By Dave Palermo
Per-capita payments a looming issue for casino tribes
Skooter McCoy , general manager of the nonprofit Cherokee Boys Club , knows all too well the impact per-capita payments from the Eastern Band of Cherokee ’ s Harrah ’ s casino in North Carolina has had on tribal children , including his son , Spencer .
“ If you ’ ve lived in a small , rural community and never saw anybody leave , never saw anyone with a white-collar job or leading any organization , you always kind of keep your mindset right here ,” McCoy told Wired magazine .
“ Our kids today — the kids at the high school — they believe the sky ’ s the limit . It ’ s really changed the entire mindset of the community these past 20 years .”
Tribal government gaming exploded into a $ 32.4 billion industry with passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act ( IGRA ) of 1988 , enabling American Indian tribes to grow and strengthen their governments and diversify their economies .
But a somewhat controversial aspect of IGRA remains the direct disbursement of casino revenue to tribal citizens , referred to as per-capita payments . Some Cherokee children call it “ big money .”
Payment Processing
Of the approximately 370 tribes in the lower 48 states , 242 tribes operate government casinos , according to the National Indian Gaming Commission ( NIGC ), generating revenue largely used to provide community infrastructure , health care , housing , education and other services .
About 130 of those gambling tribes also issue per-capita payments to their citizens , according to the Department of the Interior ’ s Bureau of Indian Affairs .
Per-capita is a non-issue for large tribes on primarily rural reservations in the Midwest and Great Plains and the massive Navajo Nation , which spans parts of Arizona , New Mexico and Utah . Those tribal casinos are primarily marginal operations intended to generate jobs rather than revenue . Tribal enrollments are too large to justify per-capita payments .
But annual per-capita payments can easily run into five , six and even seven figures for the more lucrative , small-enrollment tribes in urban areas such as the Mashantucket Pequots in Connecticut , the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux of Minnesota and the Pechanga , Santa Ynez and San Manuel Indian bands in Southern California .
Modest per-capita payments of $ 1,000 to $ 2,000 a year have provided marginal and low-income families with subsidies to make rent , mortgage
and car payments and obtain other household necessities . Larger payments from the more lucrative casinos have enabled tribal citizens to launch businesses , create investment portfolios and engage in entrepreneurialism .
“ It ’ s not only helped us with economic stipends each month , but it has given us cause to hope and dream and plan ,” a tribal elder for the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians told a Harvard University research team .
Negative Reaction
But critics regard per-capita as a form of welfare , sapping the initiative of indigenous citizens to complete their education and seek out jobs and economic opportunity . Some blame per-capita payments for drug and alcoholic abuse .
Many tribal leaders criticize the payments for depleting gambling revenue that would otherwise be used for government programs and tribal business enterprises .
And per-capita payments have been blamed for negatively impacting community politics and creating an epidemic of tribal disenrollment .
A number of respected tribal leaders have been ousted for decisions impacting per-capita payments to tribal citizens . As many as 81 tribes have purged membership rolls , presumably to increase casino payments , although some contend determining citizenship is a function of a maturing tribal government .
“ Per-capita is the most formidable political force in Indian Country right now ,” says tribal attorney Gabriel Galanda , a citizen of the Round Valley Tribe of California . “ There are examples of tribes unable to get a quorum of the membership to vote in an election without offering a percap payment at the door .
“ It is a massive influence in Indian Country ,” Galanda says , “ and not in a good way .”
“ Tribal economies and lifestyles built on per-capita payments have almost no chance of long-term sustainability ,” Lance Morgan , CEO of Ho- Chunk Inc ., a subsidiary of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska , told Harvard researchers . “ This new form of welfare is just the latest in a cycle of dependency that Indian Country has been trying to break out of for over 100 years .”
By any measure , per-capita payments are a highly complex issue . Assumptions cannot be easily made .
It will be a topic of discussion at the annual conference of the Native
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