Impact of Native American gambling
Encyclopedia
Impact of Native American Gaming can be positive or negative, depending on the tribe and its location. In the 1970s, various Native American tribes took unprecedented action to initiate Native gaming enterprises. In doing so, they created not only a series of legal struggles between the federal, state, and tribal governments but also a groundbreaking way to revitalize the Native American economy. Native American gaming has grown from bingo parlors to high stakes gaming and is surrounded by controversy on many different levels. There are disputes concerning tribal sovereignty
, negative effects of gaming, and a loss of Native American culture. In the United States the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
was passed in 1988 in order to secure collaboration between the states and tribes and also in order for the federal government to oversee gaming operations. Native American gaming has proven to be extremely lucrative for several tribes, but it has also been unsuccessful in some instances. Native American gaming is contingent upon and only beneficial to its respective reservation
.
, raises incomes, and increases tribal independence while reducing dependence upon welfare. Native American gaming has created over 300,000 jobs in the United States. Tribes in only 30 states are eligible to operate gaming enterprises because 16 states have no federally recognized tribes, and four states (Massachusetts
, Missouri
, Rhode Island
, and Utah
) prohibit Native American gaming. 224 of the 550 tribes in 28 states operate the 350 Native American gaming enterprises nationwide, and 68% of Native Americans belong to a tribe with gaming operations. According to the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
, these enterprises earned $19.4 billion dollars in 2005. As compared to the $4.5 billion earned by Native American gaming revenues in 1995, Native American gaming enterprises have shown substantial growth in just ten years. These enterprises, earning $19.4 billion dollars a year, account for 25.8% of the nation’s $75 billion revenue (brought in by the total gaming enterprises in the country). In addition, Native American gaming is the source of 400,000 jobs, and the profits from the enterprises often go toward programs that create jobs. For example, 75% of the profit generated by Cherokee Nation Enterprises in 2005 was given to the Jobs Growth Fund, a fund that expands businesses within the Cherokee Nation
to create more jobs.
Revenues, by law, must go toward improving reservation communities. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
requires that revenues go toward: tribal government operations, promotion of the welfare of the tribe and its citizens, economic development, support of charitable organizations, and compensation to local non-Native governments for support of services provided by those governments. Tribes have boosted their socioeconomic
status in the past several years by improving their infrastructure
, but due to the lack of federal and state funding, have only been able to do so as a result of gaming enterprises. For instance, tribes often build casino
-related facilities that draw visitors such as hotels, conference centers, entertainment venues, golf course
s, and RV park
s. Once a reservation has established a strong economic foundation, it can draw in businesses that are unrelated to gaming. A common trend is that casinos stimulate the economy, and other business sustain it. For instance, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians built in a water bottling
plant on the reservation and, along with three other tribes, invested in a hotel in Washington, D.C.
The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska are involved in a number of businesses; some of which are Internet media, home manufacturing, used autos, and gas stations. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians, a small band in California, has opened a Shell
station, A&W
drive-in, Coco’s Restaurant
, a water bottling plant, and a fruit orchard operation. In addition to involvement in private corporations, Native nations have enough sustainability to bolster government programs. Some of these projects include, but are not limited to: providing law enforcement, fire fighters, schools, translators for emergency response, college scholarships, assistance with mortgage down payments, protection for endangered species, monitorship for water quality, care for elders, police cars, foster-care improvements, and health clinics.
Tribes sometimes distribute funds on a per capita basis in order to directly benefit its citizens. Because “per caps” have sometimes shown negative effects such as a dependence on tribal government, low attendance in school, and an unwillingness to work, some tribes have experimented with decreasing per caps as punishment. To clarify, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Tribal Council deducted at least $100 from families’ per caps with children with low school attendance. This ordinance resulted in a 30% increase in graduation rates in just 3 years, a substantial increase. Furthermore, the Las Vegas Paiute Nation deducts funding for jail from the offender’s per capita because the Nation itself does not have a jail and must rent it from other governments. Punishments such as these provide an incentive for morality as well as financial assistance from the per caps themselves.
States also benefit from Native American gaming enterprises. States cannot tax reservations, but they can, under IGRA, negotiate a compact and demand compact payments. Tribes usually pay approximately or less than 10% of profits to states in order to compensate for strains put on the state. It is estimated that the state of Michigan
earned $325 million from tribes spanning from 1993-2003.
