Controversy In Indian Country: Coal and Gaming as Economic Models
As time has passed since native peoples were placed on reservations, Tribal governments have begun utilizing many different methods to grow and aid their tribal economies, these methods vary from coal mining to creating indian casinos to marketing traditional tribal art and clothing. all of these methods can be used increase prosperity on reservations, and may help remedy stagnating economies and create jobs on reservations where unemployment and poverty tend to be common place. Furthermore, talented, skilled Indian individuals who have chosen to leave the reservations, may find themselves returning at the sight of these blossoming Reservation economies. The problem for these…show more content… One such method has been the establishing of Casinos on reservation lands. Made legal by the indian gaming regulatory act of 1988,(SNN) which states that states cannot regulate the activities of indians on reservations, Casinos have become incredibly common on Reservations and have been shown to be able to generate massive amounts of revenue, an article written for the Topeka Capital Journal states that “A recent accounting found that there are 411 Indian casinos in the United States, operated by 223 tribes in 28 states. Indian gambling pulled in $18.5 billion in 2004, nearly double that for Nevada's gambling industry. “ ( Topeka Journal ) Casinos like Wyoming's own Wind Rivers Casino in Riverton generate massive amounts of revenue for their tribes with the Wind Rivers casino exceeding more the twenty three million dollars in revenue yearly. These casinos obviously also create jobs, helping to aid the common reservation problems of unemployment and poverty, As Wind Rivers CEO Joe Conrad stated in 2013 “I think the biggest thing is jobs that are available for tribal members and for others, but mostly for the tribal members.