Why Do Casinos Enter An Indian Reservation

AMERICAN MILITARY UNIVERSITY

CASINOS FOR SOVEREIGNTY

RESEARCH PAPER
SUMBITTED
TO INSTRUCTOR MARC WENNER

HISTORY 223

BY

18 JANUARY 2010

Casinos are what people expect to see when they enter an Indian reservation. Most people that visit the reservation have no idea why the Casinos are there and what they mean to the reservations and the Indians that live there. The Indians use the Casinos to take charge of their own economic situations; building the Casino’s are an easy way for the tribes to make money for their own sovereign nation and a way to show they have made their own rules off Federal grounds. Sovereignty is defined by Webster’s as “supreme power especially
When the United States Constitution was drafted in 1787, it affected the Indian decision making ability by enacting the Indian Commerce Clause. Another big hindrance in tribal sovereignty was when Congress passed the Dawes Act. The Dawes Act allows Congress to split up Indian land for individual ownership by an Indian up to 160 acres and allowing surplus lands to be sold to the American public. This of course benefited Americans and hurt the growth of Indian sovereignty. After a long fight in 1934, the Reorganization Act passed and allowed Indian tribes to establish their own self ruled governments. This Act is still the basic Act that governs Indian reservations today. The Act was put into place to help the Indians economically become equal to whites and give greater responsibility to the tribes and not to specific
The Casino is viewed as a way for Indians to generate their own job market and sustain their economy upon the reservation and have a successful outlook to American society. Indian casinos have been thriving due to the American publics fascination with gambling. There are a few states that are known for Indian casino gaming. These states have allowed the reservations to open up their casinos and use their land to build up their economies. California is one such state; bingo was what started the gambling craze in California. The reservations were able to give out larger prizes then the general public bingo halls. This started a mass influx of people visiting the reservation to spend their money on a chance of success. When the state realized the reservations were giving out such large prizes they tried to shut the bingo halls down. This led the tribes to sue the states in federal courts. The outcome of the court ruling basically states if the state allows gaming then the Indian reservations are free to regulate their own gaming, but if the state doesn’t allow the gaming then the reservation cannot pursue gaming. Because of these rulings Congress also passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in