Casino sets Indian-only job fair
Tribes: Cherokee Nation exempt from employment law
Published: October 13, 2008
CATOOSA — Seeking work that pays at least $2.45 above the federal minimum wage? One of the Cherokee Nation’s expanding casinos may hold just the job for you.
Multimedia
More Info
Job fair
→When: Nov. 7-8
→Where: Cherokee Casino Resort, Interstate 44 and S 193 Ave. in Catoosa
→What to bring: Two forms of identification plus a tribal enrollment card or certified degree of Indian blood card
KEY FACT
Unemployment
According to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, 31 percent of American Indians in Oklahoma were unemployed in 2005.
Wages
Cherokee Nation’s minimum wage is $9 per hour. The federal minimum wage is $6.55.
Citizenship preferred
Mike Miller, spokesman for the Cherokee Nation, said the tribe isn’t offering preference based on race but on tribal citizenship.
"There are some jobs that you just want citizens of your own country doing,” Miller said.
He said non-Indians hold many of the tribe’s 7,000 total jobs.
However, Miller said, "If we have a qualified Cherokee applicant, we want to give that person an opportunity.
"We don’t care what an applicant looks like. We care that they’re a citizen of a (tribal) nation. That’s a huge difference. People need to get past some old ideas about what an Indian tribe is. An Indian tribe is a government made up of citizens. ... just as the United States is.”
Why they’re exempt
Johnston said there are two reasons Congress exempted tribal employers from the Civil Rights Act’s prohibition on preferential treatment:
→Sovereignty: Tribes are considered sovereign governments.
→Unemployment: American Indians traditionally have a high unemployment rate.
Tribes’ exemption from the Civil Rights Act refers to jobs on reservations.
However, unlike other states with large Indian populations, Oklahoma no longer has reservations.
Johnson said the EEOC has interpreted the exemption to be extended to any land in Oklahoma that has been placed in federal trust for a tribe’s benefit.
Related Topics:
Law, Special Interest Groups, Social Issues, Business, Constitutional Law, Native American Issues, Jobs and Labor, Job Searching, Civil Rights


Prev




Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).
I have said before, but I’ll repeat myself for you two, that I am not pro-Casino, but if tribes can contribute to local economies and hire ALL races, I am for them! You should not jump the gun on tribes that hire within their own nations if their people are having harsh economic times. I once worked as a job developer/counselor at an Indian Center, near a reservation where those tribes got offended if I served white high school kids with job placement or assistance. I told them that we cannot legally place ads in the newspapers for job openings or do public fundraisers if we exclude all high school kids. I saw racism coming from Indians and even tribe against tribe. I always felt that since I was raised Christian in Oklahoma, my worldview of race was less confined to those like me and I felt obligated to help all high school kids with a job lead regardless!
JonBonJovy, its about time for the white race to man-up and pay the rent. If you think Natives have a “free ride” in 500 years of occupation, where is our American Indian history of Native governors, presidents, CEO’s or business owners, Army generals, bank presidents, media moguls and newspaper publisher’s in comparison to whites holding these jobs since natives get “preferential treatment”? Bon Jovy, both you and Cassie need to READ MORE AMERICAN HISTORY and not just Oklahoma History, which schools only teach about Anglo-Oklahoma’s plight and not Indian Territory! Did you know the University of Oklahoma credits native language classes as foreign languages? Did you know whites nationally receive more AFDC and state assistance than any other race? Like tribes, you feel what natives have been experiencing for over 500 years and I predicted that your own government officials would run out of races to inflict their economic woes as they have done to all ethnic groups, Irish and Germans included, so welcome to the jungle, but don’t bite the hands that feed you! Tribes, like casinos, might be all that’s left of your American dream and the foreseeable Oklahoma economic sunrise!
Its also time for everyone to be able to open casinos, not just Indians. I am sure that they would be for that, oh, sorry, I forgot how racist they really are. lol.
Hooters discriminates by only hiring a certain type of people...chesty girls. The NFL only hires certain types of people to play football....men. Screw it. If they don't want you working there, they won't hire you anyway. I always wondered when I went to Indian casions, why there were so many white people working there anyway. If you have a job, what are you so worried about? I bet it pays more than $2.45 above federal minimum wage. My job sure does. And Lord knows us Indians are raking in the cash now.