recommendations to the bishops, the
churches and so on, and not "stare at our belly buttons."

"We have to focus out," she said. "What are we asking foundations to do?
What are we asking tribes to do?

"It really opens this up to say, economic development is ... for all of us."

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