States told to treat Indian gamers with respect

John Wilen

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1998 | 11:08 a.m.

States desiring good relations with their gaming Indian tribes should treat them as equals, not inferiors, officials said Tuesday at the World Gaming Congress & Expo.

"In my experience, tribal authorities have not received that respect from state authorities," said Norm DesRosiers, a member of the Viejas Tribal Gaming Commission in Alpine, Calif.

Under the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (NIGRA), Indian tribes that want to operate gaming facilities must negotiate compacts -- essentially contracts governing everything from regulatory structures to the types of gambling that will be allowed -- with their states.

However, federal treaties recognize most tribes as sovereign nations, said DesRosiers.

This distinction is often lost on state governments, which see tribes as infringing on their sovereignty, DesRosiers said. As such, state officials often poison their relations with Indian tribes by trying to dictate terms, forgetting, DesRosiers argued, that tribes are recognized as separate entities by federal law.

Ironically, state government officials become incensed when federal officials take a similar attitude toward them, he said.

"It is equally offensive to tribal governments when states enter their territory and try to dictate rules and laws," DesRosiers said.

Dempsey Scott Jr., a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes Tribal Council, argued that NIGRA actually diminished the rights of Indian tribes by setting them equal to state governments in the eyes of the federal government. To combat this trend toward diminished tribal rights, tribes should stress their treaty rights -- rights granted them by federal treaty -- in negotiations with states, Scott said.

Royal Warrington, a gaming commissioner with the Menominie Tribe in Wisconsin, noted another problem faced by Indians in their negotiations with state governments. Wisconsin has 11 different Indian tribes, which run 17 casinos. But each tribe is a separate sovereign entity. It took Wisconsin officials time to learn that seemingly basic fact, said Warrington.

"Part of the problem was treating 11 tribes as just one tribe," said Warrington.

While it is important for states to negotiate with tribes on a government-to-government level, it is equally important for tribes to respect state governmental sovereignty by abiding by the terms of their compacts, and by not trying to extend their authority beyond the bounds set by their compact, said DesRosiers.

In a later seminar on the basics of gaming regulation, Robert Preston, executive director of the Ak-Chin Indian Community's Tribal Gaming Agency in Arizona, sought to debunk the notion that Indian gaming facilities are not well regulated and often corrupt.

"Indian gaming is the most regulated gaming industry in the world," more so than the Nevada or New Jersey gaming industries, said Preston. "Whatever the misconception, we will prevail."