It is required by law for a tribe to agree to a state compact if they request one, but the IGRA says nothing about local governments. However, many tribes do negotiate with local governments. They place a strain on traffic and emergency services, and it is not uncommon for a tribe to compensate for that. Native Americans pay $50 million annually to local governments across the nation. In addition, non-Natives hold 75% of the 300,000 jobs that belong to Native American gaming.
With gaming profits, the Creek Nation of Oklahoma
has built its own hospital staffed by Native American doctors and nurses. Other tribes establish health clinics, dialysis
centers, and fitness centers to deal with the problem of Native American disease and epidemics
. Many tribes work toward securing hope for the future by improving schools. The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe built two schools that teach fluency in English as well as Ojibwe language
.
and cigarette
s for a much lower price than can be found off the reservation. Tribes are able to sell cheaper goods because there is no state tax. Lower prices draw in non-Natives from off-reservation sites, and tribes are able to earn a considerable profit. Seminole
annual income grew from $600,000 in 1968 to $4.5 million in 1977. Smokeshops account for most of this substantial increase. Less effective efforts by the Seminole Nation to boost the economy include cattle raising, craft selling, and alligator wrestling
. Cattle operations are popular among the Seminole tribe: with their 7,000 head herd, Seminoles are the largest cattle operators in the state of Florida
and the twelfth largest in the United States. However, cattle operations are not overwhelmingly successful because they have been known to benefit the individual rather than the tribe. In addition, cattle operations led to government dependency and debt. Another economic endeavor is craft sales. Some individuals create traditional Seminole crafts and sell them, but this market does not leave a huge impact on the tribal economy. Instead, it benefits the individual as a supplementary income. Alligator wrestling is yet another moneymaker but is not relied upon. Alligator wrestling originated in the 1920s and became synonymous with Seminole culture. It has been denigrated as exploitative, though, and is quite risky. Consequently, alligator wrestling has become less prevalent with the growing popularity of Native American gaming.
If an Native American casino is unsuccessful, its failure is often linked to its geographic location. The size of a tribe is usually insignificant. This argument follows the logic of a free market economy. Tribes with a strong economic base find it easier to draw in new businesses and consumers. Tribes in remote locations suffer because they lack a consumer base to support new and existing businesses. For example, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians is very small, but their gaming enterprises are overwhelmingly successful. In contrast, the Sioux Nation, a very large nation, has struggled to achieve success with gaming enterprises. Regardless of its thousands of members and approximately 12 gambling halls, the Sioux Nation is unable to benefit from gaming enterprises because it is too isolated from potential customers. Another example is found in San Diego County
. Four tribes in San Diego County had ambitious plans for a $100 million-plus resort and convention center but preemptively scaled back this idea because they are in an inconvenient location. Far away from other civilization and in close proximity to each other, the tribes concluded their chances of an overwhelming success were slim.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
, the second largest reservation in the United States, suffers from extreme poverty
. It is the poorest county in the United States and has attempted to revitalize its economy through the gambling industry. However, these attempts have failed. Its casino created a mere 80 jobs, but this figure is insignificant since the unemployment rate on the reservation is up to 95%. The reservation has higher unemployment, diabetes, infant mortality
, teen suicide, dropout, and alcoholism
rates than the country on a whole. Many homes are dilapidated, overcrowded, and without water, plumbing, and electricity. Pine Ridge's failed attempts are predictable considering the closest major city, Denver, Colorado
, is 350 miles away.
s) contradicts the notion of what a Native American is “supposed to be.” “Rich Indian” propaganda even circulated in response to Proposition 5 in California in 1998 that perpetuated the stereotype that “the only good Indian is a poor Indian.”
Society has come to believe that this is a loss of culture; however, it is merely a loss of a cultural myth. Those ideas are based on stereotype
s and are “construed by the dominant society in an effort to control and justify the enduring inequalities and injustices that permeate our legal system and social landscape.” It seems contradictory to imagine a Native American running a casino and dealing with the government, but it is vital to understand that those portrayals of Native Americans are cultural myths. Moreover, it is important to understand the power a cultural myth can have. Ronald Wright
describes the importance of cultural myths: "Myths create and reinforce archetype
s so taken for granted, so seemingly axiomatic, that they go unchallenged. Myths are so fraught with meaning that we live and die by them. They are maps by which cultures navigate through time."
