NACO: Gaming helping tribes reach out to other governments

Wednesday, June 22, 2011  

'The Queen of Hearts turned out to be a lucky card for the Snohomish County, Wash. Sheriff’s Office when it recently led to an arrest in a 1979 homicide case. Someone recognized a picture of Susan Schwarz, the victim, on a “cold case” playing card — decks of which are distributed to jails and prisons in the state — and tipped off police to a suspect.

But rather than thanking luck, Det. Jim Scharf is expressing gratitude to the people who — twice — purchased 5,000 decks of the cards for his office: The Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians. Unable to afford the $6,850 cards, the Sheriff’s Office asked the Stillaguamish for help four years ago, and again last year.

“We’re very grateful to them that they were willing to team up with us on this project, and it’s paid off enormously,” Scharf said. “We wouldn’t have done this if we couldn’t have gotten funding from an outside source.”

Shawn Yanity, chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribal Council, said, “What we see there as a value is bringing closure to somebody’s life. And as a government, helping out another government make a difference, solve one of these cases.”

After hundreds of years on the receiving end of government help, some Native American tribes across the country are flexing their economic muscles as donors of government largesse, not recipients.

Joseph Kalt co-directs the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. He said many tribes that are flourishing economically can credit gaming revenues from casinos, and most are located near major metropolitan areas — Seattle, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Los Angeles, San Diego and Minneapolis, among others."

Get the Story:
Role-reversal: Indian tribes help other governments (National Association of Counties / County News 6/20)