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Off the Reservation

Posted on January 12, 2008 by -

The U.S. Department of the Interior has been thrust into the spotlight of the gaming industry for the remainder of 2008 with its January denial of 22 total applications for off-reservation tribal casinos. The department’s process of communication, notification and application with the tribes during the past year has come under great scrutiny from the tribes themselves, and has touched off a cultural, legal and political battle sure to last throughout 2008.

“We always knew what (Secretary of the Interior) Dirk Kempthorpe’s philosophical differences were to gaming and off-reservation casinos, but this is to do with policy, not philosophy,” says Leslie Logan, spokeswoman of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in New York, whose application was denied. “To pull this out of thin air when we were at the finish line with our application has left us stunned.”

Eleven of the 22 letters to tribes informed them that their application for off-reservation gaming was incomplete, while the remaining half were notified that the Department of the Interior would not exercise its discretionary authority to take the respective properties into trust.

“I think he felt that if he would have granted one application, he would have had to grant them all,” says Logan.

Through 1934’s Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), the Secretary of the Interior has discretionary authority to take off-reservation Indian land into trust. The act was enacted to provide a tribal land base on which tribal communities can flourish.

Specifically, Part 151 of Section 151.11 details the factors the Department of the Interior is to consider when exercising its authority. Part 151 details two provisions relevant to applications that involve land that is a considerable distance from the reservation. As the distance increases between the tribe’s reservation and the land that is to be acquired increases, the secretary has to give greater scrutiny to the tribes’ justification of anticipated benefits from the acquisition and greater weight to the concerns raised by state and local governments as to the acquisition’s potential impacts on regulatory jurisdiction, real property taxes and special assessments. However Part 151 does not specifically elaborate further on how or why the department is to give greater scrutiny or greater weight to these factors as the distances increase.

“Our proposed project couldn’t get any more support than it has,” says Logan. “We have documented support from government representatives and agencies at the local, state and federal levels.”

Officials from the Department of the Interior declined interview requests from Tribal Government Gaming, and instead provided copies of the January letters sent to the 22 tribes along with the detailed Section 151 of the afore mentioned Indian Reorganization Act and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA).

Along with the 22 tribes notified, the department also declined to comment on the eight off-reservation tribal casino applications that have been left untouched without ruling during the entire process.


A Question of commutability & Communication
According to the department’s documents, distance, or communicability had to do with the denial of the 11 applications in January. The proposed distances range from 70 miles away for the United Keetoowah tribe in Oklahoma to 1,500 miles away for the Seneca-Cayuga tribe in Oklahoma. However, many distances are in the middle, including the Choctaw’s application for an off-reservation site 175 miles away in Mississippi, Lac du Flambeau’s application 304 miles away in Wisconsin and the St. Regis Mohawk tribe’s application 350 miles away in New York.

“We knew all along that Kempthorpe was opposed to off-reservation gaming, but when he was sworn in he made statements as if he were going to uphold IRA,” says Logan.

In the guidance issued to tribes in the department’s January correspondence, it clarifies how to interpret and apply the Part 151 terms “greater scrutiny” and “greater weight” when considering the taking of off-reservation land into trust status for gaming purposes. The guidance asks that specific questions be reviewed for those applications with lands that exceed a “commutable distance” from the reservation because of the impact that a distant acquisition may or may not have on life on the reservation. The guidance also emphasizes that as distance from the reservation increases, greater weight should be given to state and local concerns, including jurisdictional problems and potential conflicts of land use and the removal of the land from the tax rolls.

“The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe out of any tribe can demonstrate that we are a commuting tribe,” says Logan. “We have been commuting more than 100 years and can show a foot trail of Mohawk iron workers to Washington, D.C., Montreal, Detroit and New Hampshire.”    

Along with these cities, tribe members still also commute on a monthly basis to Philadelphia; Columbus, Ohio; Buffalo and a dozen other cities.  

“For them to say commutability and distance is a factor without even consulting with tribes and without due process makes us feel like we have been screwed,” says Logan.

At hearings in Washington, D.C. in late February, St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Chief Lorraine M. White testified before the House Natural Resources Committee’s oversight hearings on the Department of the Interior’s recently released guidance. White’s testimony was based on a series of favorable determinations over nearly 12 years.

“It is wholly apparent that the Interior is not only a vortex of contradictions, but is intent on making up rules as they go along, as it suits them,” White wrote in an open editorial letter dated March 3.

