In order for a society to run smoothly some form
of social control needs to prevail. This is because
individual actions have to be checked before they
get out of hand. Since individuals are liable
to get out of hand and there needs to be control
over them, it is also understandable that society
as a whole also needs to be controlled in much
the same way; society after all is made by the
total number of individuals in it. In the event
of appropriate social and legal mechanism failing
to act, individuals may get out of control, and
this means that before situations go beyond a
state’s control interventional action must
be sought.
Gambling is a popular sport in
America almost a100 million people engage in this
activity either as a social past time or taking
it seriously to make it big in the game. American’s
normally gamble almost 400 billion and loose almost
39 billion to the house. The amount that Americans
normally spend on this activity is more than what
they would spend on amusement, books films and
music combined.
The state of Nevada and New Jersey
is where all this action was supposedly to start.
Was when the private, individual pockets such
as Donald Trump and Steven Wynn’s were filled.
With the rise of this business the American Indians
have also been attracted by all the glitz and
glamour from this business. The Indians across
the United States have opened casinos all over
America.
A name to note in this business
would be Foxwoods High Stakes Bingo & Casino
of Ledyard, Connecticut. This casino is operated
by Indians from the Mashantucket Pequot tribe
and is thought to be one of the most profitable
business in the western Hemisphere.(Kevin, 1995)
The problems faced by the Indians on their reservations,
both economically and socially, across the United
States are well documented (Cozzetto. 1995) These
reports come from various sources such as governmental
agencies, privately run research firms and Indian
groups themselves.
These problems range from alcohol and drug abuse,
juvenile wrongdoing which further leads to a higher
crime rate, poor educational facilities, and many
other problems. The various tribal governments
push the matter forward for change and improvement
so that their local problems can be solved. The
facts remain that since they are sovereign entities
they have to handle their own problems without
any interference from any other governments. This
concept from “self discrimination is a central
component of sovereignty”. (Dahl, 1995)
The word “Las Vegas” immediately
brings one’s mind to casinos and the neon
signs on the front elevations. It certainly brings
an image of a city build by gangsters to quarry
on the anticipation of uncontrolled tourist. In
the beginning there were only two states that
were given the right where the activity of gambling
could be conducted. Today the states of Utah and
Hawaii have also been legalized to institutionalize
gambling. With pressure mounting from other states
who wish to join the gambling arena.
In the year 1988 congress passed the act called
the “Indian Gaming Regulatory Act”.
This act recognizes the tribes controlled by the
Indians in the United States to launch gambling
institutions on their reservations. This is only
possible if the state where the tribe is situated
has legal gambling laws. This .law was passed
because of two cases Seminole Tribe of Florida
v. Butterworth [Kopvillem, 1990) and California
v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians.[ Magnuson,
1994]
According to the statistics on Economic Impact
Of Indian Gaming “Indian gaming has become
the industry that tribal governments can use to
overturn 150 years of federal neglect. As of February,
1997, the National Indian Gaming Commission reported
there were 115 tribes with gaming class III operations
and 164 tribe/state compacts in 24 states. Less
than one-third of the tribes in the U.S. have
gaming operations. Indian Gaming is only 5% of
the entire Gaming Industry.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) mandates
tribal governments, not individuals, can have
gaming operations. Thus the entire proceeds of
the industry go back to fund tribal government
programs, just as state revenue funds state programs.
States use lottery proceeds much the same way
tribes use gaming proceeds. Indian gaming is providing
a means to self-sufficiency for Tribal Nations,
and is also creating jobs and economic activity
in local non-Indian communities and states where
tribal gaming operations are located. Over 120,000
direct jobs and 160,000 indirect jobs have been
created nationwide. Gaming holds some hope for
reducing poverty, but it is definitely not a treat
as the limited and perhaps transitory success
of gaming cannot quickly render null and void
centuries of botched economics.
Indian casinos are present in large numbers
and many are not even listed. According to the
statistics, “Indian gaming represents only
about 5% of all gambling in the United States
and only a third of tribes currently operate gaming
facilities. About 40% of gambling revenues come
from state lotteries and the remaining 55% is
dominated by commercial entities in Nevada and
New Jersey” (Lawrence, 1995). These gaming
zones offer jobs for tribal members, food and
shelter for on-reservation members and a buy-back
of bigger land bases. Wisconsin tribes operate
15 Class III gaming facilities with a total payroll
of just over $68 million. For some 3,000 employees,
their casino job is the family's sole source of
income. If those same employees were placed on
state unemployment compensation, it would cost
the state more than $27 million.
Procurement by tribal gaming employees of daily
items support more than 900 indirect jobs, created
by the increased sales that local businesses are
surviving upon. 17 percent of the population that
visits the casinos comes from out of state and
an additional 53 percent come from outside the
immediate casino area. This also leads to greater
than before tourism generating nearly $18 million
dollars in state income taxes per year along with
a drop in welfare costs.
The tribal governments, similar to any other
state government, utilize profits that gaming
generates for the purposes that include law enforcement,
education, economic development, tribal courts
and infrastructure improvement. The Indian nations
are using gaming profits to fund social service
programs, open hotels, restaurants, gas stations,
and flower shops; to fund retirement programs
for their tribal elders, scholarships, health
care clinics, new roads, new sewer and water systems,
adequate housing, chemical dependency treatment
programs and dialysis clinics, among others. In
Minnesota, roughly 37% of the tribal gaming employees
had received state or federal welfare assistance
prior to their employment and another 31% were
drawing unemployment compensation.
