By Gwen Florio
The Rocky Mountain News
April 1, 2005
Gov. Bill Owens apologized Thursday for saying "the natives are getting
restless" during a two-day conference on Indian gaming this week.
"It was an inadvertent comment that the governor regrets," said Owens'
spokesman, Dan Hopkins. "He apologizes to anyone who was offended."
Owens' off-the-cuff comment came during the Western Governors' Association Summit on Indian Gaming at the Grand Hyatt in Denver.
When a participant's microphone wouldn't work, the governor urged that it be
fixed quickly, and then remarked, "The natives are getting restless,"
according to some in the audience.
"I couldn't imagine that the governor of Colorado, or any person of that
stature, was making that kind of remark," said Richard Milanovich, tribal
council chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Palm
Springs, Calif.
Owens "went out of his way to call this conference, and then more or less
made fun of the people who were there," he said.
Other observers said the room went quiet after the remark, followed by
scattered groans and chuckles.
"It was a faux pas. It was kind of 1950s," said a gaming expert who asked
not be named because "on the whole, it was a positive meeting."
"I think he thought it was humorous, but everyone else in the room was like,
'Whoa. We need to send you back to political correctness camp,' " the gaming
expert said.
Sheila Morago, executive director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association,
said, "I don't think he meant it in any derogatory way at all."
Morago, a member of the Gila River Indian Community, said Owens laughed when he said it, and that the people sitting with her also responded with
laughter.