According to White’s letter, Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-West Virginia) questioned Assistant Secretary of the Interior Carl Artman’s communication with the tribes, of which he was unsure. White’s letter states that Artman testified that the Interior believed in tribal consultation, but reserved it for “special occasions” and explained there was “some communication” with tribes but was unable to specify exact consultations.

“It is a federal obligation that they did not fulfill,” says Logan. “Commutability is not a policy and they are masquerading it as a management tool and guideline.”

White’s letter states that Congressman Dale Kildee (D-Michigan) stated to Artman that “Indian tribes are not social clubs but are sovereign entities requiring more than casual communication.”

Logan says the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe attempted to initiate communications and meetings with the Department of the Interior numerous times in the past year, but that the department has been resigned to a strategy of “delay, delay and deny.”


An Environment for Economic Efficiency?
Both sides argue that the economic benefits of the tribes is its top priority. In the Department of Interior’s letter of denial to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and others, the department clearly states that the remote location of the proposed gaming facility can have significant negative effects on reservation life. The letter states that since the proposed casinos are not within a communicable distance of the reservation, residential tribal members would not be able to take advantage of the job opportunities if they want to remain on the reservation, or would be forced to move away to take advantage of the job opportunities. Neither scenario does anything, the department states, to cure the problem of high unemployment rates that plague most of the tribes.

Employment of tribal members is an important benefit of tribal economic enterprises and the department is concerned that the departure of a significant number of reservation residents and their families could have serious and far-reaching implications for the remaining tribal community and its continuity as a community.

With the majority of tribes located in isolated rural areas, Logan and other tribal representatives worry that the “blanket guidelines” issued by the department will effect numerous smaller tribes who are attempting to place land into trust for residential use, not only for off-reservation gaming.

“There has to be a way for tribes to become more economically self-sufficient,” says Logan. “Forty percent of our tribe suffer from a lack of health services and we have a serious housing crunch, too. Every year the federal grants and contracts shrink, while costs and our population continues to increase.”


Moving Forward
In many ways the January issuance of letters of denials to the tribes opened more questions than it answered about the future of off-reservation gaming. Because of pending and possible litigation, many parties involved are reluctant to publicly speak about the issue, but all involved are unsure what the future holds.

Chairman Rahall may suggest legislation into law that ensures tribal consultation during the off-reservation gaming application process, or there may be a reversal from the courts or Congress that returns the applications back to the department for additional review. Another possibility is a grandfather clause, already suggested by several members of Congress that would reanalyze the 11 tribes denied.

“Since we were the closest, furthest along and most supported, if anyone deserves to be grandfathered in, it’s the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe,” Logan says.

Currently, the most likely scenario is held with the pending and anticipated legal action against the Department of the Interior. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe has filed suite against the department for abuse of office and the failure to follow the letter of the law. Other tribes are anticipated to follow the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s lead.

“The department said they welcome any legal response and that is what we did,” says Logan. “If you put a nail in the coffin for off-reservation gaming without due process there are a lot of people who are going to be negatively affected, not just Indians.”  


The Pro-Active Approach

Posted on January 9, 2008 by -

In 2006 I received a research grant from the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming at San Diego State University to document tribal activities related to responsible gaming. Throughout the research period, I collected and analyzed a sample of the responsible gaming programs and materials offered by tribal government gaming facilities in California. I was particularly interested in the scope and effectiveness of current responsible gaming activities in California, including whether there was a coordinated approach to evaluating the effectiveness and the return on investment for these activities.

Tribal governments in California, as in other regions, are proud of their commitment to promoting responsible gaming. Tribal nations have invested heavily in a range of responsible gaming activities, including funding non-profit counseling services, supporting and promoting 24-hour toll-free help lines and committing to employee training about disordered gambling.

Required Reading
While local and state governments have encouraged-and sometimes required-tribal governments to support these activities, there is little or no research about their impacts or outcomes. This lack of documentation and evaluation has hindered public relations efforts since tribal governments and organizations are left to frame their commitments to responsible gaming in solely financial terms, leaving them open to criticism that they are not spending “enough,” regardless of the amount of their investments.

This research on responsible gaming-and the recommendations based upon its findings-is critically important and timely for a number of political reasons, including the negotiation of new and amended tribal-state gaming compacts in California, the publication of a California prevalence study, the creation of a problem gambling prevention program by the state’s Office of Problem Gambling and the tribes’ collective commitment to address responsible gaming.

