Define success, Nebraska tribes say

Phil Rooney

Friday, Sept. 1, 2000 | 9:48 a.m.

OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska's tribes are not discouraged by a report of mixed success for American Indian tribes involved in casino gambling.

An Associated Press computer analysis of federal unemployment showed a majority of American Indians have benefitted little from an explosion in casino gambling that saw revenues go from $100 million in 1988 to $8.26 billion 10 years later.

A few of the 130 tribes with casinos near major population centers are thriving while others are just able to pay the bills with casino revenues.

Paying bills is no small thing to the Santee Sioux, said Tribal Chairman Butch Denny.

"Those are dollars you can spend on things you otherwise didn't have," Denny said. "We wanted employment for our people."

The Santee's Ohiya Casino provides 23 jobs and funds children's recreational equipment and fire department and school improvements.

Reservations also face a growing population from people deciding to return by welfare reform. The casino offsets some of those costs, Denny said.

The Santee have fought a four-year battle with federal and state officials over video and slot machines on its northeast Nebraska reservation.

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska owns and operates the Winnavegas Casino near Sloan, Iowa, and provides annual payments to its members.

"We do a per capita to our 4,000 members of about $599," John Blackhawk, tribal treasurer said.

The casino pays some bills and provides funds tribal programs from children's meals to burials, Blackhawk said.

Money pays for scholarships, summer employment and supports the Little Priest Tribal College in Winnebago.

Blackhawk said the tribe has made money from its casino.

"We've used the resources we've had to get the best bang for our buck," he said.

The Omaha Tribe operates its Casino Omaha in Onawa, Iowa.

The casino employs about 250 people, 80 percent of them tribal members, said Lemuel Harlan, tribal treasurer.

Revenue has helped the tribe do things it could not do otherwise but could change.

Harlan said because revenue has dropped members have not received annual payments since 1995.

"When the riverboats came into Council Bluffs it cut our customer base 60 percent," he said.

With casinos restricted to tribal land the Omaha's options are limited.

"If we had tribal ground in Omaha we'd certainly have one there," Harlan said.

If that were the case, Pat Loontjer would be a likely opponent.

"Gambling is an addictive behavior just like alcohol or drug abuse," the director of Gambling with the Good Life said. "Why would you want to spread another addictive behavior?"

She said tribes should look elsewhere for economic development but knows that is not easy.

"They're isolated and they're poverty stricken," Loontjer said.

State Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln introduced legislation to allow the tribes to offer casino gambling in Nebraska, but it failed to get out of committee this year.

Schimek said it is a matter of tribal sovereignty and will introduce another bill in next year's Legislature.

"If you look at economic development on the reservations for the past 100 years, there really hasn't been any," Schimek said.

"It's very critical to their future."