Native American Casino Gambling Essay

Casinos have made billions of dollars for tribes, essentially putting Indian and casinos hand in hand in many minds. Having casinos makes the reservation more close to being a state due to federal laws and regulations that they are required to follow. I am dumbfounded about how much money casinos have made tribes. I never realized how important that finding is for tribes until reading On The

Towering Hundreds of feet in the air you might have noticed a casino near your town or city. These large complexes are basically a money making machine. Usually Owned by the Native American Culture. These are the main source of income on the reservation for these tribes (Native American Casinos). Although used by Native Tribes in America the First Casino originated in Italy in 1638. The Casinos are a place where many average Americans spin the wheel of luck trying to win a profit on their money. Now the chances of winning big vary as there are many different tiers of gambling. You can have very little money and play on the slots or you can be a high-roller and spend hundreds or thousands on games of black-jack or poker.

Native American tribal communities are one of the most disadvantaged and socially vulnerable groups in the United States. Widespread poverty, alcoholism and lack of services are common throughout Native American tribal lands, leading to high social vulnerability on many levels. In addition, tribes and their indigenous traditions may be particularly vulnerable to damage caused by environmental change, as “tribal cultural practices and religious beliefs are rooted in the

Joseph Hamilton writes, “In Southern California, where my tribe calls home, disenrollment is common, in part because of big gaming revenues and internal power struggles. It is also a symptom of the breakdown of traditional tribal power structures. Simply put, some tribal leaders listen to lawyers instead of elders” (n.d.). The smaller amount of tribal members present constitutes more money for the remaining members (Stretten, 2014).

Despite the elevating taxes, many people argue that Texas has a very low combined state and local tax burden. This is only true at the state level, but at the local level Texas has a very high tax burden - 9th in sales tax per capita and 15th in property tax per capita (Lavine 15). The state managed to portray this image only because Texas pushes funding obligations down to the local level, such as public education. For this reason, cities such as Houston must implement high property taxes to ensure adequate funding for police enforcement, public transportation, and education. Because of the tremendous shortfall this year, the city of Houston resorted to layoff teachers and security personnel to meet budget requirements. Therefore, instead of continued tax hikes or sacrificing much needed state services, why not allow for casino gambling as an alternative source of revenue for the state? The direct economic impact of casino gambling is clear by looking at our neighboring states.

Although while some Native American Tribes may benefit financially because of the casinos, most have the worst standard of living in the United States.

As with many races and ethnicities, Native Americans have had the front row seat in social injustices related to gender and race from the social institutions in the United States. Native Americans faced much discrimination along with other groups when it came to educational institutions and businesses. In education, many young children had lower math and writing skills leading to fewer high school diplomas (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). In labor, Native Americans had high unemployment rates and a lower labor force than the rest of the demographic population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). They also have problems with poverty since more than twenty-five percent of this group live below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Additionally, there are high rates of violent victimization and contributing factors such as childhood trauma that lead to overall high deaths. A major contributing factor to these deaths is alcoholism which exceeds the US rates by seven times (Sarche & Spicer, 2008). Many of these statistics indicate great injustice. Furthermore, according to the Indian Health Services, American Indians have lower health and life expectancy when compared to the rest of America (2015). These staggering statistics point out some prevalent inequalities in modern social institutions that exist with Native Americans.

In the Lakota language, “wicozani” is a word that means wealth by living a happy and well balanced life with a physical and mental well-being in conformity with creation. In order to fulfill a life of prosperity and euphoria, it is crucial to be a well-behaved, humane person. In the Native American culture, being an impish, untrustworthy being goes against everything they believe in. One of the most meaningful values to the Native Americans is honesty. One of the most condemned traits is disrespect.

Although tribes vacillate with regard to the use of alcohol and drugs, substance dependence is one of the principal sources of health problems facing Native Americans. As the graph below shows, there is a disparity in abuse.

Native Americans have struggled to rise above and escape their impoverished reservations because they use alcohol to cope. The alcohol causes the Natives to lower their ambitions and become self destructive. Many might claim that alcohol abuse is not that common on reservations and is not the main source of scarcity of Native success. Not all Native Americans engage in alcoholism. There are “many tribes and individual Native Americans [who] practice abstinence and drinking in moderation, aligning the substance abuse levels of their tribe with the rest of the country” (addictiontreatment.org). It is evident that there is no absolute when it comes to the amount of Native Americans who abuse alcohol. Many are conscious of the disastrous effects

Tribes are responsible for managing social services, health and education, housing and legal issues, natural resources and gaming establishments. Casino profits are generally used to fund educational and social services programs for the tribe. (Momper and Jackson 2007)

Adding to Native American casino fortunes, their casinos are likely to increase over the next few years. It is noted that several states are reaching agreements to allow the introduction or expansion of Native American casinos because of the additional revenues they can provide. This increases the Native American casinos opportunities and consitutes a high barrier for new entrants. The major source for this entry barrier is the cost disadvantage independent of scale regarding the favorable government polices vis -a -vis the Indian Gaming and Recration Act of 1988.

The development of tribal casinos or what is commonly referred to as organized gambling can be credited to Native American reservations. Gaming operations have brought phenomenal success to many native tribes in America, and there has been a new dimension to the existing debate regarding Native American sovereignty in organized gambling. There are over 310 casinos ran by about one-third the nations federally recognized tribes, and generate around $10 billion in revenue which is one-sixth of all revenue generated through legal gaming in the country (Evans, Topoleski, 2002). Many of the tribes are now able to provide for themselves essential services rather than wait for the government. However, most

Alcoholism is the leading health and social problem of American Indians than any other race. Native Americans who end up leaving the reservation to pursue education or employment opportunities express a high degree of discomfort and anxiety as a result of “feeling caught in two worlds.” By leaving the reservation they are abandoning their traditions, however temporarily, and suffering a sense of personal loss and insecurity. In entering a new world, this sense of loss and insecurity is heightened and becomes exacerbated, particularly if they do not experience success or acceptance in the new environment (Major, A.K. A 2003). However, if success and acceptance in the new world occurs, these individuals will still suffer the pangs of abandonment since they can never fully return to the reservation. In some cases, forced assimilation has extinguished the culture from many Indians as their grandparents and parents were forced to abandon the old ways in order to become more American. Thomas Jefferson, as well as many others believed that Native Americans can be just as ‘White’ Americans. In an attempt to increase local employment opportunities, many tribes have turned to gambling casinos and the collateral business which support these ventures. Illegal activities would certainly increase among Indians because of the simple fact that they need to survive by any means necessary. This can all

From as early as the time of the early European settlers, Native Americans have suffered tremendously. Native Americans during the time of the early settlers where treated very badly. Europeans did what they wanted with the Native Americans, and when a group of Native Americans would stand up for themselves, the European would quickly put them down. The Native Americans bow and arrows where no match for the Europeans guns and cannon balls. When the Europeans guns didn’t work for the Europeans, the disease they bought killed the Native Americans even more effectively.