As in other states such as Washington or New Mexico, where tribal-state gaming compacts specifically allocate funds to responsible gaming, the tribal governments in California are investing heavily in programs and materials about this important issue. But while the academic study of disordered gambling is still an emerging field, there are certain practices that are shown to be more effective than others. Certainly, casinos have an important role to play. Because casino employees and management are on the “front lines” of the problem, training and education of casino personnel is a critical piece of any prevention and education strategy.

There is work to be done, however, to make the kind of progress we all hope for. Currently, responsible gaming programs across tribal gaming facilities in the United States are a patchwork of strategies, principles and practices. And while tribal gaming representatives are committed to the issue and many have taken initial steps to address it, many are unsure of how to develop a comprehensive approach that will have a demonstrable impact and generate a positive economic and political return on their investment. The Indian gaming industry is also unable to fully document its commitment to responsible gaming due to a lack of good data.


Planning for Success
It is my conclusion that there is great need for a coordinated strategy of nation building and corporate governance in Indian Country, and tremendous potential for success in coordinating intertribal political and economic initiatives as they relate to responsible gaming initiatives. There also is an identifiable need for a comprehensive program and science-based, peer-reviewed resources to promote responsible gaming among tribal government employees and guests and to provide meaningful data to the public and policy makers about the Indian gaming industry’s commitment.

In fact, just such a program is now available. The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) has for the first time made its state-of-the art responsible gaming program available to tribal governments through its new Partnership for Excellence in Education and Responsible Gaming (PEER).

The NCRG is the only national organization exclusively devoted to funding academic research and education that helps increase understanding of pathological and youth gambling. It created the PEER program to give tribal governments full access to the comprehensive set of tools needed to develop and implement a world-class responsible gaming education program, no matter the size of the facility or number of employees.

If a tribal gaming facility decides to become a PEER program member, they’ll have access to an exclusive password-protected section of the NCRG website housing the online PEER Resource Guide, a virtual “one-stop shop” for addressing responsible gaming at your casino.

Yearly Reviews
All PEER education and training materials are based on peer-reviewed scientific research, and the program allows for an annual review of the tribe’s program that can be shared with regulating authorities. The annual report card also can serve as a symbol and measurement of the tribe’s commitment to responsible gaming education. These PEER materials, along with the EMERGE training program for employees, can be customized for tribal content and branding, making them an important way to educate employees about responsible gaming generally, and facility and tribal government information specifically.

For tribal governments who wish to start a new responsible gaming program, complement the one they already have, or satisfy a local or state government mandate that they create one, the PEER and EMERGE programs translate the latest research into practice. My own research revealed the need for a coordinated strategy and the NCRG research has provided the means to achieve one. For more information, I encourage interested parties to visit www.ncrg.org.

Members can view and download materials including:

  • Videos, worksheets and other learning tools for employees
  • Information on responsible gaming training programs, including special member pricing for EMERGE, the premier employee responsible gaming training program
  • Best practices resources outlining elements of successful existing programs, as well as links to examples to help tribal facilities customize their own program or add tribal-specific content
  • Brochures, signage and other materials, educating employees and patrons about responsible gaming, the odds of casino games, unattended minors and related topics
  • Materials and resources for setting up a self-exclusion program
  • Tools and best practices to train employees on preventing underage gambling/unattended minors
  • Guidance in designing and implementing a responsible alcohol service policy
  • Guidelines for advertising.

Happy Birthday, IGRA

Posted on January 8, 2008 by -

If ever a congressional enactment deserved a big birthday cake on its 20th birthday, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) would certainly qualify. While there was cautious optimism that this legislation would foster economic development in Indian country when passed in 1988, I doubt that any of the sponsors or supporters would have envisioned the vibrant healthy industry that the act has fostered. In commemorating this landmark legislation, it must be quickly noted that it was not IGRA that started the Indian gaming industry, rather, IGRA “caught up” with a burgeoning, albeit small, Indian gaming industry that was the creature of tribal ingenuity, entrepreneurship and tenacity, sometimes in the face of formidable obstacles. Again, “Indian gaming” is not a federal program; the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act merely gave some structure to economic development tools that many tribes were already utilizing and likely would have further developed in some similar form had the legislation not been adopted.

