The Current Generation Of Native Americans

Chapter 5 from On The Rez informs the reader on different cultural as well as historical information regarding Native Americans. Frazier explains historical information that pulls emotion from the reader. Throughout the book, Frazier continues to bring up Native American traditions, conversely, chapter 5 explains situations different tribes went through. Reading chapter 5 in On The Rez has changed my opinion of the reasons behind Frazier’s book.

The case against reparations main argument is that this nation has already done enough and granted the Native American special rights. Native Americans do live on their own lands (reservations); are self-governed (Indian Sovereignty); and while the government does not specifically give them money, because they are self-governed, they are not subject to the same tax laws as other US citizens. Also, many tribes have opened their own "casinos", called "Indian Gaming Centers" on their reservations, which bring in millions of tax-free dollars of money for some tribes. These are special rights that many Americans do have that non-Natives do not. Isn’t this a sufficient form of reparations?

When most people hear of Native Americans, they cannot help but think of elaborate headdresses, red skinned warriors, and lively dancing. Although these aspects of Native American culture are fascinating, more important is where they fare in our society 's past and present. Restrictive laws and acts such as the Indian Removal Act, the Indian Reorganization Act, Fort Laramie treaties, and the Trail of Tears forced Native Americans from their lands. When settlers and the American government saw the resistance of Native Americans to forced assimilation, they resorted to racial discrimination and relocation to reservations. This history of discrimination has fueled calls for the United States government to pay reparations and the return of Native Americans to their indigenous lands.

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)

Mike Justice, a member of the Siletz tribe in Oregon, is jobless and lives with his recovering addict wife and son (The Economist, 2015). He could work at the tribe’s casino, but instead collects welfare payments and $1,200 yearly from the casino per capita payments (The Economist, 2015). The minimum wage he would make at the casino would barely pay for the transportation costs, since Justice has no vehicle, so he would rather not work and collect money (The Economist, 2015). This is a growing problem and a newer study in the American Indian Law Journal of 24 tribes in the Pacific North-West shows that growing casino revenues can actually make poverty worse as poverty rose from 25% to 29% from 2000 to 2010(The Economist, 2015). Of the 17 tribes in the study that paid directly to tribe members, poverty rose in ten of them (The Economist, 2015). Why the rise in poverty? One reason is the way the money is distributed. The more an individual is paid, the more he has the desire not to work (The Economist, 2015). Obesity, poor health, drug abuse, and alcoholism are already problems and without health insurance, from not working, these problems get much

Over the many decades following the establishment of the United States of America, the Native American population has gone through an insurmountable amount of pain and suffering. Unfortunately, most of this pain and suffering have been caused by the Federal Government and its policies, which have proven to be not only racist and discriminatory, but at times even genocidal. There are many examples of such policies, but the most general and well known are Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830, as well as the boarding school system established in the 1870s by Richard Pratt, aimed at stripping the “savage” Native American children from their culture and teaching them the “proper” white Euro-American way of life. Yet, probably the longest lasting negative consequences of the aforementioned policies, combined with the loss of their land and the creation of reservations, are the economic misfortunes which have accompanied Indians, ever since first contact with the Europeans was established, so many centuries ago. These economic difficulties have led to the rapid increase in illnesses among Native Americans and the extremely high probability of self-destructive behavior by reservation residents. Currently no other ethnic group in the United States

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed in 1988 by Ronald Regan (Davis 4.3.). This act was shaping for compromise between US federal government and Indian tribes. Also, Indian tribes hope to be able to protect their own sovereignty, and the US government was tended to regard gaming under their control. According to the “Casino Roots” by Jessica R. Cattelino mentioned, “it is a powerful image, yet one that renders gaming resources external to indigenous economic and political action. Similarly, studies of casinos "impact" on indigenous communities implicitly render gaming as a capitalist project that acts upon indigenous peoples (1).” The government passed this policy purposed to promote the development of tribal economies and avoid the