Therefore, Native American gaming is not so much damaging Native culture as it is merely changing a cultural myth, the way the general population perceives Native Americans. Additionally, Native American gaming can be viewed as a means to rejuvenate and preserve tribal culture. For instance, many tribes use revenues generated from gaming toward museums and cultural centers. Tribes are not only able to fund themselves independently but can also afford to preserve their individual histories.
. Native American casinos bring in only 17% of gambling revenue, while non-Native casinos raise 43%.
magazine printed a special report entitled "Indian Casinos: Wheel of Misfortune" that infuriated Native Americans nationwide. Ernie Stevens, Jr., Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, wrote a letter to the editor of Time in response to the report.
's 1854 novel The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta. Christal Quintasket
wrote about Native American gaming in her 1927 novel Cogewea, the Half-Blood. Gerald Vizenor
writes on this theme in Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles
, The Heirs of Columbus
, and Dead Voices. Leslie Marmon Silko
wrote a 1977 novel called Ceremony
that focuses on gambling. Louise Erdrich
, a prominent Native American author, wrote Love Medicine
, Tracks
, and The Bingo Palace. Traditional, ritual gaming is a common theme in these pieces of literature and provide literary, rather than fact-based, accounts of Native American gaming.
Tribal sovereignty
Tribal sovereignty in the United States refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States of America. The federal government recognizes tribal nations as "domestic dependent nations" and has established a number of laws attempting to...
, negative effects of gaming, and a loss of Native American culture. In the United States the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act...
was passed in 1988 in order to secure collaboration between the states and tribes and also in order for the federal government to oversee gaming operations. Native American gaming has proven to be extremely lucrative for several tribes, but it has also been unsuccessful in some instances. Native American gaming is contingent upon and only beneficial to its respective reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
.
Success
Gaming can be extremely successful because it stimulates the economy, increase tourism to reservations, reduces unemploymentUnemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, raises incomes, and increases tribal independence while reducing dependence upon welfare. Native American gaming has created over 300,000 jobs in the United States. Tribes in only 30 states are eligible to operate gaming enterprises because 16 states have no federally recognized tribes, and four states (Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, and Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
) prohibit Native American gaming. 224 of the 550 tribes in 28 states operate the 350 Native American gaming enterprises nationwide, and 68% of Native Americans belong to a tribe with gaming operations. According to the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development was founded in 1987 at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University...
, these enterprises earned $19.4 billion dollars in 2005. As compared to the $4.5 billion earned by Native American gaming revenues in 1995, Native American gaming enterprises have shown substantial growth in just ten years. These enterprises, earning $19.4 billion dollars a year, account for 25.8% of the nation’s $75 billion revenue (brought in by the total gaming enterprises in the country). In addition, Native American gaming is the source of 400,000 jobs, and the profits from the enterprises often go toward programs that create jobs. For example, 75% of the profit generated by Cherokee Nation Enterprises in 2005 was given to the Jobs Growth Fund, a fund that expands businesses within the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
to create more jobs.
Revenues, by law, must go toward improving reservation communities. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act...
requires that revenues go toward: tribal government operations, promotion of the welfare of the tribe and its citizens, economic development, support of charitable organizations, and compensation to local non-Native governments for support of services provided by those governments. Tribes have boosted their socioeconomic
Socioeconomics
Socioeconomics or socio-economics or social economics is an umbrella term with different usages. 'Social economics' may refer broadly to the "use of economics in the study of society." More narrowly, contemporary practice considers behavioral interactions of individuals and groups through social...
status in the past several years by improving their infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, but due to the lack of federal and state funding, have only been able to do so as a result of gaming enterprises. For instance, tribes often build casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
-related facilities that draw visitors such as hotels, conference centers, entertainment venues, golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
s, and RV park
RV park
A recreational vehicle park or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in alloted spaces known as "pitches"...
s. Once a reservation has established a strong economic foundation, it can draw in businesses that are unrelated to gaming. A common trend is that casinos stimulate the economy, and other business sustain it. For instance, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians built in a water bottling
Bottled water
Bottled water is drinking water packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not...
