Indians say gaming brings them money, pride

John Wilen

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 | 11:33 a.m.

Curtail Indian gambling and you'll curtail our new-found prosperity.

That was the message delivered to a subcommittee of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission by a seemingly endless stream of tribal representatives Monday evening in Las Vegas.

As commissioners Paul Moore, John Wilhelm and Robert Loescher listened, tribal leader after tribal leader extolled the bounty brought to their once-impoverished reservations by legalized gambling.

"Gaming has allowed the members of our tribe to escape the poverty imposed upon them by the federal government's historically deplorable treatment of Native Americans," said Richard Milanovich, chairman of southern California's Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

Legalized gambling has allowed tribes to improve health care programs, education and basic infrastructure like roads, sewer and water services, representatives said. On many reservations, the unemployment rate has dropped drastically, as has the incidence of drug, alcohol and sexual abuse. Several tribes fund scholarships for members and give money to schools, libraries and the emergency services of communities near their reservations.

But gambling has brought other benefits as well, representatives said.

"Gambling provides us with revenues to diversify our economic base," said Stanley G. Jones Sr., chairman of the Washington state Tulalip tribe.

Many representatives said their tribes have re-invested gambling profits in new businesses, including enterprises as diverse as a maple syrup operation, a sand and gravel pit and various forms of farming.

But one theme the tribal representatives kept returning to had little to do with material wealth. Gambling and the money it generates has returned to many Native American tribes something they lost long ago, representatives said: pride.

"There is no way to measure how gaming has helped restore pride and hope for the future among a people who have been crushed by the despair of two centuries of poverty and suffering," said Keller George, chairman of the Oneida Indian Gaming Commission in Verona, N.Y.

Another recurring theme among the representatives was the fact that many tribes will soon have their first member with a Ph.D., something most saw as unattainable even 10 years ago.

Several members expressed a fear that the commission, established to study the effects of gambling of all kinds on society, will issue a report that could lead to federal limitations on Indian gambling.

"I'm really ticked off," said Tom Maulson, chairman of the Wisconsin Lac Du Flambeau tribe. "This is a constant attack on us as Indian people. ... People have never put the saber down because of who we are."

But subcommittee chairman Moore implored tribal representatives not to see the study commission as a threat. He noted that Indian gambling was only one of the many facets of legalized gambling the commission is studying.

"I do not believe that you should think of this commission as your enemy," said Moore. "I don't believe that you should believe that this commission is going to do you in."

Wilhelm, also president of the Culinary Union, was encouraged by the testimony about the economic benefits of gambling. Noting that opponents of legalized gambling will give the full commission testimony on the adverse effects of gambling, Wilhelm said it was very important for the tribes to detail the benefits legalized gambling has brought them.

The commission is to issue a final report to Congress next summer.