Opinion: Gaming has turned red Indians into green ones

Monday, April 25, 2005  

"Sadly, some wealthy gaming tribes have turned a blind eye to the needs of their Indian neighbors and Indian service organizations. In California many Indian families have been disenrolled with nearly 1,500 and counting. Gaming has brought in the dominant cultures disease of GREED. There are numerous reservations where non-Indian families were adopted into various tribes years ago. Now these non-Indians have taken control whereby they have disenrolled original Indian families. The American Indian Movement (AIM) usually fought outside forces to preserve sovereignty and culture. Now the new destructive threat is from within, something Indians never thought would happen. Our survival as Native Indians will be achieved though our unity as one people, not disunity.

Gaming is like a double edge blade. It has helped in many positive ways of which does not need to be explained here. However, with gaming money, some tribes have turned on other tribes denying them the opportunity to have gaming, while not offering them any financial solutions. Some reservations have achieved great success with gaming monies, yet the elders don’t meet anymore, kids don’t graduate from high school due to receiving gaming monies at age 18, some have lost interest for traditional cultural and are influenced by gangster rap, etc."

Get the Story:
Marty Firerider: The Red Path Has Turned Green For Some (The Native American Times 4/25)