Historically, the legalization and success of gambling businesses in the United States has been cyclical. The Indian gaming industry fortuitously began its growth, fostered by IGRA, after other jurisdictions, primarily Nevada, learned difficult lessons about the risks of inadequately regulating legalized gambling. Building on those lessons, the Indian gaming industry, and the approach which was taken to its regulation, got a running start.

All effective gaming regulatory structures first focus on making suitability determinations for those who participate in gaming’s operations; secondly, they write and enforce rules to assure the fairness of the play by the gamblers and the operators of the gaming facility; and thirdly they intensely follow and document the flow of revenues to assure that the proceeds remaining after payment of the prizes flow to the intended beneficiaries. In the case of Indian gaming, IGRA not only mandates that these three principals be followed by tribal operations, but that tribal governments place such requirements in their tribal gaming ordinances that govern gaming in Indian country.

IGRA rightfully placed primary responsibility for the regulation of tribal gaming on the tribes themselves. The tribes have responded magnificently to that challenge. Today, tribal gaming commissions or tribal gaming regulatory authorities are among the most sophisticated regulators anywhere in the gambling industry. Congress created the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) to validate the regulation primarily tasked to the tribes, giving NIGC a general oversight role, and specific oversight role with respect to class II or bingo and similar games. States roles are to be determined by the compacts tribes would negotiate with them for the regulation of casino gaming. While there have been instances of concern in the 20 years that IGRA has been applicable, the vast majority of tribal gaming has been problem free and has proved to be the economic development tool Congress intended in IGRA.

One of the more specific changes which IGRA brought about 20 years ago was to remove the absolute prohibition of “gambling devices in Indian Country,” which had been imposed with the enactment of the “Johnson Act,” passed by Congress in 1951. Court victories which tribes won over states that attempted to apply state criminal limits and regulations to tribal gaming, such as the landmark Cabazon decision in 1987, established tribal rights to regulate their gaming on their lands.

Slot machines and electronic facsimiles of games of chance-far and away the largest revenue generators in modern gaming facilities-were not permissible until IGRA’s enactment. Such gaming, of course, even under IGRA, is only permissible if tribes enter into negotiated Class III compacts with their states for that activity. Those compacts increasingly bring the requirement of sharing gaming revenues with states in exchange for some degree of exclusivity to conduct casino gaming. Today several states look to tribal gaming revenue sharing as a major source of funding. A continuing challenge to the Indian gaming industry is to clearly identify the dividing line between computers and electronic and technologic aids which tribes may utilize to play bingo and such “Class II” games, from that equipment which remains impermissible under the Johnson Act without a tribal-state compact.

Not withstanding the presence of some ongoing challenges, the success of the economic development IGRA has helped bring to Indian nations, Indian people, and the communities where they are located, cannot be questioned. Like so many other industries, gaming flourishes best in densely populated metropolitan areas, and of course many tribes are in remote and rural areas, where huge revenues cannot be generated from gaming. However, even many of those tribes bring needed employment to their reservations with their bingo halls and small casinos. With gaming revenues, tribes have been able to meet the needs of children, education, elders, health care and many other areas, which otherwise would go unmet.

For decades, many tribal nations were practically invisible in their states and communities. With the economic success gaming brought, they have finally been recognized and respected as they had not been previously. Throughout Indian Country, tribal members walk with a new spring in their step, and a new sparkle in their eye, due in no small part to the fruits and success of Indian gaming, built on the framework which IGRA’s passage 20 years ago established.

Happy birthday, IGRA, and many happy returns!

Dogged Determination

Posted on January 8, 2008 by -

For many Americans-especially those who know little about Native American history-it is difficult to understand the depth of poverty that existed throughout Indian Country and continues to persist in some areas today. On most reservations, plumbing and electricity were unattainable luxuries. Tribal governments struggled to provide basic services such as education, health care, fire and police services. Unemployment rates on reservations routinely topped 80 percent.

One of the most significant turning points for tribal governments took place just two decades ago when two California tribes fought for their sovereign right to create economic opportunity on the reservation. In 1987, the United States Supreme Court ruled in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians and Morongo Band, that Indian tribes have “sovereignty over their members and their territory,” and that states have no right to interfere with tribal self-government. The high-stakes bingo operations run by these two tribes were protected aspects of tribal sovereignty because in the words of the court they “are generating value on the reservations through activities in which they have a substantial interest and they dedicate bingo revenues to promoting the health, education, and general welfare of the tribal members.”

