Native American gaming
Because these areas have tribal sovereignty, states have limited ability to forbid gambling there, as codified by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
A District Court ruled in favor of the Natives, citing Chief Justice John Marshall in Worcester v. Georgia.
In the late 1970s and continuing into the next decade, the delicate question concerning the legality of tribal gaming and immunity from state law hovered over the Supreme Court.
[citation needed][dubious – discuss] A report by the Department of Justice presented to the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs on March 18, 1992, concluded that through several years of FBI investigation, organized crime had failed to infiltrate Native gaming and that there was no link between criminal activity in Native gaming and organized crime.
[7] A Supreme Court ruling issued on July 9, 2020, which expanded tribal jurisdiction for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma also opened the possibility for Native Americans to have more power to regulate casino gambling.
[9] In the early 1960s, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, near Indio, California, were extremely poor and did not have much land because of neglected treaties in the 1850s by state senators.
[citation needed] Historian Stuart Banner stated that the Cabazon Band and the neighboring Morongo Reservation had "some HUD buildings and a few trailers, but that was about it.
Shortly thereafter, the Indio police and the Riverside County Sheriff shut down the gambling halls and arrested numerous Natives while seizing any cash and merchandise held in the tribe's possession.
[10] The Supreme Court reviewed the case in 1986 to reach a decision over whether Native reservations are controlled by state law.
The NIGC monitors Class II gaming on Native lands on a continuing basis through inspection, investigation, access to records, and contracts.
[citation needed] Further, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has faced increasing pressure to tighten regulatory policy and oversight of casino approvals.
[18] The Native American gaming industry has been described as "recession-resistant", although tribes in many states (including Arizona, California, Connecticut and New Mexico) saw revenues fall at a similar rate to commercial casinos during the Great Recession of 2007–2009.
Many tribes see this limited financial success as being tempered by decreases in reservation unemployment and poverty rates, although socioeconomic deficits remain.
[22] In fiscal year 2022, tribal casinos in California generated over $11 billion in revenue, exceeding that of the Las Vegas Strip.
Operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and earning $1.5 billion, it was more profitable than any one casino in Las Vegas or Atlantic City.
[27] The economic recession that began in 2007 took a heavy toll of receipts, and by 2012 both Foxwoods in Connecticut and its nearby rival the Mohegan Sun were deeply in debt.
[29] In August 2012, the tribe owning the Foxwoods Casino restructured over a billion dollars in debt in an attempt to remain profitable.
The property currently has one hotel tower, a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) casino, large poker room, a 4 acres (1.6 ha) lagoon-style pool facility with a center bar and many private cabanas, restaurants, shops, spa, bars and nightclubs, and the Hard Rock Event Center.
Founded in 1993, the establishment consists the Circling Raven Golf Club, two luxury hotels, 100,000 square feet of casino space, and various restaurants.
The casino's gambling options include slots, bingo, video roulette, pulltabs, and live dealer blackjack.
[citation needed] In March 1994 the Mohawk people created a joint venture with Alpha Hospitality to develop and operate a gaming facility on tribal lands.
[41] The facility comprises 140,000 square feet of casino floor space that includes over 1,800 slot machines and 30 table games, as well as a luxury hotel, spas, restaurants, and a number of entertainment venues.
[46] Much of this success is due to geography: the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is roughly an hour's drive from the Oklahoma state line, and Texas does not permit casino gambling.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe, after several unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a compact with the state, initiated a lawsuit in federal court.
[51][50] In 2005, a pivotal court decision favored the Northern Arapaho Tribe, granting them the right to offer comprehensive casino-style Class III gambling on their lands.
This ruling was a consequence of Wyoming's actions, which ultimately led to the state forfeiting any claim to revenue sharing from Class III gaming income generated by the tribe.
Following this judicial outcome, in May 2006, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal and the Eastern Shoshone Tribe entered into the state’s first Class III gaming compact.
This agreement, negotiated in April 2006, was made possible after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that all types of Class III gaming were accessible to tribes within the state.
[51][50][52] Native American gaming has, in some instances, changed the face of tribal economies, but it has also proven to be very ineffective in other situations.
Although tribal victories over the governmental and cultural oppression in the 1950s yielded a dynamic transformation, economic success fell short in comparison.
