We call our version Casino Jim. We do not know for certain who Casino Jim really is, other than someone with ties to the gaming Lobbyists
CASINO JACK HAPPENING IN NEW JERSEY.
INTRODUCTION:
To paraphrase a critique of the movie :--- The new movie "Casino Jack" deals with Lobbyist and businessman, Jack Abramoff, who wound up swindling the Native Americans out of millions of dollars by playing both sides against the other. In a nutshell- Abramoff had been hired by the Native Americans to represent them so that they could build casinos. However, behind their clients back Abramoff and his associates were working against their "clients" so that the Native Americans would pay them for their services. This scam included politicians, aides to politicians- two of whom worked for Tom DeLay and other officials/lawmakers who had ties to Indian Affairs....
It was the scandal that rocked Washington DC and the Native Americans.
ACT ONE:
Allegedly, what if in the year 1993 when Donald Trump, the then Congressman Toricelli, and Congresswoman Roukema charged that the Rampough would bring in Indian gaming associated with organized crime, it was a projection of things to come regarding the Native Americans living in New Jersey?
Allegedly at that time, the gaming lobbyists, backed by the above three, were able to successfully stop the Native Americans from building a casino anywhere within the state. They did this based on the BIA report that the Ramapough Indians were not a tribe and would not be given recognition by the Federal Government. The other two Native American entities were not indigenous and posed no threat. Their feeble attempts were laughable because they had no legal claims to anything in NJ and those who mattered, knew it.
Consequently, the Casinos were allowed to flourish unimpeded by any competition, while the Native Americans in NJ were left the arduous task of proving that the majority of them, in fact were Native Americans.
This gave the splintered Native American entities the impetus to band together to reinforce the fact that they were all Native Americans and some were the descendants of the tribes that had lived here since ancient times to the very late 1600/1700s. According to the BIA, the Nanticokes and the Powhatans came to NJ in 1975 and are not indigenous to the state, though they are Native American entities. Because Casino Jim knew this, their attempt to build a casino in Alpine got squashed quicker than a bug from a fly swatter.
Meanwhile, the gaming lobbyists continued applying pressure preventing any form of gaming competition to rear its head in NJ. At the same time, more and more casinos had been built in Atlantic City with the promise that these establishments would greatly contribute to the education of NJ children and the rebuilding of Atlantic City. None of which has occurred to the extent that had been promised.
What if allegedly, shortly after 1993 the owners of the casinos(which are built on the coast line of New Jersey’s southern shore),learned that their investments were in fact going to become water-logged due to the results of climate change which would raise the water levels along the coastlines? They had 15 to 20 years to look into other areas- making the years 2008-2013 the time to seek out new locations.
Therefore, those behind the gaming lobbyists needed to move their investments to higher grounds, away from what would be the rising tides of the ocean. However where to go was the dilemma.
They considered the Meadowlands, but because they are low lying lands, they needed to look elsewhere.
Allegedly the gaming lobbyists, believing that they had successfully dealt with the Native American problem, turned their attention to the Mountains of affluent Bergen County.
However, they ran into a problem. Though they had convinced the public that there were no Indians in "them thar hills", they were wrong. There were Indians- A majority of them were of mixed blood, with some pure bloods – but many fit the definition of a Native American. How were they to infiltrate the mountain folk so that they could build their casinos?
That’s where New Jersey’s version of Casino Jim comes into play again -- Wheeler and dealer of monies.
ACT TWO:
First you need to destroy any "tribes" in NJ. This was thought to have been accomplished in 1993 by Trump, Torricelli, and Roukema. Next if a tribal entity actually begins to get organized and can begin proving it’s a tribe, then the lobbyists needed to infiltrate that somewhat organized band, have their person(s )cause dissension and chaos. By doing that, backed by the gaming lobbyists and their backers, they would get rid of any tribal efforts, making certain that all the Native American entities were maintained only as 5013c. That there were NO legitimate tribes left in the state.
However, the lobbyists ran into a problem. Chief Ross of the Ani~Tsalagi Onaselagi had ties to the Cherokees, his tribe has been here since early 1800s. He & Governor Corzine had mutual friends, and is well known both to the State and Federal Governments.
