FREE ESSAY ON INDIANS AND TRIBE GAMBLING

INDIANS AND TRIBE GAMBLING

Indian tribes existed as sovereign governments long before European settlers arrived in
North America. Treaties signed with European nations and later the United States in
exchange for land guaranteed the tribes continued recognition and treatment as sovereign
nations. Historically, state governments have been hostile to the concept of recognizing
and dealing with tribes as sovereign governments. The United States negotiated numerous
treaties which they continuously violated in pursuit of the Indians' lands and assets,
and ultimately to impose their will on Indian tribes and people as they seen fit. These
actions by the United States reinforce the colonialism theories and the four components
of the colonization complex toward indigenous people in the United States. In this
project I will expose Colonial practices by the United States toward Native Americans,
past and present, the move to assimilate them, and the relationship of those practices to
the current condition of the American Indiana. 
European colonialism uprooted and almost completely destroyed the North American
indigenous population. The land grab and expansion west placed all native Americans into
harms way. The establishment of the United States of America would be the defining point
for the Native American Indians because this created a government with colonial
motivation. According to Aguirre and Turner American Ethnicity, in order to create
internal colonies government must actively participate and provide coercive force need to
control those being colonized. The first rule of the colonization complex: forced entry
into a territory and its population. (Aguirre & Turner p.28) American history easily
provides us with the facts and intentions of early American settlers. After the
independence from England America turned its attention toward Native Americans who were
in the way of expansion. The desire for American settlers to move west only accelerated
the entry into Indian Territory. All of America was Indian Territory at one period and
the first landings at Jamestown VA. Were the beginnings of the Indian colonization
theory.
The alteration or destruction of an indigenous culture and patterns of social
organization is Aguirre & Turner second stage of the colonization complex. General George
Crook commander of the Indian wars of the pacific north west and commonly known as
America best Indian fighter recognized greed as nine tenths of the problem with the
Indians. The quest for more land and gold were the driving force behind the destruction
of the Native Americans. To justify the actions of killing Indians in the same manner as
hunting a deer or a rabbit they had to present the Indians as savages. Instead of
attempting to share the land with Indians it was decided to remove them. When Indians
tribes refused to be uprooted from their native lands the justification for their
destruction was inevitable, from the American governments prospective.
The transition of the domination of the indigenous culture and it patterns of social
organization, the third stage of the colonization complex occurs with the forced moves to
Indian reservations. The tribes were remove from their native homelands and force into
reservations. Completely destroying the Indians custom of living from the land and being
in a harmonious balance within nature. When treaties were agreed, such as the Black Hills
of Dakota, and the sacred land to the Sioux Indians the United States recognized the
Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation, set aside for exclusive use by the
Sioux people. However, after the discovery of gold there in 1874, the United States
confiscated the land in 1877. To this day, ownership of the Black Hills remains the
subject of a legal dispute between the U.S. government and the Sioux. These practices By
the U.S. government complicate the trust and relationship native Americans have toward
the official government to this day.
The justification of prejudicial and racist beliefs is the center of the Indian demise.
The belief that European culture, religion, manifest destiny and the natural superiority
of the white settlers lead to the misunderstanding of the native culture, and the near
complete destruction. The racist beliefs that the white way was the right way inspired
mainly Eastern philanthropists, intellectuals and members of religious groups to argued
for the total assimilation of Indians as ordinary Americans and the breakdown of tribal
governments, which they saw as hindering the progress of Indian assimilation. As part of
this policy, the BIA set up special schools for Indian children. The most famous of these
was the Carlisle Indian Training School in Pennsylvania, which forbade the use of native
languages and religious practices. In retrospect, the allotment policy was a devastating
failure. By the 1920s, Indian reservations and Indian peoples were the most impoverished
sector in the nation. (MSNBC News)
In the current political environment, I am not surprised by the recent news stories of
tribes giving political donations in order to have their issues heard. Federal lawmakers
have enormous power over Indian affairs, and yet most have little understanding and great
indifference. Tribes must invest an inordinate amount of their limited resources to
ensure that their interests are not carelessly disregarded. What Tribes really need is a
consistent federal policy that respects their rights, including the right to engage in
the business of gaming, and is not subject to every political breeze that blows in
Washington. When this policy is in place, Tribes will be able to get back to the business
of rebuilding their broken economies, without fear that the federal government will
continually block their efforts. The conditions imposed on Native American's have forced
them into alternative ways to maintain lifestyle on Indian reservations. The
establishment of casinos on their tribal ancestral land has been economical for Indian
reservations. The caste theories I believe have played a critical role in the Government
opposition to the establishment of the facilities for several reasons. The power and big
business that gambling brings would be out of the control of the dominant ethnic group,
and therefore the reservations would be escaping the lower socioeconomic positions they
are confined to. This would constitute a shift in power and possible reverse
exploitation. Also the amount of revenue that will be generated from the surrounding
communities, and the possible effect it will have on the lives of the surrounding
population play a significant role in the opposition to the establishment of reservation
casinos. On the other side of the argument there are individuals claiming tribe blood
ties only for financial benefit with the support of wealthy corporations. This
perspective is examined from different point of view in the article The Lost Tribe by
Novak and Thompson. Petitions for claims on tribe blood ties to the Golden Hills
Paugussett Indians with ancestral roots dating back to the 1600's Bridgeport Connecticut
area are in question by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The 1850 and 1860 census which is
used to determine the bloodline, identified the groups ancestors as non-Indians. I
question if the census is the only method that should be used to determine tribal blood
ties given the state of nature of the American Indian during that period. Many Indians
claimed different ethnicity, and only later to returned to identify their true heritage.

The colonization of Native Americans progressed through four stages outlined in Aguirre
and Turners colonialism theories the colonization complex. Following the finial stage of
the colonization complex was the attempt to assimilate the Indians into mainstream
society. Whites were slow to escape the negative stereotypes and economic discrimination
that undercut Native Americans, and is responsible for their high poverty rates that keep
them tied to government. The establishment of the Indian gaming act of 1988 threatens to
free the reservations from the long arm of government, but at the expense of the
surrounding white communities. This I believe is at the heart of the Indian gambling
issue. I also must acknowledge there are groups who are interested in benefiting
themselves and not the Indian reservations with their bogus claims to tribal blood ties.
This hurts the image of Native Americans, but I still support the issue if it betters the
quality of life for Native Americans living of reservations. 
Bibliography
Work cited 
1. Novak, V. and Thompson, M (2000, March 6) The Lost Tribe, 66-68
2. MSNBC TV News with Tom Brokaw(www.msnbc.com/onair/ncb/nightlynews/flee/)
3. Aguirre, Adalberto JR and Jonathan Turner. American Ethnicity the Dynamics and 
Consequences of Discrimination 2nd ed.