Wampum

May 1, 2016
That casino on the nearby reservation? Think of it as revenge for Christopher Columbus, as some wags have put it--but also a sophisticated operation that makes use of every legal loophole available. Indian casino gambling began, to give it a charitable spin, as a means of encouraging economic development on reservations. In that, writes federal Indian law expert Mitchell (Sold American: The Story of Alaska Natives and Their Land 1867-1959, 2003, etc.), it works on the principle of "inherent tribal sovereignty," which allows Indian nations some measure of self-governance and autonomy. In practice, that means that while the local convenience store has to layer on tax after tax on the cigarettes it sells, the drive-up reservation shack does not, which is why lines stretch down the street to buy tax-free cigarettes on Indian land. It's a complex story, and it gets all the more so when the big players move in. Among them are some shady figures such as a fellow who managed to hold onto a consulting business even while serving prison time. Furthermore, even with that record, he managed to work his way into a position developing bingo parlors for California tribes, parlors that became gateways for slots, blackjack tables, and all the other things that have popped up on reservations even in states where gambling is otherwise illegal. When the Mafia goes to war with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it's a pretty easy guess as to who will win--at least the first rounds, anyway. Other players figure in Mitchell's tangled but highly readable tale, including none other than Donald Trump, who correctly perceived Indian "gaming"--the slightly denatured term for gambling--to be a competitor against his own casinos and tried to have one owned by the Pequot Tribe shut down on the grounds that the Pequot were "fake Indians." Guess who won that round? Indian casinos are likely to be around for a long time to come, and Mitchell's expose goes a long way toward explaining the whys and hows.

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May 15, 2016

In 1979, the Seminole Tribe of Florida opened a bingo parlor on tribal land. An immediate success, it earned impressive profits for the Seminole and their business partners (some of whom had ties to organized crime). That small casino, and the legal loopholes it used to open its doors, helped pave the way for a nationwide rush to bring gambling to Indian reservations, becoming a multibillion dollar industry in just a few decades. Here Mitchell (Take My Land Take My Life) details the key events that enabled Native American tribes to open gambling facilities across the United States. It is a complicated affair, involving many different people and groups, and multiple challenges to state and federal laws. While the coverage of legal issues is excellent, this account only occasionally addresses the effects of gaming on Native American communities. VERDICT Mitchell's deep look at the evolution of U.S. laws that led to modern gaming on Native lands is recommended primarily for readers interested in legal history or the ongoing political struggles for tribal self-governance.--Nicholas Graham, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

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