St Regis Mohawks get $10.5 million in federal stimulus funds
U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act would be used to connect the northern New York reservation to the Internet via high-speed broadband.
The money comes from the $787 billion stimulus act approved by Congress shortly after President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
According to the U.S. government’s website—recovery.gov—the federal money will be used by the St Regis Mohawks to link approximately 68 miles of fiber network to other broadband networks funded by the Recovery Act.
In other numbers from the web site: Nearly 4,000 people, 200 businesses and 42 community institutions will benefit from this new, high-speed Internet connection.
It’s also estimated that more than 784 jobs will be created.
Tags: st. lawrence valley
Wouldn’t need the money if the state would stop bothering Indians about selling cigarettes.
Why should this reservation, which as far as I can tell, doesn’t pay any taxes, get a rather large share of the already minimal stimulus funds for upstate, NY? We have water districts, road projects, municipal projects, etc. which were denied these funds yet this non taxed, sovereign entity with plenty of resources of its own gets 10.5 million? Another bizarre example of this absurdity is the huge amount awarded to the tribe which owns and operates the Mohegan sun Casino in Connecticut. This is an issue our local elected officials should be stumbling over to get to the bottom of. Someone should pose this question in the upcoming debates.
784 jobs will be created??? What utter garbage. Did you actually think about that before posting it Jonathan? Whose figures are those?
I second what ICISWHIJ says. Sovereignty arguments fall a bit flat when they have their hand out for US Gov’t dollars.
Bret-
The number 784 is from the website Recovery.gov.
Of course I thought about it. I called the St Regis Mohawk press relations office and tried to contact U.S. federal officials for more information.
A Mohawk official e-mailed a statement with nearly identical wording to that on the U.S. government’s web site.
That e-mail also included an offer to get someone to talk with about the Mohawk’s three-part application for stimulus funds.
The e-mail came in just a few minutes before 5:PM – during the afternoon news cast I host.
I will follow up, but today’s primaries will keep all of us on the NCPR news team busy.
Until we have more information, keep this in mind:
Getting access to knowledgeable sources and accurate information is often difficult and always takes time. But righteous indignation and anger are easy.
It is incumbent on us all to not just feel, but think, as well.
In this case, like Bret, I’m highly skeptical that 784 jobs will be created or even sustained (if that rubric gets applied to this stat).
Still, instead of questioning how many jobs may come of this federal stimulus, the better question–especially for those out of work–is “How do I get one of those jobs?”
-Jonathan, NCPR
Those jobs will never exist Jon. Simply a pipe dream. And a little righteous indignation from the reporters receiving these “facts” might cause some people to be a little less free with their estimations.
I report this under the fraud, waste and abuse. It nice to see at least that I am not the only one who realizes that the Indians are looking have things both ways.
These Natives deserve some sort of help and recognition…It’s about time..So much was taken from these people..
JoAnne, there may have been so much taken, but this is the history of the world. As time moves forward, wars happen and ownership, sovereignty, economies, population demographics all change.
I had a lot taken from me when I had to drive all the way to Ogdensburg, and then back to Cornwall because the Indians rioted and closed the bridge. I figure it added close to 200 miles round trip from Potsdam, and the gas was rather expensive as was wear and tear on the car and that is not to mention the extra time spends on the road…
Looking at things with a long enough lens of time, history is unfair to all…
So it goes…
If they do not pay taxes, they do not deserve any additional stimulus monies…
Just my 2 cents…