Opinion: Tribes battle over off-reservation casino

Thursday, March 1, 2007  

"Seen those ads on television about stopping Native Americans from overrunning Beloit, Wis.? No, Chief Black Hawk has not returned to reclaim his beloved Sinnissippi Valley. Illiniwek ain’t moving across the border, and there’s no hysterical racist proclaiming a yellow/red peril.

But Native American tribes are battling each other over an economic engine that provides billions to Native Americans coffers. Gambling also destroys people’s lives while developing dollars for investors who are less than native.

The Ho-chunk casino is well advertised here in Rockfordland. If you want to hear old retro-rock, inhale stale smoke, and waste your life savings, then go north, my friend (unless you want to keep money in Illinois, then go east to Elgin).

But local developers have enlisted a tribe north of Eau Claire to build a large “family style” casino (does that mean my grand niece can play the slots?) just across our Illinois border. This will effectively draw the majority of gamblers to Beloit, away from Ho-chunk, saving gas (how environmental).

Of course, the two tribes are locked in legal battle in the dusty halls of the Interior Department in Washington, D.C.

You’ve heard, maybe, of the lobbyists who took all that money from native tribes and spread it around congressional lobbies? Well, the mess hasn’t been cleaned up. If you want to stop the new casino in Beloit, encourage our congressman to halt, or at least delay, any new tribal “games” until a full investigation can be completed. How many of our government representatives are still holding bags of cash from the last round of tribal largess?"

Get the Story:
Left Justified: Indians are on the warpath (The Rock River Times Feb. 28-March 6, 2007 Issue)