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AUGUST 14, 2000

The wheat plot Mark Trahant's father cultviated is a field of dreams, not just for his family but the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe of Idaho as whole, he writes in The Seattle Times.

But he says sometimes dreams don't always turn out as expected.

The $9 billion Indian gaming indudstry, although a boon for tribes throughout Indian Country, is still small compared to the overall $600 billion and riddled with conflicts between states, tribes, and the federal government.

The tribe finally signed a gaming compact with the state this year. But the tribe is ready to go to court to decide if certain video gambling machines are legal in the state and the ruling could adversely affect three other tribes in the state.

The tribe is also asserting its sovereignty on a wider scale. Recovering from poverty, the tribe fights nuclear waste, imposes taxes on its land, and enforces tribal hiring preferences for business on reservation land.

Get the Story:
Mark Trahant: As gambling grew, so did regulators (The Seattle Times 8/13)
Tribe rolls dice with gaming hall (The Spokesman Review 8/13)
Idaho's largest tribe asserts itself (The Spokesman Review 8/13)