plant on the reservation and, along with three other tribes, invested in a hotel in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska are involved in a number of businesses; some of which are Internet media, home manufacturing, used autos, and gas stations. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians, a small band in California, has opened a Shell
Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company of Anglo Dutch origins, which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The head office in the U.S. is in Houston, Texas...
station, A&W
A&W Restaurants
A&W Restaurants, Inc., is a chain of fast-food restaurants, distinguished by its draft root beer and root beer floats. A&W was arguably the first successful food franchise company, starting franchises in 1921 in California. Today it has franchise locations throughout the world, serving a typical...
drive-in, Coco’s Restaurant
Coco's Bakery
Coco's Bakery Restaurant is a chain of casual dining restaurants operating in the Western portion of the United States.-Locations:, the chain operates over 115 restaurants in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.-History:...
, a water bottling plant, and a fruit orchard operation. In addition to involvement in private corporations, Native nations have enough sustainability to bolster government programs. Some of these projects include, but are not limited to: providing law enforcement, fire fighters, schools, translators for emergency response, college scholarships, assistance with mortgage down payments, protection for endangered species, monitorship for water quality, care for elders, police cars, foster-care improvements, and health clinics.
Tribes sometimes distribute funds on a per capita basis in order to directly benefit its citizens. Because “per caps” have sometimes shown negative effects such as a dependence on tribal government, low attendance in school, and an unwillingness to work, some tribes have experimented with decreasing per caps as punishment. To clarify, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Tribal Council deducted at least $100 from families’ per caps with children with low school attendance. This ordinance resulted in a 30% increase in graduation rates in just 3 years, a substantial increase. Furthermore, the Las Vegas Paiute Nation deducts funding for jail from the offender’s per capita because the Nation itself does not have a jail and must rent it from other governments. Punishments such as these provide an incentive for morality as well as financial assistance from the per caps themselves.
States also benefit from Native American gaming enterprises. States cannot tax reservations, but they can, under IGRA, negotiate a compact and demand compact payments. Tribes usually pay approximately or less than 10% of profits to states in order to compensate for strains put on the state. It is estimated that the state of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
earned $325 million from tribes spanning from 1993-2003.
It is required by law for a tribe to agree to a state compact if they request one, but the IGRA says nothing about local governments. However, many tribes do negotiate with local governments. They place a strain on traffic and emergency services, and it is not uncommon for a tribe to compensate for that. Native Americans pay $50 million annually to local governments across the nation. In addition, non-Natives hold 75% of the 300,000 jobs that belong to Native American gaming.
With gaming profits, the Creek Nation of Oklahoma
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
The Muscogee Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Muscogee people, also known as the Creek, based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. They are regarded as one of the historical Five Civilized Tribes and call themselves Este Mvskokvlke...
has built its own hospital staffed by Native American doctors and nurses. Other tribes establish health clinics, dialysis
Dialysis
In medicine, dialysis is a process for removing waste and excess water from the blood, and is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function in people with renal failure...
centers, and fitness centers to deal with the problem of Native American disease and epidemics
Native American disease and epidemics
Native American disease and epidemics pervade many aspects of Native American life, both throughout history and in the modern day. Diseases and epidemics can be chronicled from centuries ago when European settlers brought diseases that devastated entire tribes to the modern day when Native...
. Many tribes work toward securing hope for the future by improving schools. The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe built two schools that teach fluency in English as well as Ojibwe language
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...
.
Failure
There have been many past attempts to revitalize Native American economies, but most of them have failed. Two of the more successful ventures, besides gaming, include selling gasolineGasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
and cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s for a much lower price than can be found off the reservation. Tribes are able to sell cheaper goods because there is no state tax. Lower prices draw in non-Natives from off-reservation sites, and tribes are able to earn a considerable profit. Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
annual income grew from $600,000 in 1968 to $4.5 million in 1977. Smokeshops account for most of this substantial increase. Less effective efforts by the Seminole Nation to boost the economy include cattle raising, craft selling, and alligator wrestling
Alligator wrestling
Alligator wrestling is an attraction, that later evolved into a sport, that began as a hunting expedition for Native Americans. It has been described as "Alligator capturing techniques"...
