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Add to FavoritesI know someone who works closely with Native Americans and told me that casinos have seriously undermined the way of life of the Native American. Half of my family members are also Native American, so I am well-acqainted with the issues concerning this subject. This can be exemplified in various ways, which I will write about in detail.
First of all, many Native Americans are replacing what was once even remotely spiritual or meaningful, with a debauched lifestyle. This is not to say that Native Americans are supposed to be more spiritual in the sense we stereotype them as, but the elders have definitely seen a grave change, in fact, many of the elder Natives think the Native Americans are worse off than ever.
Many of them in the United States now spend their lives doing nothing but taking drugs and drinking, and most tribes have an extensive list of members with criminal histories. In some casinos, the Native Americans in charge have even been dismissed (at least for the time being) for having drug habits. Another story I heard was that one Native American spends his entire day strung out on drugs while rocking back and forth in the same spot all day and night. This is what a newfound access to limitless drugs and alcohol are doing to a group of people who were already ravaged by substance abuse in the first place. In addition, I've heard that some Natives are even creating "meth labs" underground on their reservations.
Why would a group of people with so much money resort to this? Let me ask you this: If most people, regardless of race or background, suddenly have access to a lot more money than they've ever had in their lifetime, would they know what to do with it? Look at all of the Lotto winners who are now bankrupt and lost all of their family and friends as one example.
Another negative aspect is that casinos are causing an atmosphere of greed. Tribes are trying to cut off as many members as they can so that only a few can benefit from a larger pool of money. This is causing battles over land and rights, and also causing enmity among people and tribes who were once friends. There is one casino nearby that is currently under threat of being shut down due to the constant fights of tribal members. Native Americans who cannot own a casino due to their isolated locations also feel that it is unfair to them to not receive any benefits. While this may seem like a small negative factor, think of how you would feel if your neighbours were getting rich for being of the same ethnic group or tribe, while you received nothing? All of this greed is causing nothing but hatred.
As well as the greed and enmity, I cannot see how throwing money at a group of people will actually improve them as a whole. With all the money who needs to really go to college or do something with one's life? Many people think that Native Americans are improving themselves with the money, but the truth is (and I have researched this), is that the money is making them complacent. Without needing to develop skills, the Native Americans are not contributing anything to their own group or society that is valuable or meaningful, and not developing one's skills or talents is not a very positive way to live one's life.
What kind of future civilisation will the Native Americans present with no degree of evolution to show for? Are we that naive to believe that in a hundred years, spoon feeding money is going to present us with a much more civilised, advanced, and upwardly-mobile society? What kind of individuals are being produced?
Another problem not many have addressed is that in order for tribal members to keep receiving monies, their children included, a certain percentage of tribal membership must be maintained. As far as I see it, this is a way for the American government to further destroy the Native American people as a whole. If you have a tribe consisting of only forty of fifty members, are those members going to keep procreating with only each other? Will this not eventually lead to what we call inbreeding of genes? How can this be beneficial to the people if they must adhere to this? Also, this does not help them to adapt to society like everybody else.
In a hundred years, I cannot see how any Native Americans will be left if this continues. In my honest opinion, the "Indian casinos" are merely an excuse for Vegas, Big Business, and government to get involved in big money. The Native Americans are a sad casualty, once again, but they do not see it coming just yet.
Learn more about this author, Mondlicht.
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In framing an argument over whether or not casino gambling hurts some undefined aspect of what it means to be a Native American, it must be stated that Native American issues are for Native Americans to worry about. Anyone that thinks that they know what is best for Native people is misinformed, misguided, paternalistic, or all the above. The Congress of the United States approved Indian Gaming as the last resort for finding a way to foster economic development in Indian Country. Like it or not, it's here to stay.
The argument over the benefit of gambling on reservations is being fought both on and off the reservations. Native Americans can be either for or against gambling depending upon many different social, cultural, and religious values present among the tribal membership. Arguments for or against are influenced by the history and presence of various forms of Christianity and traditional forms of religion among the people. Most tribes in the United States have accepted casino gambling with some degree or reluctance and suspicion.
The seeds of struggle between the "white man's way" and "traditionalism' were sown over two hundred years ago with the establishment of the first reservations by treaty and the creation of an institutionalized government welfare system, known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Their overzealous accomplices in this act were self-serving religious institutions, including the Roman Catholic Church. In the name of Christ, the church and socialism, Native American communities, families, children were devastated in a cultural and social genocide second only to the holocaust of the Second World War.
If you ask yourself if a hundred years of forced civilization help or hurt the Native American, what would your answer be? Before you answer, perhaps you should ask a survivor. Perhaps you should come to terms with the devastation wrought upon an unsuspecting and powerless people. Perhaps you should seek atonement and seek forgiveness from the ancestors. The sins of the father are many and weigh greatly upon the generations that follow. Think carefully about how you would feel if it were your family, or nation.
You may consider Native American casino gambling hurtful because you choose to project your value system upon other people. If you are "Euro-Centric", or believe that your social, cultural and religious system must be right and therefore impressed upon everyone that is not included in your system, if you listen closely, you may hear the faint tinkling of the bells of fascism.
Perhaps you believe that everyone should live as righteously as you do, and that gambling is an evil tool of Satan. Chances are that you know someone that has dropped a nickel or two into a slot machine somewhere, or someone that regularly buys state operated lottery pools, seeking instant riches as a means of fulfilling their dreams. Are they evil doers that should be condemned? Such a puritanical view of the world has not survived well in the world and has not offered much in the advancement of civilization.
No one is hurt from a transaction between the machine, the state or the gambler. The gambler makes a decision to do so of his/her own free will. The chances for success are unrealistic, but who cares. He is only chasing a dream, one dollar at a time. Doesn't the gambler makes the same decision before he places a dollar in the Sunday collection plate? In the end, it is the state, or the tribe, or the church that benefit from the gambler's decision while the gambler waits and prays for the outcome.
Like most everything in Indian Country, the allocation of gambling profits is strictly regulated. After covering operating expenses, profits are divided up between the regulators and legislated economic development areas such as education, social services, tribal administration, and infrastructure. In some, but not all Tribes, a portion of the profits are returned to the membership in the form of a dividend payment. This too, is highly regulated by the government.
Without the revenue generated from gaming operations, improving and expanding tribal programs, and indeed tribal quality of life, would be nearly impossible. The cost of delivering these programs has grown astronomically over the years and would otherwise fall back upon the government and ultimately the tax payer.
It is frequently argued that government has a fiduciary responsibility towards the tribes enshrined in the Constitution and the Treaties entered into as a means of protecting the Indian way of life and the lands they inhabited at the time. In exercising the right to conduct gaming within its sovereign territory, the Tribes and the Government have reached a new social compact, one that freely permits capitalism and limited self-government instead of socialism. No one is hurt from this arrangement.
Learn more about this author, Francis Jock.
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