Kyl disputes claims he's anti-Native
Dems claim senator's staff member affiliated with One Nation United

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Arizona Democratic Party says it has obtained documents linking a senior staffer for Sen. Jon Kyl with a group attempting to repeal federal tribal recognitions and protections.

Joseph Matal, counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and an employee of Kyl's Senate office, has met with the group, One Nation United, and is a featured speaker at the group's November conference in Washington, D.C., the Democrats said.

Arizona Democratic Party Chairman David Waid said, "Arizona's Native American communities are among the poorest in the state. It is outrageous that Jon Kyl, who is supposed to be advocating for them, is working secretly back in Washington to cut the legs out from under them."

Kyl's office said the senator has long maintained a strong relationship with Native American Tribes in Arizona.

"Kyl has worked to promote economic growth and opportunity for Native Americans, to strengthen the government-to-government relationships that exist between the federal government and the tribes, and to protect the rich Indian culture that is such a treasure to Arizona and the nation," according to Andy Chasin, communications director.

"The Democrat Party recently put out a partisan attack that attempts to distract from Senator Kyl's record of accomplishment. The charge made by the Democrats is that a Kyl staffer has been 'tied to an Anti-Native American group.' The facts demonstrate that this charge is plainly false," Chasin said.

A staffer from Kyl's office did meet with One Nation United, a group which opposes the spread of tribal gaming and the extension of tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians. Staffers from Sen. John McCain's office and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's Office met with the group as well, according to Chasin.

"The Kyl staffer met with this group to discuss Senator Kyl's opposition to the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 (S.147), legislation that relates to the establishment of new rights for Native Hawaiians," he said.

The bill would have authorized the creation of a race-based government of 200,000 people in the state of Hawaii. The legislation failed in the Senate.

"Senator Kyl believes that Native American tribes have a unique status in America and that we should not expand that status to other groups without careful consideration," Chasin said.

"The Native Hawaiian legislation would have been an abuse of the tribal sovereignty doctrine that would have had negative implications for Native American tribes in Arizona. Senator Kyl has always acted to support the long-term interests of Native Americans, and he will continue to do so," Chasin said.

The Arizona Democratic Party www.azdem.org said Kyl has repeatedly voted against providing health care to Native Americans "and even voted to end federal recognition of tribes."

Water settlements
An expert in water law, Kyl sponsored the historic Arizona Water Settlements Act, which resolved water rights claims of the Gila River Indian Community and the Tohono O'odham Nation. That measure created a fund of Central Arizona Project water and up to $250 million for other Indian tribes to settle water claims in the future.

A substantial part of the act is the Gila River Indian Community Settlement. On Oct. 10, the Navajo Nation filed objections with the Gila River Basin Adjudication Court to the proposed judgment and decree approving the GRIC settlement.

Ray Gilmore, chairman of the Navajo Nation Water Rights Commission, recently told the Navajo nation Council that the Nation filed objections because the settlement attempts to provide water to Gila River Indian Community from the Blue Ridge Reservoir.

"The Blue Ridge Reservoir is not located in the Gila River watershed. The reservoir is located in the Little Colorado River Basin and the water is supplied to the reservoir from the Little Colorado River watershed," he said.

The Navajo Nation has always seen the Blue Ridge Reservoir as an important component of any Navajo settlement to the Little Colorado River, according to Gilmore.

"In addition, the political effect of the Gila River settlement's provisions related to the Central Arizona Project is to substantially limit the amount of water and the amount of funding which the United States and state parties consider available for settlement of other Indian tribal water rights claims in Arizona, including the Navajo Nation," he said.

It is the Nation's view that the settlement violates fundamental principles of federal jurisprudence by submitting a wide variety of federal law matters affecting Indian tribes to state court jurisdiction, he said.

Kyl also sponsored and won passage of the Zuni Indian Water Rights Settlement. The Navajo Nation is a party to the Zuni River Basin adjudication. The Chapter of Ramah is almost entirely in the Zuni River Basin, as well as parts of Grazing District 16.

The United States' claim on behalf of the Zuni Tribe is to be filed at the end of this year. The United States' claim on behalf of the Navajo Nation is to be filed by the end of 2008.

Kyl also supported the San Carlos Apache Tribe Water Settlement Act and the Fort McDowell Indian Community Water Rights Settlement Act.

Anti-sovereignty
According to the Arizona Democratic Party, One Nation United advocates repeal of tribal sovereignty and other federal protections through legislative action and lawsuits.

The group asserts that tribes have a negative impact on American life, advance an unconstitutional agenda, and suggests that Native Americans falsify their heritage in order to take new lands.

The Dems said that in One Nation United's statement of principles, the group states: "We should allow no tribal, foreign, or international agenda to negatively impact America or its way of life."

Also, according to the Democrats, in its August 2006 newsletter, One Nation United claims the Native American strategy is to "Choose some good land then claim your great-great grandfather camped there. 'It's true because I say so, and if you don't believe me, you're a racist.' "

The Democrats say Kyl senior staffer Joseph Matal will address One Nation United again during the Nov. 13-14 conference in Washington, D.C.

The group's agenda for that meeting is to discuss "Political Action and how to increase the effectiveness of your individual and our joint lobbying efforts locally and nationally," according to the Arizona Democratic Party.