NATIVE AMERICAN GAMBLING
Native American gaming ventures are betting dealings conducted by Indians in ethnic grounds in the United States. The Indian ethnic groups have some form of independence over these gambling businesses and are consequently granted the capacity to ascertain gaming enterprises outside state regulation. Gambling in the United States is not a new game to the native inhabitants; it was part of their culture passed down from their ancestors. The Chumash, one of the United States tribes, had two types of games: games of chance and those that require skills. Their ancestors used to gamble on the outcome of the games. Each rural community had a particular region where these games were played called malamtepupi. There were several games that were played by these ancestors which include: Peon, Shinny Hoop and Pole game. Shinny Hoop was the most common game among the Chumash (Pasquaretta, 2003, p. 67). In the 1980s, extensive gambling begun in the United States and was funded by the tribal administration. As state raffles began to multiply, numerous ethnic groups in California and Florida began raising their wages by starting bingo games with a larger income than the figures allowed by the state rule. The government had made calls to regulate these games but the natives responded by suing the government for interfering with their rights. Two notable cases are Cabazon vs. California, 1987 and Butterworth vs. Seminole, 1979. In the both cases, the courts ruled that if the states prohibited gambling the tribes had no right to engage in such games but if the states allowed the games the natives should engage themselves liberally.
In 1988, Congress officially accepted but restricted the local American from performing gambling maneuvers under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The natives opposed the law, the IGRA allowed the tribes to discuss with states on the gambling rules and the type of games to be played. The tribes were required to ensure that the tribal administrations are the primary beneficiary and the sole owner of the gambling facilities. On the other hand, the United States government recognized tribal gaming as a way of promoting economic development for the native tribes.
The IGRA required tribes to negotiate with states on issues pertaining to the type of games to be played and regulatory activities while it ensured that tribal governments were the sole owners and primary beneficiaries of gaming. It also legislatively identified tribal betting as a way of promoting economic growth for ethnic groups (Woife & Owens, 2009, p. 145). Gambling in the Native American regions has become the main supporter of public development and growth of the financial system. Also, the gambling enterprise has created job opportunities among the inhabitants.
Advantages of Gaming in the Native American
Gambling in the United States has promoted economic growth, increased tourism, created employment opportunities, fostered ethnic self-government, and helped raise earnings. Within the USA, only thirty states are eligibly practicing native gambling since sixteen of the other states have no centrally recognized tribes, and four other states forbid Native American gambling. Native American gaming has created over three hundred thousand job opportunities in the United States (Hosmer, O’Neill & Fixico, 2004, p. 147). Three hundred and fifty Native American gaming ventures nationally are being practiced by two hundred and twenty four tribes out of five hundred and fifty tribes. It is approximated that 68 percent of Native Americans practice gambling in the United States. According to a research carried out in 2005 by Harvard on the Indian economic development, it was established that the ventures had earned $19.4 billion. This shows a great rise as compared to the revenue earned in the previous decade which amounted to $ 4.5 billion. This indicates that the enterprises have led into a significant growth in a span of 10 years. Additionally, Native American gambling has created over four hundred thousand jobs; the revenue collected from gambling operations has been used to create new job opportunities. For instance, 75% of the profit generated in 2005 by the Cherokee Nation Enterprise was used to fund the job growth expansion program (Pasquaretta, 2003, p. 167).
The revenue collected from the gambling enterprises has also been used in economic development, charity, promoting the wellbeing of tribes, tribal administration operations, compensation of local non-native management, and for sustaining services offered by these administrations. Tribes have enhanced their socioeconomic position through improvement of infrastructure by using the revenue earned through gaming (Hosmer, O’Neill & Fixico, 2004, p. 77). In Washington D.C., the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians was built for native gaming and has now opened home manufacturing, internet media, and gas stations. States have benefited from the gambling enterprise; though IGRA has a role in taxing and regulating these business operations. Tribes practicing gambling in the United States pay a minimum of 10% to the state to cater for the damages caused. It is estimated that at a span of a decade in states where native gaming is practiced such as Michigan, the gaming enterprises will earn the states approximately three hundred and twenty five million dollars.
Disadvantages of Native American Gaming
In Native American regions casinos have been unproductive with their failure being connected to their geographical position. Tribes with strong economic background have easier access to consumers and new trades while tribes in the isolated regions suffer tough economic times as they lack large consumer bases to sustain new and accessible businesses. For example, the Morongo mission in Indiana has had successful gaming enterprises due to its small size while Sioux Nation has been unsuccessful in gaming businesses due to its large size. Sioux Nation has been unable to benefit from the gambling enterprise despite having 1000 members and approximately twelve gambling halls due to its remote position (Woife & Owens, 2009, p. 55).
Research shows that Native American regions have the highest number of unemployment, school dropouts, alcoholism, poverty rates, and social distress in the community in the United States due to their engagement in gambling activities. Most of these enterprises are situated in remote regions with diminutive indigenous financial activities. With these conditions, the gambling enterprises are likely to fail as they cannot generate income for the tribe. On the other hand, the accumulated revenues do not benefit the tribes but the non-native locals who include the non-Indian operators and workers.
Under the central law, the state has no power over the Indian reservations such as the capacity to control or impose gaming or any other action. For instance, the police cannot implement their power over the reservation without an authorization from the tribal administration. This has created a lot of controversy among the tribes and the state and resulted to conflict as most tribes do not want their gambling enterprises to be restricted. The gambling enterprises are controlled by the IGRA and hence it becomes impossible for the central government and states’ administration to control economic and communal activities (Pasquaretta, 2003, p. 82). The states may be immobilized to control the gaming activities when they have banned the existence of the latter. This is because the IGRA may deny the request and hence rendering the state powerless. For instance the state of Idaho has tried to ban advertisement of gambling outside the state by the Coeurd’alene tribe, but despite these efforts the gambling issue has been expanding and working.
Lack of fairness is another disadvantage experienced in the gambling enterprise, for example the non-Indian casinos are unfairly treated through heavy taxation and regulation from the state and the management as compared to those owned by Indians. In Nevada for instance, the non-Indian casino and Indian casino operates under two different conditions (Hosmer, O’Neill & Fixico, 2004, p. 29). Legal analysts dealing with Indian gambling have reported that there have been instances of economic discrimination for many years in these business operations.
Conclusion
Native American gaming started many centuries ago but became widely practiced in the early 80s. It has resulted in economical growth, creation of job opportunities, and improvement of infrastructure (Woife & Owens, 2009, p. 96). On the other hand, gambling enterprises have created conflict between the state and the tribes, inequality, negative social affects such us alcoholism, and increased school dropout numbers. In order to generate revenue effectively, the states and the tribal government should control the gambling enterprises, inequality should not be entertained, alcoholism and school drop out should be discouraged through use of punitive measures and public education. The state should assist the tribes in promoting the gambling enterprises in the remote areas by improving infrastructure and educating the public on its economical importance.
REFERENCES
Hosmer, B., O’Neill, C. & Fixico, D. (2004). Native Pathways: American Indian Culture and Economic Development in the Twentieth Century. Colorado: University press of Colorado.
Woife, A. & Owens, E. (2009). Gambling: Mapping the American Moral Landscape. Wako: Baylor university press.
Pasquaretta, P. (2003). Gambling and Survival in Native North America. Tucson: University of Arizona press.