The decision in Cabazon represents a significant milestone for Indian Country and is critical to the achievements we are seeing today. It offered tribal governments hope and an opportunity to lift up their economies after two centuries of government policies that sought to terminate tribal governments. This decision lit the fuse for a brand new wave of economic development for Indian nations.

Unfortunately, following the Supreme Court’s decision, California and other states turned to Congress in order to limit the reach of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Barely a year later, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988. While the law has become synonymous with solidifying and protecting tribes’ future in gaming, make no mistake about it; IGRA is a diminishment of tribal sovereignty. Tribes were forced to surrender hard-fought gains in self-government through the collective will of Congress and the states.

The passage of IGRA also did not mark the end of disputes or controversy between states and tribes. In fact, challenges continually occur on both state and federal levels. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled against the Seminole Tribe of Florida and invalidated IGRA’s mandate that states must negotiate gaming compacts in good faith.

Recently, the Fifth Circuit Court in Texas ruled against the Kickapoo Tribe and U.S. Department of Interior over Class III compacting rights. Due to the Seminole decision, the state of Texas has been able to stall compact negotiations with the Kickapoos and other Texas tribes.

The Kickapoo Tribe sought to invoke the Interior’s alternative compacting procedures and offer gaming as an economic opportunity for its tribal members. However, the Court found the Interior’s alternative compacting regulations invalid, leaving the Kickapoo Tribe without an adequate remedy to challenge the state of Texas’ reluctance to enter into good faith compact negotiations.

The National Indian Gaming Association and its member tribes stand united in their support for all tribes that have been wronged for years as a result of the Seminole decision. The Kickapoo Tribe and tribes in other states trying to negotiate compacts, are deprived of a right that they have retained since long before the United States became a country: the right to engage in economic development as a sovereign government.

However, one thing is for certain: since the Cabazon ruling, states that have gaming compacts with tribes have benefitted greatly.

According to NIGA’s 2007 preliminary Economic Impact Report, tribal gaming is not only continuing to succeed, it has contributed to the economic health of states, counties and local municipalities.

Nationwide last year, 223 Indian tribes in 28 states used Indian gaming revenues to create new jobs, fund essential government services and rebuild communities. This is just a snapshot of what tribal governments generated in 2007:

  • $26 billion in gross revenue from Indian gaming (before wages, operating expenses, cost of goods and services, capital costs, etc. are paid)
  • 700,000 jobs nationwide for American Indians and our neighbors (direct and indirect jobs created by Indian gaming’s economic multiplier effect)
  • $8.9 billion in federal taxes and revenue savings (including employer and employee social security taxes, income taxes, excise taxes, and savings on unemployment and welfare payments)
  • $2.5 billion in state taxes, revenue sharing, and regulatory payments (including state income, sales and excise taxes, regulatory payments and revenue sharing pursuant to tribal-state compacts)
  • More than $100 million in payments to local governments


In a similar study released recently, researchers at the University of California Riverside released a report that Indian gaming in California significantly reduces poverty and improves employment, incomes and educational attainment in communities near the casinos, particularly in the poorest regions of the state.

The report, “Lands of Opportunity: Social and Economic Effects of Tribal Gaming on Localities,” was presented in the September issue of Policy Matters. Authors of the report found that gaming operations have beneficial effects on the tribes, on communities near gaming reservations and on California generally.

Because tribal casinos are generally located in poorer regions of the state, economic activity resulting from tribal government gaming tends to concentrate employment and other benefits in counties that need economic development the most, the study said.

In California, tribes opened at least 25 casinos in the early 1990s, not long after Congress passed the IGRA. Today, 57 tribes operate casinos in the state. Analysis of U.S. Census data reveals the benefits have been significant. According to the University of California Riverside study:

  • California’s gaming tribes experienced a 55 percent increase in average income per capita between 1990 and 2000, compared to a 15 percent increase on non-gaming reservations. The average income per capita on California’s gaming reservations was $12,526 in 2000, only 53 percent of the average income for all Americans, the researchers found.
  • The number of families living in poverty on the state’s gaming reservations dropped from 36 percent in 1990 to 26 percent in 2000, the researchers found. Even so, poverty rates were more than twice as high as the state and national averages.


