Podcast: Play in new window | Download (27.0MB) | Embed
A hundred years before the United States passed a constitutional amendment banning alcohol, Congress banned alcohol sales and production on reservations. The country quickly repealed Prohibition, but the reservation ban remained. That is until President Trump signed the law opening up alcohol manufacturing on Native land in December. For the first time in almost 200 years, tribes can now establish distilleries on reservation land. The Chehalis Tribe already has plans to open a distillery on their reservation in Washington State. Other than the obvious inequity based on race, the main reason to toss the outdated prohibition law is to tap into a growing trend for further economic development.
Guests:
Jeff Warnke – spokesperson and director of government and public relations for the Chehalis Tribe
Curtis Basina (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) – co-owner of the Copper Crow Distillery
Break 1 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live At Coeur D’Alene (album)
Break 2 Music: A Winter Dream (song) Nitanis “Kit” Largo (artist) Serenity (album)
Congratulations Jeff and Curtis for learning how to operate a distillery and small business. Maybe they can teach small business seminars to native Americans or continue their economical fascination with distilleries and craft alcohol off of reservation land because reservation land is all native Americans have left. Talk about sovereignty. These guys are good people but what they want to incorporate as a business is not the Native American way.
They brought up how math and science is involved and how their ideas for introducing distilleries will help children learn more about math and science. If this were true which I believe it is I think nutrition is much more important to guide young minds interest in because our culture is dying and the only thing that will bring us back into our spiritual light is healing from the fruit of Mother Earth and there is absolutely no healing in alcohol. It’s just not the way we do things as Native Americans.