Idaho Indian Tribe Books Ted Nugent, Racist Rocker, in PR Disaster
The Coeur d鈥橝lene Tribe of American Indians 鈥� itself the target of a 听鈥� has booked racist rocker Ted Nugent for a public concert next month at the tribe鈥檚 landmark North Idaho casino.
The decision is stirring controversy for a tribe that has proudly involved itself in human rights causes and contributed thousands of dollars to fight racism.
Nugent sometimes wears an Indian headdress on stage, coming close to ridiculing American Indian culture, and mocks those campaigning to change names of sports teams that use words like Redskins and Savages.
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The legendary rocker, who also is on the board of the National Rifle Association, has a 鈥渓ong history of racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, animus towards immigrants, and propensity to use violence-tinged language,鈥� reported earlier this year.
That came after Nugent called President Obama a 鈥渟ubhuman mongrel鈥� and referred to him as a 鈥渃himpanzee.鈥� Nugent previously called Obama a Nazi and a 鈥減iece of shit鈥� who should 鈥渟uck on my machine gun.鈥� He once called Hilary Clinton a 鈥渢oxic c---鈥� and, on another topic, said, 鈥淚鈥檓 beginning to wonder if it would have been best [if] had the South won the Civil War.鈥�
Many of Nugent's offensive comments have been made on stage during concerts, but he also
has made some of them as a contributor to World Net Daily, a right-wing publication known for pitching conspiracy theories, anti-gay propagandizing and challenging the authenticity of President Obama's birth certificate.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a good question,鈥� Heather Keen, the public relations officer for the Coeur d鈥橝lene Tribe said today when asked why the tribe had booked the controversial rocker for a casino rock show on Aug. 4. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to have to check and see what happened here. Obviously, something may have fallen through the cracks.鈥�
She promised to get a statement from Chief Allen, the full name of the tribal chairman, and Don Matheson, the chief executive officer of the Coeur d鈥橝lene Resort and Casino. It was not immediately clear who booked Nugent or if tribal leaders were aware of the singer鈥檚 racist track record.
A short time after being contacted by Hatewatch, Keen released this more formal statement: "The casino is a large enterprise that operates very autonomously and under that model, the casino management team is in charge of booking entertainment acts. Tribal Council doesn鈥檛 play a part in day to day operations of the casino and in fact Tribal Council wasn鈥檛 aware of this booking until it was brought to their attention this morning. Reviewing scheduled acts is not something in which Tribal Council or the tribal government participates; however, if it had been up to Tribal Council this act would have never been booked. We鈥檙e looking into our options right now but ultimately that will need to be coordinated with and through our management team at the Casino. 听Having said that, I believe there are some high-level conversations taking place at the Casino as we speak."
鈥淚t鈥檚 surprising to me,鈥� former tribal council member John Abraham, who also has served on the Kootenai County Human Rights Task Force, told Hatewatch. 鈥淚 had no idea about this guy鈥檚 background and it鈥檚 really something.鈥�
Christina Crawford, who worked for seven years as the tribe鈥檚 manager of entertainment and special events, said she was astounded when she was told Nugent would be appearing at the Coeur d鈥橝lene Casino. Crawford was a founder of a human rights task force in Benewah County, where the casino is located.
鈥淣ever ever would I have booked that kind of racist at the casino,鈥� Crawford told Hatewatch. 鈥淚 find this astonishing.鈥�
鈥淭he Coeur d鈥橝lene Tribe has a long record of involvement in human rights issues and they understand clearly what harm prejudice can do. Maybe someone just booked him as a rock-and-roll act and paid no attention to his other issues.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so destructive for the tribe,鈥� Crawford said.
Tony Stewart, a founder of the Kootenai County Human Rights Task Force, said he was dumbfounded about Nugent鈥檚 forthcoming appearance hosted by an American Indian tribe that fights racism.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a hate-filled speaker, is what he is,鈥� Stewart said of Nugent.
The irony of the tribe's decision to book Nugent is highlighted by an incident that occurred earlier in July, when unknown vandals defaced a sign on its reservation with the words "White power" and "Die [expletive] Indians," along with what appeared to be a misdrawn swastika.
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