Indian Gaming

A few weeks while cleaning out the front room with my brother-in-law, we came across a bunch of old Time magazines. They have had a subscription to Time magazine that they claimed was for me and they held on to all the issues from the time I returned to Vegas until the subscription expired in March, 2003. I certainly don't have the time or inclination to read all thoose back issues, so I decided to be selective and read just the ones whose cover stories piqued my interest..

One was a two part cover story from December, 2002 on Indian Gaming, which I think is timely and significant in light of the Abramov scandals three years later and just now coming to light. Also, by coicidence, I just visited Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut just two weeks ago.

The articles illustrate what is truly is wrong with the 'way things work' in this country, Consider this:

1) The majority of Indian tribes and populations live in abject poverty and do not receive any benefits from the proceeds from Indian casinos. Who does? The politically connected lobbyists and 'investors' that's who. Folks like Lyle Berman (net worth $69M in 2001), Solomon Kerzner, developer of Sun City resort in Bophuthatswana, an apartheid created enclive in South Africa. (Remember the song from the 70s - "We Won't Play Sun City"?) and Lim Goh Tong who bankrolled the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, primarily because of his experience in competing for government contracts in his native Singapore, where the Muslim government there bans gambling but managed nonetheless to build a casino there. None of the main beneficiaries are native American.

2) Who qualifies as a 'tribe'? The article points out how Maryann Martin presides over America's smallest 'tribe' which consists of herself and two brothers, one who was killed in a gang shootout. But she hired a Vegas consultant and she has her own casino in California. And yet, she still qualifies for government aid. In 1999 and 2000, government audit reports show, she pulled in more than $1M from Washington - $476,000 for housing, $400,000 for tribal government and $146,000 for environmental programs. Since Indian Gamng is a profitable venture, $12.4B, in fact, is it any wonder why the number of 'tribes' has exploded to 337?


3) Who qualifies as a member of a tribe? Since each 'tribe' is considered an autonomous 'country' they can set theor own rules as to who gets to be a 'member'. Some tribes use their casino wealth and then distribute the proceeds evenly among them, but that also means that the more 'members' a tribe has, the less the individual take. Take the case of the Table Mountain Ranchereria in the foothills of Fresno, which has benefited about 100 members of the tribe, but that didn't include the family of Kathy Lewis, who was born on the reservation and whose granfather was the tribe's chief in the 1950s. But her family did not own property in 1983 when the tribe was restored and that is the basis now being used against her by the tribal elders. She tried suing via the Bureau of Indian Affairs, who will have nothing of it, on the grounds that it is a 'soverign nation'. So she will continue to live in poverty while the 'enrolled' members get a stipend of $350,000 a year. So now, she has to legal leg to stand on. Not to mention what would happen to you if you go up against a 'corrupt' tribal council.

4) Not all casinos are created equal. In the real estate world, the mantra is 'location, location, location', so therefore some tribes who erect casinos in remote areas will barely survive, while the tribes who 'negotiate' better locations along major intestates will do quite well thank you. And watch the 'management fees'. The Sioux casino is profitable, but the majority of Sioux in South Dakota live in abject poverty. And those with cash (as is always the case) can put a casino practically anywhere - casinos do NOT have to be located on anything resembling an ancestral location. And they can make bad neighbors - like corporations they can just buly the neighbors into giving up their land on the grounds it was 'stolen' from them centuries ago. And they have enough clout to bring practically any political opposition to its knees.

5) Lopsided returns - the states with almost half of the country's Native American population - Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota, amount for less than 3% of all casino proceeds or $400 per Indian, while just 3 states, California, Connecticut and Florida haul in 44% of all revenue, with Native populations totalling just 3%. This amounts in $900,000 per member.

6) Whose minding the store? Congress created the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) to be the Federal Government's principal oversight and enforecement agency for Indian gaming and then guaranteed that it could do neither. With a budget capped at just $8M , the agency has 63 employeees to monitor the $12.6B all cash business in more than 300 casinos and small gaming estblishments nationwide. The New Jersey Gaming Commission, by contrast, has a budget of $59 million and a staff of 720 to monitor 12 casinos in Atlantic City. The agency has yet to convict one case of corruption despite several complaints by tribal members. It also has the power to levy fines, but no power to collect them. Typical for something sanctioned by Congress. No oversight. No accountability.

7) It's still about politics, stupid. Some of the tribes 'certified' in the last hours of the Clinton Administration, were overturned by the incoming Bush Administration. It is even profitable to close down a casino, as in the case of George Bush vs. the Tigua tribe near El Paso, when Bush was Governor. They applied for a state license for a casino, but they contributed too much to Bush's Democratic rivals, so backed by the anti-gambling Southern Baptist Council, they were shut down. The chief beneficiary - the owner of across the norber Sunland PArk, N.M. owner and GOP contributor Stanley E. Fulton and in 2001 was one of the largest single contributors to the GOP to the tune of 800K. But when you complain about the influence of Indian gaming they'll tell you to bang off because they are a 'soverign' nation. But it is also against the law (ask Al Gore and the Chinese) for 'foreign' governments to contribute to a US campaign. Go figger.

By the Numbers:

Source: Bureau of Indian Affairs and Time Magazine, December, 2002.


Tribe Population Casino Revenue per Member Federal Aid per Member

Navajo 260,010 $0 $912
Hopi 11,267 $0 $2,006
Choctaw 8,823 $25.048 $5,717
Seminole 2,817 $87,682 $8,540
Pequot 677 $1,624,815 $2,304
Miccosukee 400 $250,000 $20,560
Santa Ynez 159 $1,257,862 $8,360

As you can see, money begets more money....

According to the Fortune 500, look who are the biggest moeny makers:

2001 Profit Margin

Seminole Tribe 85%
Choctaw Tribe 41%
Mellon Financial 32%
Microsoft 29%
Amgen 28%
Bristol-Myers-Squibb 24%
Pfizer 24%


I support any program that elevates the living conditions of Native Americans, many of whome live in abject poverty, but perhaps a better way to help them would be to not patronize any casino that does not benefit all members of the tribe. In the case of the Navajo, who reject gambling on religious grounds, I suggest buying a Navajo rug or Hopi pottery instead. At least one tribe, however, the Potawatomi Tribe in Topeka, kansas uses most of its money building infrastructure for its members