. Cattle operations are popular among the Seminole tribe: with their 7,000 head herd, Seminoles are the largest cattle operators in the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and the twelfth largest in the United States. However, cattle operations are not overwhelmingly successful because they have been known to benefit the individual rather than the tribe. In addition, cattle operations led to government dependency and debt. Another economic endeavor is craft sales. Some individuals create traditional Seminole crafts and sell them, but this market does not leave a huge impact on the tribal economy. Instead, it benefits the individual as a supplementary income. Alligator wrestling is yet another moneymaker but is not relied upon. Alligator wrestling originated in the 1920s and became synonymous with Seminole culture. It has been denigrated as exploitative, though, and is quite risky. Consequently, alligator wrestling has become less prevalent with the growing popularity of Native American gaming.
If an Native American casino is unsuccessful, its failure is often linked to its geographic location. The size of a tribe is usually insignificant. This argument follows the logic of a free market economy. Tribes with a strong economic base find it easier to draw in new businesses and consumers. Tribes in remote locations suffer because they lack a consumer base to support new and existing businesses. For example, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians is very small, but their gaming enterprises are overwhelmingly successful. In contrast, the Sioux Nation, a very large nation, has struggled to achieve success with gaming enterprises. Regardless of its thousands of members and approximately 12 gambling halls, the Sioux Nation is unable to benefit from gaming enterprises because it is too isolated from potential customers. Another example is found in San Diego County
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
. Four tribes in San Diego County had ambitious plans for a $100 million-plus resort and convention center but preemptively scaled back this idea because they are in an inconvenient location. Far away from other civilization and in close proximity to each other, the tribes concluded their chances of an overwhelming success were slim.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
, the second largest reservation in the United States, suffers from extreme poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
. It is the poorest county in the United States and has attempted to revitalize its economy through the gambling industry. However, these attempts have failed. Its casino created a mere 80 jobs, but this figure is insignificant since the unemployment rate on the reservation is up to 95%. The reservation has higher unemployment, diabetes, infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
, teen suicide, dropout, and alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
rates than the country on a whole. Many homes are dilapidated, overcrowded, and without water, plumbing, and electricity. Pine Ridge's failed attempts are predictable considering the closest major city, Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, is 350 miles away.
Loss of culture
With Native American gaming has come the image of a “rich Indian.” This depiction contrasts other images of Native Americans portrayed as savage, pure, connected to nature, and spiritual. The reality (that some Native Americans are powerful entrepreneurEntrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s) contradicts the notion of what a Native American is “supposed to be.” “Rich Indian” propaganda even circulated in response to Proposition 5 in California in 1998 that perpetuated the stereotype that “the only good Indian is a poor Indian.”
Society has come to believe that this is a loss of culture; however, it is merely a loss of a cultural myth. Those ideas are based on stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s and are “construed by the dominant society in an effort to control and justify the enduring inequalities and injustices that permeate our legal system and social landscape.” It seems contradictory to imagine a Native American running a casino and dealing with the government, but it is vital to understand that those portrayals of Native Americans are cultural myths. Moreover, it is important to understand the power a cultural myth can have. Ronald Wright
Ronald Wright
Ronald Wright is a Canadian author who has written books of travel, history and fiction. His nonfiction includes the bestseller Stolen Continents, winner of the Gordon Montador Award and chosen as a book of the year by the Independent and the Sunday Times...
describes the importance of cultural myths: "Myths create and reinforce archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
s so taken for granted, so seemingly axiomatic, that they go unchallenged. Myths are so fraught with meaning that we live and die by them. They are maps by which cultures navigate through time."
Therefore, Native American gaming is not so much damaging Native culture as it is merely changing a cultural myth, the way the general population perceives Native Americans. Additionally, Native American gaming can be viewed as a means to rejuvenate and preserve tribal culture. For instance, many tribes use revenues generated from gaming toward museums and cultural centers. Tribes are not only able to fund themselves independently but can also afford to preserve their individual histories.
