American Indians and Gaming
The American Indians have faced many problems since the arrival of the white man. They have watched their population drop because of newfound sicknesses and wars over their land. Their land has been taken away only to be given back in small regulated sections called reservations. The American Indians have also adapted to many white social problems such as drinking, gambling and drug abuse. They have created an atmosphere for cultural genocide, among their tribes. Since the arrival of the white man the American Indians have lost their way of life. The American Indian communities where left with little or no industry, nearly no liquid assets, and extremely high unemployment. They have had to adapt to the capitalistic system of the white man, in order to make a profit, to keep their tribes alive. The main way in which the Indians have sought to do this is with gaming. It was gaming that the Indians decided would bring the tribes more money that would help them to diversify and r!ealize the long sought after goal of individual tribal sovereignty. However the gaming has brought with it many negative issues, problems, and disputes. The problems are practically uniform t
While gaming has produced clear financial benefits for a number of tribes as well as the communities surrounding their reservations, it has caused deleterious effects as well. This poor understanding of what gaming and sovereignty actually mean portends disaster for a disturbingly large number of tribes. 4 homicides are reported among every 100,000 Native Americans every year, whereas only 9 homicides occur for every 100,000 US residents in general. In addition, the issue of gaming itself is an occasional source of conflict among tribe members, conflict that in the past has erupted into violence between opposing factions. Therefore, as suspicions of corruption within tribal organizations and dismay over waning traditions continue to surface, reservation inhabitants must develop new ways of dealing with discord or face the likelihood of increased armed conflict. Few, however have a clear understanding of what sovereignty would actually mean to Indian tribes. Proponents of gaming point to gaming as a means to the ultimate end, real, not just quasi-sovereignty, but real sovereignty for Native peoples. Often, the irony of the situation is that the people who justify the continued existence of Indian Nations as distinct Nations, the people who keep the traditions alive, are often left out in the cold when the profits are divvied up. One issue that always comes up with gaming is the issue of sovereignty and its relation to Indian gaming. Although, there are federal guidelines for membership, each reserve has their own membership criteria as an exercise of tribal sovereignty and self-government which the feds in turn refer to when allotting federal funding. The point being that membership roles, federal funding, and the distribution of wealth are all intimately connected and whoever controls membership, also controls the future of the Nation. Current legislation and court decisions leave regulation of reservation gaming largely to tribe members themselves. So does gaming on reservations represent a new hope for an economic resurgence in Indian country? Maybe, but at best, it's still an unsure bet, and tribes should know the risks before entering into any agreement with any outside corporation, investors, or government. Given the obvious enticements of Indian gaming, it should come as no surprise that many of the actual members from these reserves have accepted gaming with a less than perfect understanding of what they were getting into and, perhaps have made some less than ideal management decisions. This conflict often involves concern over the impact gaming might have upon tribal culture.
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