The Navajo Nation has created more than 1,300 jobs at its casinos, with 80 percent of the positions held by tribal members:
In the not too distant past people driving Interstate 40 through northern Arizona may have noticed the two giant red arrows that appear to be shot into the ground, and not much else. Travelers now whizzing by Twin Arrows can’t miss the giant, lit-up sign inviting them into the Navajo Nation’s newest casino. On that side of the highway the arrows point toward the sky. That’s the direction Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise CEO Derrick Watchman said the casinos can take the tribe’s economy. “Last year across the country Indian gaming had roughly $27 billion in revenue creating thousands and thousands and thousands of jobs,” Watchman said. About half of the Navajo Nation is unemployed. Many people live without electricity and indoor plumbing isolated on dirt roads. So stepping out of the outhouses and tumbleweeds and into the glittering new casino resort, you can’t help but notice a disparity. The Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise is trying to do something about that. It has created more than 1,300 jobs of various pay scales at four casinos. Eighty percent of those employees are Navajo.Get the Story:
Navajo Casinos Stimulate Economy — At A Cost (Fronteras 11/21)
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