The Truth about Native American Casinos

Have you ever wondered about Native American casinos? Like, does every Tribe own a casino? Do they all make money? Well, double-down and bet on Tai clearing the air on all the misconceptions around American Indian Gaming.

[NatalieCarter-tn]

Indigenous woman here and I can tell you the number 1 reason that so many people on the rez are poor is because of corruption within the native governments on the reservations
Drive around and see the disparity between those in native government ( big houses, fancy vehicles) and then see all the others

[sirrivet]

Also having one succesful casino cannot magically lift a community out of poverty.

[chehalem]

For my own tribe, the casino provides local jobs in the remote area where we were relocated. Part of our deal with the state is it designates a very significant portion of its revenue to economic, educational, and community development not just for the tribe, but for the entire region.

[artosbear]

Lots of those casinos are owned by financiers or banks etc and only some of the profits go to the people

[cattlecooker]

Pfft up here in Canada we get 5.00$ a year. Majority of us want to go to university or trade school but get denied funding almost 80% of the time. I wish the chief and council weren’t so corrupt up here.

[westrim]

Also, money is how the government halfheartedly fulfills its treaty obligations for all the land that was... appropriated.

[justinblachek]

Surprisingly I have never once heard that complaint because the Native Americans around here don't have a casino

[fnbqeft]

The revenue also goes back to the tribal government not the people. And just as with any government, there is corruption.

[buckysbored]

In Oregon our tribes have worked closely together to make sure that their casinos are spread out so they can maximize their revenue (especially since tribal casinos are the ONLY casinos in Oregon). The closest casinos I know of are Spirit Mountain and Chinook Wilds which are like 25 miles away from each other and are on opposite sides of the coastal mountains

[aegisofhonor]

that money they get from the government is NOT an entitlement, it's essentially a loan the government took out against the land they took from Native Americans that the US Government must pay back in perpetuity for taking Indian land.

[alexlilano]

I know a few people with gambling addictions. A good friend of mine for sure. Im not a big fan of casinos. It ruins lives. Most of the money the casinos make are off addicts which is disgusting to me.

[stuck_in_sky]

I would LOVE to learn more about the traditional games. So fascinating

[crylec]

A reinvestment and government effort into poverty stricken communities across the nation would do well in helping improve people’s lives. From inner cities, rural small towns, and reservations.

[mocatdow]

As a resident nevadan i know damn well that casino revenue is NOT a reliable source of income. Gambling as a whole is dying since they cant replace their customers with younger ones.
Also complaining about the government giving bare minimum assistance to the group of people theyve historically displaced and murdered is really fucked up lmao

[oinkerbob]

This video points to a very common misconception I remember hearing when I was growing up. Rural Appalachia has a non-negligible Cherokee population, and people in my hometown always assumed that all indigenous people were rolling in money from casinos because of Harris.

[ConLustig]

There’s so much oversight but also years of state and federal governments messing around, trying to either shut down or heavily tax certain casinos and they even ceased recognizing (this is what I remember from a lecture on modern native people in history) a tribe down south because they wanted to also open a casino but they argued they weren’t a real tribe since most of the members were mixed (especially part black)

[WillowGardener]

"If some Native Americans have a source of income, why do other Native Americans also need a source of income?" Such an intellectually lazy take, thanks for clearing this up! It was also really interesting to learn about traditional gambling games. I'd never thought about that before! But of course! So many cultures have gambling games, why wouldn't Indigenous cultures have them too? I really appreciate you helping to dismantle the myth that Native Americans are a monolith.

[haydenk]

Im mainly Slavic but my grandmother is Native American and I’d love to figure out more about her family history but I don’t really know where to start

[christianeaster]

The Eastern Cherokee have had a casino in North Carolina for years. But while they have improved public buildings and presumably services, the average person’s home doesn't look that much better than before it was built.

[JoseGonzalez-vjcx]

The Seminoles have a really nice casino. Every tribal member gets a check from the casino every month. They're doing pretty ok