Column: Gaming tribes slow to support Indian causes

Tuesday, June 24, 2008  

"Almost any trip to the mailbox reveals just how wrong is the current perception that because of proliferating casinos, most American Indians have now become wealthy.

Mailed appeals arrive daily throughout California from charities like the American Indian Education Foundation, the Sioux National Relief Fund, the St. Labre Indian School and scores of other charities aiming to help Native Americans across the nation. Some of those appeals come from questionable groups, but most are legitimate, with the bulk of the money they collect going toward the causes they're set up to help.

At the same time, casino Indian tribes grossed more than $6 billion last year. Because most casino tribes are small, members of many receive yearly stipends averaging more than $125,000 with no obligations to assist in tribal operations. California tribes reportedly raked in more than $1 billion of the national total in their 53 casinos.

So it's natural for recipients of all those fund-seeking Indian charity mailings to wonder why the casino tribes don't take care of their own. Poverty is the rule on many reservations from Arizona to the Dakotas. Just a small portion of current Indian gaming receipts could turn that around in a hurry.

But there's no sign most casino tribes are willing to help other Indians out of poverty and into solid medical care and middle class life.

Yes, some tribes do give to Native American-related causes. But many don't. And no one can force any tribe or association of tribes to reveal how much it does give."

Get the Story:
Thomas D. Elias: Casino tribes slow on Indian causes (The Marysville/Yuba City Appeal-Democrat 6/24)