Opinion: State demanding too much from tribes

Friday, October 1, 2004  

Former National Indian Gaming Commission general counsel Kevin Washburn: "With Gov. Tim Pawlenty's announcement that he wants Indian tribes to share their gaming revenues with the state, Minnesota's Indian tribes find themselves in the uncomfortable position of knowing that resources will be taken from them. Tribes are now trying to decide whether to negotiate or stand firm.

This is not a happy position for tribes, but it is a familiar one. Every valuable resource that Indian tribes have ever possessed, from gold in the Black Hills to oil in Alaska (and likely, dear reader, the land on which you are standing), was taken from tribes by threat, force, negotiation or a combination of the three. Thus, even though federal law prohibits states from taxing Indian gaming, history makes it seem inevitable that the state will have Indian gaming revenues. My concern is that the governor has handicapped the negotiations by overestimating gaming revenues"

Get the Story:
Kevin Washburn: Don't overestimate gaming industry revenues (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 10/1)
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