Questions of the morality of Native American gaming
There is some controversy of Native American gaming because it is argued that it contributes to a moral decay. Gambling, it is argued, promotes crime and pathological behavior. Gambling addictions as well as drug and alcohol abuse are sometimes associated with Native American gaming. Gaming has boomed in the past 50 years, so some of this criticism is justifiable. In 1962, the total estimated sums in the United States totaled $2 billion. This figure jumped to $18 billion in 1976, to $80 billion in 1985, and to $400 billion in 1993. In 2000, the total estimated sums wagered in the United States was $866 billion. In 2000, the commercial take was 10%, so the gaming industry earned approximately $70 billion. Compared to the total revenues generated by all other forms of entertainment combined: tickets to movies, plays, concerts, performances, and sports events; which earned only $22 billion, the revenues generated by gambling is astounding. In other words, gambling makes thrice that of all other entertainment forms combined. This figure takes into account the fact that gamblers win some money back. Based on these figures and the arguments that gambling promotes immorality, it is evident that gambling can be a problem. However, to blame Native American gaming for these problems merely makes Native Americans a scapegoat. Gaming enterprises, over time, have shown to be the most effective mode to build tribal economies and independence. Moreover, Native American gaming contributes to only a fraction of gambling in the United StatesGambling in the United States
Gambling is legally restricted in the United States, but its availability and participation is increasing. In 2007, gambling activities generated gross revenues of $92.27 billion in the United States. Commercial casinos provided 354,000 jobs, and state and local tax revenues of $5.2 billion...
. Native American casinos bring in only 17% of gambling revenue, while non-Native casinos raise 43%.
Time magazine controversy
In late 2002, TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine printed a special report entitled "Indian Casinos: Wheel of Misfortune" that infuriated Native Americans nationwide. Ernie Stevens, Jr., Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, wrote a letter to the editor of Time in response to the report.
Native American gaming in popular culture
Native American gaming has appeared many times in literature. The first appearance of Native American gaming was in John Rollin RidgeJohn Rollin Ridge
John Rollin Ridge , a member of the Cherokee Nation, is considered the first Native American novelist.-Biography:...
's 1854 novel The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta. Christal Quintasket
Mourning Dove (author)
Mourning Dove was a Native American author and best known for her 1927 novel Cogewea the Half-Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range, which tells the story of Cogewea, a mixed-blood ranch woman on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The novel is one of the first written by a Native...
wrote about Native American gaming in her 1927 novel Cogewea, the Half-Blood. Gerald Vizenor
Gerald Vizenor
Gerald Robert Vizenor is a Native American writer, and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation. One of the most prolific Native American writers, with over 30 books to his name, Vizenor also taught for many years at the University of California, Berkeley, where...
writes on this theme in Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles
Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles
Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles is a 1990 novel by Gerald Vizenor; it is a revised version of his 1978 debut novel Darkness in Saint Louis Bearheart...
, The Heirs of Columbus
The Heirs of Columbus
The Heirs of Columbus is a 1991 novel by Gerald Vizenor that, in the face of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in America, inverts the historical record by re-imagining Columbus as a descendant of Mayans and Sephardic Jews who now wants to return home, that is, to America...
, and Dead Voices. Leslie Marmon Silko
Leslie Marmon Silko
Leslie Marmon Silko is a Native American writer of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, and one of the key figures in the second wave of what Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...
wrote a 1977 novel called Ceremony
Ceremony (Silko novel)
Ceremony is a novel by Native American writer Leslie Marmon Silko, first published by Penguin in 1977.The story documents the troubles of Tayo, a half-white, half-Laguna Indian, as he struggles to cope with returning to traditional Native American society after surviving the Bataan Death March of...
that focuses on gambling. Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich
Karen Louise Erdrich, known as Louise Erdrich, is an author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American heritage. She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance...
, a prominent Native American author, wrote Love Medicine
Love Medicine
Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich’s first novel, published in 1984. Erdrich revised and expanded the novel for an edition issued in 1993, and this version was considered the definitive edition until 2009 when Erdrich re-edited it...
, Tracks
Tracks (novel)
Tracks is a novel by Louise Erdrich, published in 1988. It is the third in a tetralogy of novels beginning with Love Medicine that explores the interrelated lives of four Anishinaabe families living on an Indian reservation near the fictional town of Argus, North Dakota...
, and The Bingo Palace. Traditional, ritual gaming is a common theme in these pieces of literature and provide literary, rather than fact-based, accounts of Native American gaming.