RESOLUTION ABOUT LEGALIZING POT WAS A GAG, TRIBE SAYS

Snoqualmie Tribal Chairwoman Says the Tribal Council Was Just Kidding
When It Passed a Resolution Declaring Marijuana Legal on The
Reservation on July 30, When Willie Nelson Performs at Its Casino.

Just kidding, says Snoqualmie Tribal Chairwoman Shelley
Burch.

The resolution passed and signed by the Snoqualmie Tribal Council
declaring marijuana legal on the reservation July 30 was a gag.

The resolution was intended as a souvenir to frame and present to
country singer Willie Nelson when he performs at the tribe's
Snoqualmie Casino that day, and Burch said she doesn't know how it
became public.

"It was just tongue in cheek at a council meeting; we know marijuana
is illegal," Burch said. "It was a joke. We don't allow it and we
don't back it. We passed it, but it was supposed to be just for him.

"We were cracking up, saying, what if we did a resolution because he
is coming to the casino; that is how it came about."

The resolution passed 4-2 Thursday and was signed by Burch and Nina
Repin, tribal secretary. Nothing on it indicates it is anything but an
official tribal document.

The tribal grapevine was buzzing Monday as news of the resolution got
out, with the resolution attached to emails with subject lines such as
"Are they crazy?" and "Is this for real?"

No, says Burch, who adds that she loves Nelson but won't be at the
concert. "It sold out as soon as the tickets were out."

Elaine Shock, Nelson's publicist, said the singer was on vacation and
that she would not be contacting him for an interview.

Jon Jenkins, the new CEO for the casino, said he knew the resolution
was a gag "as soon as I saw it."

Jenkins, 61, started at the casino about three months ago after
signing a three-year contract with the tribe. He replaces Michael
Barozzi, whom the tribe bought out from his contract in February for
$14 million.

Burch wrote casino staff that the resolution "was in jest and only a
lighthearted welcome for Mr. Nelson, nothing more. It was not by any
means a public policy statement. It was and is just a gag."

Nelson once famously toked on the roof of the White House, and is
perhaps the most famous public face of the marijuana-legalization
movement. He is still fighting a misdemeanor drug charge in Texas
connected with the discovery of a small amount of pot on his tour bus
in March 2010.