When signing treaties with the U.S. Native Americans made sure their sovereign rights were retained. Due to the success of gaming operations tribes have had, they have had the chance to provide essential services themselves for their people instead of being dependent on the government. In turn this has frustrated many states as they feel it impacts their own sovereignty and they wish to imply heavier restrictions on gaming. States are unable to gain revenue from taxes of tribal gaming and yet the tribes are part of the state. Individual states feel they have a lack of control over Indian gaming. Most state officials do not believe that Indian gaming should be exempt from paying state taxes. States feel that if they have to deal with the negative aspects of gambling (drugs, addiction, reckless behavior, etc.) that exist that they deserve to get some of the revenue and have their opinions heard. Tribal rights must also be taken into consideration. Life for Native Americans has always been associated with poverty and limited means to make a living. Income from gaming is a way to better the life of the

This said “While there are many activists helping improve the situation and casinos help bring in revenue, Native Americans are confined to 4% of what was once completely their land.” This isn’t a concession about whether or not Native Americans are oppressed, but rather if the situation is being improved. Many people believe that them living on reservations is the best case scenario, however, there is room for improvement with everything. I believe that this is a pertinent situation that must be addressed. Native Americans are our equals and are a first-hand look into the USA’s past. They should be incorporated into the future.

The history of Native American tribes is a long, complicated, and more often than not, a sad one. Today, thanks to efforts to help tribes preserve their identity, culture and numbers by means of reservations, many Native Americans not only survive, but also thrive. Indian gaming is one means that has been a source of great income and prosperity for Native American tribes in the San Diego region. Although the economic impact of gaming has been very positive, critics of legalizing and regulating such casinos have expressed concerns regarding potentially negative impacts. While Indian gaming in San Diego has positive impacts for the economy and upliftment of Indian tribes, negative impacts could relate to industry monopolization.

Prior to the establishment of gaming casinos on tribe reservations, many Indian communities, especially in California, had little to no options in terms of the economic development of their tribe. This was the case because a lot of these tribes had almost no land available to them and the one which they actually had was almost always deprived of any natural resources or agricultural capabilities. Gaming gave these communities the opportunity to develop their economic potential, give that their land was located near a major metropolitan area or a major highway, which is the case with many of the Indian reservations in California. The development of this industry by the tribes, gave the ones which succeeded a lot of opportunities for not only their own people, but for nonindians as well. Unfortunately this rapid success of the Indian gaming industry gave rise to the image of the wealthy Indian, similarly to the one of the corporate white man, which carries with itself a lot of negativity. However, in the case of the Indians this negativity was even stronger, since in mainstream society it was essentially not acceptable for a Native American person to be rich and well-off.

Did you know that gambling is one of the biggest problems in America? As a matter of fact, I think that it could destroy us one day. Gambling can change people in a way as if it was a drug to them. It doesn’t look good when somebody gambles their own life away. People need to realize that gambling is a problem. The three causes and effects of gambling are money, lifestyle, and time.

This paper will explore how economists attempt to find the answers of this relatively new concept of casino gambling. What is the revenue from the casinos and how do they impact the local economy? Does the “immoral” action of gambling increase crime in the states that legalized it? What are the impact on wages and does casino gambling lead to an increase in bankruptcies?

Gambling is often associated with crime. “When gambling restrictions were relaxed, criminals were the first to open up legal gambling establishments”. Even when there were regulations in Nevada, because they were slack, it did not prevent members of organized crime from openly owning and operating casinos.

Gambling has no place in society and should either be completely abolished by the state, or at the very least highly regulated. Addiction is a disease that is nearly impossible to overcome, for many their addiction lies within the issue of gambling. I would say I take the stance that of the Islamic prohibition of gambling, “there is something wrong with the basic attraction of gambling: one might get rich without working”. We tend to glorify this idea of risk, if wealth is attainable in such an easy way why not give it a shot? Unfortunately, gambling odds aren’t all that great and the rush of trying to win is what people get addicted to. This potentially could lead to a wide range of issues, certain “harms may occur, resulting in heavy social, economic, and health costs such as crime, dysfunctional relationships, and bankruptcy”. In this essay I argue that that gambling has too many negative connotations to be a part of any state.