This study, like others, demonstrates that Indian gaming has improved both social and economic results on tribal lands and their surrounding areas. Each and every day, tribes across this country create more jobs and fuel the economies of the states and the nation while building new schools, health clinics, housing, police and fire protection, as well as the many infrastructure needs of their communities.

As we acknowledge the 20th anniversary of the Cabazon decision, we are reminded that the decision merely upheld tribes’ inherent sovereign right to govern their internal affairs. This is a right that our ancestors fought and died for and that commitment is embodied in the constitution and our treaties. Our tribal citizens, elders and ancestors would expect nothing less than for the current generation to hold the federal government to their word.

As Indian Country moves forward, we are determined to continue building upon the positive economic gains we have made since Cabazon while continuing to defend our sovereignty and right to tribal self-government. We hope to make good on these promises so that our future generations have the same opportunities to improve the lives of not just our tribal citizens, but of all citizens living in this great country.

Turning Twenty

Posted on January 8, 2008 by -

When I was growing up in and around New York City in the 1950s, Indians were a big part of my life. After all, Westerns were the great subject in movies and in the early days of television. So the images of American Indians as the bad guys were shoved down my throat at every turn.

But somehow, the Indians in these programs were much more intriguing than the cowboys. They were invariably brave (if a little too bloodthirsty), and they were almost always honorable (if a little too vicious). They were magic on the screen (even if they were mostly played by white actors).

But mostly, they were something that one encountered in real life only on the great Western plains, not on the East Coast.

In New York City, the only time the Indians were mentioned was when they were receiving $24 in trinkets from Peter Minuet in what could only be described as one of the greatest swindles in history (and now, of course, recognized as a total fabrication).

As I was maturing during the ’60s, I took a great interest in U.S. history and grew to understand that the images presented on the TV and movie screens were just a figment of some writer’s (most likely a white one) imagination.

When I first began to meet actual Native Americans in the late 1960s, I was shocked that their lifestyle had not changed much at all from the days they were forced onto reservations in the 1800s. And when some radical factions of the Native American movement took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the early ’70s, I covered that event as a young student-journalist and felt a kinship with the occupiers.

So since my life evolved into a journalist covering gaming more than 25 years ago, I have always been moved by the success that Indian gaming has brought to some of the nation’s poorest and most destitute tribes. I have repeatedly said over the past 20 years that Indian gaming is the best story ever to come out of the casino industry.

While some have criticized gaming as a product and a service with no positive result, all I have to do is to point to Indian gaming as proof that gaming can make a hugely important difference in the lives of ordinary (and extraordinary) people.

In this issue of Tribal Government Gaming, we opted to look at the impact of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 20 years after its passage in 1988. While all previous issues of Tribal Government Gaming have presented the good news about Indian gaming and the impact it has had on tribes and the surrounding communities, this issue takes a look at the controversial IGRA and its ramifications in Indian Country; for it has shaped the Indian gaming industry in ways good and bad.

NIGC Chairman Phil Hogen takes the position that Indian gaming, as defined by the IGRA, represents a great victory.

On the other side of the coin, NIGA’s Ernie Stevens proclaims the California vs. Cabazon decision to be the high-water point of Indian gaming and says the IGRA watered down that victory.

And take the furious Class II debate. While the National Indian Gaming Commission has sought to provide a “bright line” between Class II and Class III gaming machines for years-in order to provide the Department of Justice some clarity about how to identify the two versions of the machines-every proclamation that the NIGC has reached the “eureka” moment has been challenged by both tribes and manufacturers as potential economic disaster for Indian Country.

Judy Shapiro describes the latest machinations that have occurred during the past year, beginning on page 24.

Kate Spilde-Contreras focuses on the important issue of responsible gaming in Indian Country. Native Americans have always had a compassion for people, both on the reservations and off, so Kate’s important work in this area should be understood, starting on page 8.

David Schwartz, who is quickly becoming the leading researcher in the gaming industry, gives us a historical perspective of the IGRA and Indian gaming pioneers on page 16.

And finally, we examine some of the ways Indian gaming has impacted its communities, tribes and the commercial gaming industry, with three stories on economic diversification, technological advances in gaming equipment that began in Indian Country and possible changes to the IGRA being contemplated by Congress.

We hope you enjoy this fifth annual edition of Tribal Government Gaming. As always, it is dedicated to the men and women of Indian gaming and their commitment to providing a better future for all of us.