Tribes large and small have prospered with the help of gaming
Come One , Come All
Tribes large and small have prospered with the help of gaming
By Bill Sokolic
At some point , a lightbulb lit up and someone cried out , “ Casinos !” A bit over simplistic , perhaps , but in retrospect , it was a stroke of genius for Native Americans despite legal roadblocks that had to be overcome .
Build them and they will come . Build casinos on their sovereign land , whether that sovereign land be out in the countryside far from a metropolitan center or right off I-95 not far from Ft . Lauderdale . Hire and train a workforce from among the tribal populace . Recruit and train executives from the tribe . Offer them all good-paying jobs . Supporters saw casinos as a way to change the fortunes of Native Americans , who more often than not toiled in rural outposts if able to find a place to toil at all .
So hats off to the folks who helped turn a brilliant idea into reality . Some gambling halls included enough amenities to appeal to the thinly populated location that welcomed the change of pace . Others went for the full package and added more later because the population supported it .
The Seminoles , located on both the west and east coasts of Florida , were the first to get in the game when they opened a high-stakes bingo parlor in 1979 . Other tribes followed suit .
But bingo would soon be eclipsed .
In the Beginning
The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians in Southern California constructed the first Las Vegas-style casino on a reservation in the early 1980s . This development sparked a legal battle that ultimately reached the U . S . Supreme Court . The high court ruled in favor of the tribe in 1987 , asserting that states did not have the authority to regulate tribal gaming on sovereign land . The landmark decision paved the way for a boom in Native American casinos , with hundreds now operating across the nation .
“ The Cabazon decision recognizes a tribe ’ s sovereign right to game when not criminally prohibited ,” Monique Fontenot , public affairs specialist for the National Indian Gaming Commission ( NIGC ), says .
Before the bricks and mortar provided a physical framework , before the
staff trained for the various positions , the feds created a legal framework and in 1988 passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act ( IGRA ).
And the states often memorialized the new relationship with individual tribal compacts — treaties , if you will — negotiated between the tribe and the government , often with a guarantee of some type of exclusivity for gaming offered to the tribe and revenue shared with the state .
In 1993 , the NIGC added support and guidance to the tribal gaming industry regarding compliance under IGRA .
“ Through our collaborative government-to-government dialogue with tribes , we have been able to better access the unique on-the-ground challenges that gaming operators face and , when possible , apply that feedback to regulatory policies ,” Fontenot says .
Various tribes leveraged their sovereignty to establish gaming operations as a means to generate revenue , she says . Gaming profits funded community development , education , health care and other services , and ultimately helped foster economic independence .
These days , the NIGC helps over 240 federally recognized tribes that own , operate , or license gaming establishments in 29 states . “ This number has generally increased over the years as tribes either obtained federal recognition , obtained land eligible for gaming or made the decision to enter gaming under IGRA in instances where they already had federal recognition and eligible land ,” Fontenot says .
28 TRIBAL GOVERNMENT GAMING 2024