"Oftentimes when one is raised on an Indian reservation in a remote state such as South Dakota as I was there is a tendency to be a bit na�ve when it comes to what is happening in the Indian world of the East Coast. I had lunch in Washington, D. C. with one of the leaders of the Mohegans several years ago. He was the ramrod behind their drive to open a casino. When he first entered the restaurant and approached my table, I was very surprised that he was African-American.

After I visited the fabulous Foxwood Casino of the Mashantucket Pequot, I discovered that this was quite common among these two tribes. Many of their tribal members are African-American. I suppose that I was a bit surprised by this phenomenon because it is a rarity in our neck of the woods.

I was even more surprised when I attended their local pow wow and noticed that most of the dancers were dressed in the attire of the Indians of the Northern Plains. As I watched I knew they were not Indians of the Northern Plains because the women were going up and down like pistons instead of in the perfect unison of the women from the Plains."

Get the Story:
The root of all evil as the great divider (The Native American Times 9/14)

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