Persuasive Essay : The Indian Gaming

During the sixteenth century European pilgrims migrated across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America. North America had just been introduced to the Western Civilization. The America’s were home to the indigenous people, that were made up of several tribes that were called Indians by the early settlers. Together the Indians and settlers began to thrive. Growth and development in the new world was made possible by the abundant amount of natural resources.

Indian Boarding Schools, which began in the late 1870’s, were started to transition Native Americans from their traditional cultures and transform them into American citizens. By the 1900’s, there were 147 day schools on and off reservations in the Great Plains. Day schools were first built before the government decided that the children needed to be removed from their Indian lifestyle in order for total assimilation to occur. The first off-reservation boarding schools appeared around 1884 in the Great Plains. By 1890, 25 federal off-reservation and 43 on-reservation boarding schools were operating nationally. Many Indian families chose to send their children to boarding schools because there were no other schools available. After $45 million had been spent and 20,000 Indian children had been put into schools, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs William Jones put emphasis on the importance of utilizing existing boarding and day schools more effectively. Jones declared that the Indian children had shown little evidence of assimilation and introduced the idea for a hierarchy of schools in order to “provide the greatest opportunity for assimilating the best students with the greatest potential for surviving in the white world” (Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, par.8).

A history of struggle and isolation from the rest of society has led to the deterioration of Native American cultures and customs and to their rising levels of unemployment, poverty, and crime on reservations. The United States government has had a major role in the coming about of the struggles that persist for Native Americans to this day. As crime and poverty grip the Sioux tribe, they will continue to lose their traditional culture and move farther from who they once were as a people. I will first review how European explorers introduced alcohol to Native American tribes and how this lead to a strong prevalence of alcoholism in the Sioux tribe. Next I will discuss the U.S. government’s use of forced assimilation and boarding schools led to the loss of Native American culture and customs. This led to more anger of the Sioux tribe towards the U.S. government and to outer society as a whole. Third I will analyze the living conditions and complacency felt by the Sioux tribe as seen through the photographs and interviews conducted by journalist Aaron Huey. Lastly, I will assess the efforts taken by the elders and leaders of the Sioux tribe to combat the prevalence of crime on their reservation. The people of the United States and their government have caused many struggles for the Sioux tribe since their existence in America. For these problems to be resolved, the United States needs to take an active role in acknknwoldeging the problem and allocating the necessary resources

“The Indian presence precipitated the formation of an American identity” (Axtell 992). Ostracized by numerous citizens of the United States today, this quote epitomizes Axtell’s beliefs of the Indians contributing to our society. Unfortunately, Native Americans’ roles in history are often categorized as insignificant or trivial, when in actuality the Indians contributed greatly to Colonial America, in ways the ordinary person would have never deliberated. James Axtell discusses these ways, as well as what Colonial America may have looked like without the Indians’ presence. Throughout his article, his thesis stands clear by his persistence of alteration the Native Americans had on our nation. James Axtell’s bias delightfully enhances his thesis, he provides a copious amount of evidence establishing how Native Americans contributed critically to the Colonial culture, and he considers America as exceptional – largely due to the Native Americans.

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

American Indian culture included gambling for many centuries. More than 100 tribes were known to play different versions of dice games before the Europeans settled in the United States. In the United States, gambling on Indian reservations has become quite common. There are 225 tribes in 28 states who operate some sort of gaming facility. Gambling on reservations was initially established to promote economic development in order to increase the standard of living. It was seen as a way to increase income on poverty-stricken reservations. (Momper 2010)

Page seeks to explore Native American history through archaeological findings, legends, and tribal stories. He paints a picture of conflict between the tribes and the suffering that ensued from government involvement. He provides a realistic view of Native American life prior to Europeans, and more recently the revival of Native American’s resources as a result of the casino

Per capita payments are the cash that the tribe distributes each year from its casino profits, which have grown as gaming revenues have risen and can range from as little as a few hundred dollars a year to more than $100,000. These payments have been shown to have negative affects and could be done in a more positive and effective way. In the study done by the American Indian Law Journal, of the 17 tribes studies that handed casino profits directly to its members, 10 saw their poverty rates rise, and of the 7 tribes that did note, only two saw such an increase. One tribe in northern Washington has eliminated poverty completely, and that tribe does not issue any per capita payments and has used its casino profits to diversify into other businesses. With growing tribal gaming revenues, poverty can become worse through the way casino profits are sometimes distributed through its per capita payments. These payments can be seen as a form of reparations, but they show the negative affects they have on the Native Americans by allowing some of them to be comfortable with living in poverty because of they payments they know they are going to receive from the casinos due to their large profits and the way casinos distribute them.

This book has been a really helpful source of information on Indigenous peoples in the U.S. It beginning chapters were useful for information on the area category, and the last few chapters discuss U.S. government intervention onto reservations in an attempt to make positive change. However, even though their intentions of increasing Native education in the mid-1900’s, their ways of carrying out such “help” was oppressive and demeaning. These chapters, among other policies, discuss Native American boarding schools where teens from tribes were brought to schools, and there were forced to learn European norms in an attempt to diminish their traditional culture. This resources shows that even in the modern day, not all aid is helpful and intentions can be multifaceted.

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

Tribal government gaming on Indian lands is significantly changing life for many of the more than 4.1 million American Indians in the United States. It has proven to be there first and most effective tool for economic development on sovereign, Tribal lands.

Attention-getter: Whenever I look out from my window at home, nothing but memories come back to me. The house three doors down was the unsuspecting target of the foul balls we would hit when we use to play home run derby. Or my basketball hoop which held many world championships between me being the bulls and my friends being that year’s runner up. In the park across the street, I ended up blackmailing my neighbor, who was a few years older than me, into letting me play football with him and his friends. That’s how much I loved to be outside and play with my friends. As I become aware that my street has become barren from children playing

In the early 1930s, gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada and casinos began to flourish (Dunstan, 1997). The economic growth in Nevada, especially the city of Las Vegas, has improved tremendously by the creation of casinos. Many people were employed since the operation of casinos requires a huge amount of labor, skill, and expertise. In addition, local retail sales also increased from casinos when gamblers visit the stores to spend their winnings on various items and products (Garrett, 2003). As a result, many state governments began to legalize casinos in order to boost their economies and increase employment. As of today, there are roughly 1500 casinos in the United States and they generate almost 65 billion dollars in revenue (“Facts on U.S Casinos” 2013). However, casinos use immoral methods to achieve this incredible feat of big profit with few government interventions. While the city of Las Vegas becomes more prosperous than before, many citizens lose their fortunes or even lives by the immoral business practices implemented by the casinos. Even though the

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.

“I like video games, but they’re really violent. I’d like to play a videogame where you help the people who were shot in all other games. It’d be called Really Busy Hospital.”-Demitri Martin. Role playing games have been a source of fun and entertainment for children and adults. There are more safe and calm games such as Just Dance, and there are more Perilous games such as Call of Duty. Role playing games such as killer are perilous for school age children putting them in danger, teaching violence, and teaching reckless behavior.