Daniel Tucker, chairman for the Sycuan band
of Mission Indians, points out that “Indian
gaming not only reduces the burden on tax-funded
social programs but it now increases available
reserves” (Lawrence, 1995).
Although gambling has created escalation in
job opportunities and state revenues, a divergence
of large amounts of spending to state and tribally
sponsored gaming enterprises has had a negative
effect on other commerce, specifically the restaurant,
entertainment and lodging industries. To take
Minnesota as an example, the report claimed that
“business volume has actually fallen by
20% to 50% at restaurants located within a 30-mile
radius of casinos with food service.
And at $558 per capita in yearly wages, gambling
expenditures in 1990 exceeded such categories
of retail spending in Minnesota as appliance,
clothing, electronic, home furnishing and shoe
stores, as well as hotels” (Lawrence, 1995).
Besides the fallen business volume of other forms
of commerce, gambling has expanded and saturated
the market. Despite the oppositions and confrontations,
the Indian-run casinos are exceedingly popular
with the general masses.
They are still, nonetheless generally considered
as meticulously well-established enterprises that
are paving ways to facilitate their native nation,
while also safeguarding their legacy even as they
progress life.
While some tribes have earned millions, others
remain mired in poverty. The problems of the Indian
reservations include a 24% poverty rate, a suicide
rate more than twice that of all other nonwhites,
and the highest high school dropout rate among
all non-whites.
Many Indians live on remote lands with no resources.
The federal government has reduced economic assistance
by two-thirds over the last 15 years. Unemployment
still averages 45%. In the late 1980s, an impermanent
spate of Indian triumphs has left some astringent
trace. While some acknowledged tribes won the
power to run high-stakes gambling, others are
still rolling snake eyes. As a consequence, is
a minority became fabulously well heeled, and
some financial paybacks began to get accumulate
to impoverished reservations. But bitterness got
augmented amongst the acknowledged and un-acknowledged
tribes (Economic Impacts of Wisconsin…,
1993).
In relation to the sovereignty of the native
nation, it is generally thought that the reason
for their ongoing progress is harmony and unity.
It is the unity of reason, unity of perseverance,
unity of endeavor and firmness. In retrospect,
as one try to turn back the pages of time, one
may comprehend that all foremost accomplishments
of Wisconsin Indians were brought about unanimously.
The major conquest, that the Indian people take
pleasure in at this theatre of war, was the result
of a incorporated effort among Indian people (Cozzetto,
1995).
With the many positive affects, there also come
negative affects: gambling addiction. Is there
a correlation between increased pathological gambling
and the growth in tribal casinos? (Pathological
gambling is defined as compulsive gambling behavior
where it is beyond the control of the individual.)
In Minnesota, the number of individuals calling
the compulsive gambling hotline increased dramatically
over the last three years. All of Minnesota's
compulsive gambling treatment centers are full,
and the state is considering devoting more resources
towards the problem. Furthermore, preliminary
evidence suggests that pathological gambling is
more prevalent among Indians than non-Indians,
but much more research is needed.
Another negative aspect involves an argument
researchers debate: those who can least afford
to gamble usually are the most affected. "The
poor spent a greater percentage of their income
on gambling than the wealthy, giving gambling
the same effect on incomes as regressive taxes--the
poor are hit the hardest."
For example, residents of Chelsea, Massachusetts,
the poorest city in the state, spend an average
of $572 per year on the state lottery, but from
that they get back only $80 a person in local
aid, according to The Boston Globe. By contrast,
the wealthier residents of Lincoln spend only
$26 a person on lottery tickets annually, and
they get more than that back in local aid.
Tribal sovereignty is to be sheltered for the
present and for the coming future to bring with
it a continuing character for the protection of
Indian affairs. Tribal governments and tribal
members may participate in negotiations regarding
policy making in an effort to protect tribal sovereignty.
With each challenge posed toward individual tribes,
measures for protecting sovereignty of the tribal
members should be formulated and a united front
line supported. This united front would not only
commandeer the individual privileges of tribes
as mentioned or specified in their agreement,
but would on the contrary uphold the basic legal
constructs of tribal sovereignty (Magnuson, 1994).
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) requires
states to reach a deal with tribes seeking gaming
compacts. It is a legal agreement that summarizes
the gaming operation, including the kind of games
offered, the magnitude of the service, betting
limits, regulation, security, etc. While a numerous
states have negotiated with tribes and are now
munching their way through the economic benefits
of Indian gaming, other states have refused to
negotiate, thus violating federal law and ignoring
the jurisdiction of the federal courts. In this
case, if states refuse to negotiate, tribes can
demand the appointment of a mediator from the
federal court. If the mediator then fails to bring
both sides together within a certain time frame,
the mediator chooses the last best offer of either
the tribe or the state (Magnuson, 1994).
It is a general consensus that that states should
have no input whatsoever in decisions pertaining
to tribal facilities. On the contrary, it is generally
proclaimed that the process is racist and shields
the state's own sweepstake arrangements or monopoly.
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