Voters in Massachusetts will elect a new senator today to fill the remaining term of Ted Kennedy, which expires in November 2012.  Most commentators have cast the election as about national health care reform, but folks in Massachusetts know that the outcome will affect a host of other issues.  One of those issues is intergovernmental relations with tribes, including Indian gaming.  Here's what Kathryn had to say:

"Typically our officials have known very little about tribes, about the law that relates to tribes, and about good policy that relates to Indian gaming.  Much of the controversy about Indian gaming reflects that lack of understanding." 

In other words, every elected official in the U.S. should know something about tribes, about tribal sovereignty, and about the host of issues facing tribes and tribal people, including Indian gaming and tribal economic development.

Read the story in the Cape Cod Times: Cape Wind, More at Fore for New Senator