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Two Anthropology Forums: Indian Gaming

Winners or Losers?

While the number of casinos on Indian tribal lands is growing, political science professor Robert Morin said tribal sovereignty throughout the state and nation is shrinking.

At the August 31 anthropology forum, "Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: Are Indian Tribes Winners or Losers?" Morin detailed the history of tribal freedom and the introduction of gaming on tribal lands, and presented what he believes to be the solution to the tribes' diminishing quasi-self-government.

"Are they winners or losers?" Morin asked. "It's open to debate. Indian affairs at present are in the purview of the government, while gaming is a state policy. So you have the federal government on one side and the state on the other. This has placed Indians in a rather precarious situation."

Allowing the state government to control Indian gaming contradicts the Constitution, which places Indian affairs in the hands of the federal government. But with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, Congress granted state governments the legal power to regulate Indian gaming activities occurring on tribal lands. Morin said this infringes on the quasi-sovereign tribes, which are only partially self-governed since they were conquered as a nation. Now when a tribe decides to build a casino, they must first request permission from the state, even if gambling is already legal. The tribe must then answer to both the state and the federal government. Morin said that this dynamic is why the states are the winners and the tribes are the losers.

As a solution to their shrinking independence, Morin believes the tribes should be allowed to operate the establishments like any other business -- provided gambling is legal within that state -- without asking permission from the state.

Adding that he uses the term "Indians" because it is the same language congress uses, Morin said his opinions focus on the self-determination of the tribes, not the success of the gaming as a whole. "For a lot of tribes it has been successful," he said. "It has helped build schools and health clinics and create jobs."

Morin became interested in tribal issues during an Indian affairs class during law school at Gonzaga University. Indian gaming and policy became his topic of choice for conference papers and articles.

"I like researching the relationships of governments and how they interact with each other," he said. "This is an excellent area because the Indians assume a special place within the government, as with gaming and the state."

Roseann Langlois