City, tribes reach out
Officials of Tulsa and the Cherokee, Creek and Osage discuss working together.
The chiefs of the three major tribes with jurisdictions inside Tulsa's city limits had a historic meeting with Tulsa officials last week to talk about building a partnership for economic development.
"This is a huge step in breaking down these artificial barriers that have kept us from working together," Osage Chief Jim Gray said. "The fact that you have all three tribal leaders sitting at the same table with Mayor Kathy Taylor shows there is a willingness."
During their nearly two-hour session Tuesday, tribal leaders, Taylor, and members of the city's Economic Development Commission decided that the meeting was only a first step with many more to come.
A key issue was finding what the long-term interest would be for the tribes, individually or as a group, in helping Tulsa to grow.
Cherokee Chief Chad Smith said he needed to determine how helping Tulsa would help his tribe, which is based in Tahlequah.
"What may be good for Tulsa may not be good for the Cherokees," Smith said.
He stressed that the key to a partnership is understanding the long-term, sustainable goals and how the Cherokees choose to
fit into them.
Muscogee (Creek) Chief A.D. Ellis said his tribe was ready to diversify its economic development beyond gaming.
The tribe owns land along both banks of the Arkansas River near 81st Street and Riverside Drive. The Creek Nation Casino operates on the east bank and the tribe has plans to develop the west bank, Ellis has told the Economic Development Commission.
Gray said the Osage tribe wanted to create an environment that will draw out-of-state Osage members back, but "we can't do it alone."
All three tribes operate large casinos either in Tulsa or just outside the city limits.
Former U.S. Rep. Brad Carson, who works for the Cherokee Nation, said city officials first need to understand the tribes, their commonalities and differences, and their competitiveness.
"The tribes have worked together, but there is rivalry," he said.
The session produced a suggestion that the city have meetings with individual tribes.
"What we have around this table is historic," Carson said. "There are people that control tens of millions of cash flow and can spend it on projects of their choosing. But for the tribes here, Tulsa is not the focus, it's a hub."
Carson said the challenge for the tribal leaders is that if they do something big in Tulsa, they will have to explain how it benefits other towns in their jurisdictions such as Stilwell, Okmulgee and Pawhuska.
Better communication between the city and the tribes also was encouraged.
Taylor said one frustration in efforts to work with the tribes is that the city has no legal expertise in tribal laws or affairs.
It is like working with a different country, she said.
Carson said the city needs to understand the capacity of the tribes because they have their own governments and can be frustrating to work with.
Taylor said city officials believe downtown development projects hold a lot of opportunities for the tribes. She also pointed out the city's desire to work with the Creek Nation on Arkansas River development.
Carson said the tribes could offer incentives to bring businesses to the Tulsa area, but that would come at a price because tribal land is exempt from sales taxes.
Economic Development Director Don Himelfarb said the tribes "should have a strong voice and presence here."
"Starting today we have developed a point of contact with the tribes through the Economic Development Commission committee on tribal affairs and through my office so that hopefully, the tribes, which are such an important and valued part of our business community, will be able to call on us if they hit a bottleneck," he said.
Margo Gray -- an Osage tribal member, Tulsa businesswoman and member of the Economic Development Commission -- said the discussion with the tribes "is just another portal to where we can move the economic engine that benefits everyone."
Claude Sumner, the executive director of the Creek Nation, said that when tribes "are the focal point for the discussion on economic growth, investment and participation in a development program, there has to be a heartfelt, mental capturing of the information necessary to deal with Native American tribes, and I haven't seen that."
"The tribes have been here for many generations, and have been given legal status, and have some powerful ability to make life easier in the business world of this country and in Tulsa especially," he said.
"The leader role has to start with the (mayor) who sees the nations as an international entity to do business with. I applaud her." |