He had been seeking recognition as an established tribe with the right to sit on the Indian Commission. He was constantly stonewalled by the commissioners and misdirected again and again. At a meeting with the then Secretary of State, Nina Wells, Chief Ross learned of an inaccurate report that was going to be released. That report effectively left out over 30,000 Native Americans in NJ. The only Native American entities mentioned were three entities, two of which were not indigenous to NJ and had become established as 5013c in 1975 by invitation of Chief Sam Beeler of the Sand Hills. The Feds, NJ, the gaming lobbyists and their backers all knew this-
Unfortunately, what the gaming lobbyists didn’t know was that Chief Ross was about to bring out of the wood work the original indigenous tribe of NJ, the Sand Hills. He had located the long hidden tribal members and their principal chief.
After a series of meetings between the then two Principal Chiefs, the two tribes attempted to obtain seats on the commission. Again and again they were stonewalled by the commissioners and the two chiefs watched as the commissioners contradicted themselves again and again.
However, patience lasts only so long and the Sand Hills on Feb 17, 2009 filed their first motion of their lawsuit. Allegedly, it was then that NJ’s Casino Jim went into high gear.
ACT THREE:
Allegedly, the gaming lobbyists had been slowly arranging for land to be bought on a mountain by different owners and/or corporations. Rumor has it these were fronts for those behind the lobbyists who wanted to move their casinos to that location. It was easy. It had taken only ten years to take a tribe and throw it into chaos.
The Native American entities living in that area were no longer a tribe, were in disarray, tied up in their own lawsuits- which resulted in the Courts declaring them a 5013c and NOT an Indian tribe. The chairman was no more a Chief than I was in the eyes of the State and Federal laws.
The next step needed to be accomplished was to appear that those behind the gaming lobbyists were not racist or trying to commit "genocide" against the Native Americans living in Bergen County Mountains.
Therefore some sort of plan had to be hatched that would never expose the reality of what was taking place.
However a problem popped up. Once the Sand Hills actually filed their lawsuit every effort had to be made to guarantee a media blackout- NJ citizens could never know that there really was an indigenous tribe with real rights to land, natural resources etc. Any acknowledgement of what the Sand Hills were saying would derail the alleged takeover of the mountains. After all the casinos had to be moved no matter who was sacrificed.
So a battle of wits began between the " Casino Jim" people and the Sand Hills, along with their allies the Ani-Tsalagi Onaselagi. The Chiefs, while working and walking with Clients were accosted and threatened by alleged hired hands of the gaming lobbyists. Homes were broken into, break lines cut, tires slashed,tire nuts undone so that tires would come off once the car was going at a higher speed, surveillance, phones tapped, and the hired hands were followed by the FEDS who were watching everyone. A long standing joke ran up and down the eastern seaboard- Whenever Chief Holloway stopped to tie his shoelaces, there was a five car motorcade back up. Chief Ross had a line of people walking behind him, who busily turned away should the Chief turn his head.
There were attempts to stonewall the Sand Hills from the very beginning. Allegedly the Indian Commission went to find a disgruntled family member of the Sand Hills to come forward to claim she and her immediate family were the real tribe and that The Sand Hills with Chief Holloway were not. Both the Indian Commission and this person forgot that the majority of her relatives were actual members of tribe whose chief is Holloway- she was estranged from her relatives and set up her own family unit to pass as a Tribe. Why? This will be discovered during the court hearings.
Meanwhile back to Casino Jim-Allegedly, somehow the judge overseeing the Sand Hill case, decided to dismiss one the plaintiff’s motions solely based upon one letter from this disgruntled Sand Hill. Holloway was deprived the right to present his own evidence or discovery, or to challenge this letter. For some reason, the Judge decided that the person writing the letter was the real McCoy, oops, Sand Hill.
When, in the history of jurisprudence, does a Judge decide a ruling based upon a letter by one person claiming something and NOT demanding that person present proof, nor allow the other side to question?
I am telling you, Casino Jim was very busy! He and his minions had already cost the State over twenty million dollars in legal costs against a legitimate tribe by allegedly interfering with the courts, but Casino Jim couldn’t afford any tribe to be acknowledged- they needed the mountains- which happen to be Indian land.
So they got busy- anyone know of any Native Americans who have been going around for the past few years saying that he/she had a lot of money for a house on a mountain, but it wasn’t time to buy one yet- but it would be soon? Or were told that the Sand Hills’s lawsuit ruined everything- that ten years of hard work was going to be undone? Or know anyone who earns a modest living driving around in a car that he/she got with cash- no financing needed. Yeah, if the Native Americans reading this begin to think about it- yes you do!
Back to the fantasy of Casino Jim and the corruption permeating the courts and politicians. So we now have a former Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Indian Commission all named in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit, with one of the largest Native American claims to ever hit the United States. Allegedly, all caused for political favors promised by Casino Jim.
END ACT THREE –INTERMISSION