Posted on 11/22/2014 9:34:30 AM PST by anymouse
Flood of big bucks and tortured history spell turmoil for California's Indian casinos When it comes to controlling California's flashy Las Vegas-style casinos, the stakes are enormous for tribes who own the gambling operations that collectively generate billions of dollars a year to sustain Native Americans up and down the state.
With this backdrop, several tribes in the past two years have fallen into nasty, sometimes violent, power struggles pitting factions and families against one another.
The most recent case, involving the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians near Yosemite National Park, climaxed in an armed raid on Oct. 9 by one faction that caused gamblers to flee, leaving their chips on the table.
The National Indian Gaming Commission, which regulates Indian casinos, and a federal judge shut down the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino, citing safety concerns. Charges have been filed against 15 men — two tribal council members, the tribal police chief and a hired security team that included a former sheriff's deputy and onetime Marine, and a former Navy Seal.
The casino remains closed — with estimated losses in the millions each week — because rivals have yet to diffuse what U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence O'Neill of Fresno called an "explosive keg" of emotions.
"It's a classic struggle over money and tribal rights and control for what everybody recognizes is a very lucrative enterprise," said Denise Runge, a gambling industry researcher at Helena College University of Montana.
Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulation Act in 1988, setting the stage for sovereign Native American governments to open full-blown casinos.
Indian casinos generated $28 billion last year from 449 casino operations in 28 states, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission. About 65 Indian casinos in California took in one-quarter of those earnings at nearly $7 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
I agree and don’t oppose them on moral grounds. Here in Michigan you have to get a native American involved if you want to open one and that’s plain wrong. Plus there’s the manipulation of government that goes on.
That said, if people want to throw their money away, that’s their decision.
I’ll give you two to one odds that the Democrats are involved in this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picayune_Rancheria_of_Chukchansi_Indians
“Disenrollment Controversy[edit]
Since the 2003 opening of the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino the Chukchansi Tribe has been one of the leading tribes known for disenrolling its own members. Disenrollment is the process by which a tribe strips members of their tribal affiliation thus denying those members the benefits associated with Federal tribal affiliation such as education benefits, land and property rights on reservations, tax benefits, medical benefits, and payments to the tribe from tribal sources of money including money from casinos owned by the tribe as well as child care and elder care.[5][6] Since 2003 hundreds of tribal members have been disenrolled allowing the remaining tribal members to receive larger portions of the income from the casino. The tribe has disenrolled people with documented ancestry, land rights granted by the Federal Government and some of the last native speakers of the Chukchansi language. By 2013 the tribal membership had gone from an estimated 1800 members to an estimated 900 members. In a now thrown-out court case in 2012, the Ramirezes family argued that only the members of their family were legitimate Chukchansi tribe members.[5][7] In February 2012 leaders who opposed the policies of disenrollment were elected to the tribal council by a majority vote. However, the incumbent council members invalidated the elections and refused to step down to the newly elected leaders. This resulted in supporters of the newly elected leaders staging protest were they occupied the “City Hall” building. The supporters of the incumbents then showed up and began throwing pepper-spray and burning logs into the building the protesters were occupying. Sheriffs deputies from Fresno and Madera Counties as well as the California Highway Patrol were called to break up the resulting riots.[5][8]
In February 2014 the Bureau of Indian Affairs stepped in and reappointed the 2010 Tribal Council in an attempt to temporarily resolve the dispute until a new Tribal Council was voted on. They decided to reappoint the 2010 leadership as that was the last year when the BIA could determine that there was an uncontested Tribal Council election.[9]”
Gambling is a vice. When you cultivate vice, you reap corruption. It’s as simple as that.
I’m very suspicious of these so called “Indian casinos” so I stay the he!! away from them.
If by Democrats, you mean elected officials, then the answer is no.
There is just a whole lot of infighting that has been going on with this group for many, many years. Me thinks that they are going to kill the golden goose before they would be willing to share that pile of money. They are so busy trying to kick each other out of the tribe that they cannot see the damage they are doing to themselves.
When you drive through the Indian casino friendly states from Oklahoma westward you will see fabulous palaces out in the middle of nowhere with hardly any cars in the parking lot. I have to wonder who is really profiting from these things. I guess as long as the tribes manages to meet their mortgage payments the banks profit but it’s hard to see how there could be much left over.
See post 4. That describes the situation to a T.
BTW if you’re ever passing by one of those Indian casinos and you’re feeling a bit peckish, just keep on going. All casinos are heavily unionized and in my experience have terrible food and surly wait staff.
***Indian casino friendly states from Oklahoma***
Parking lots at the OKLA casinos are always full.
I don't know about building codes, but they are immune from fire codes...the local paper did a series a few years ago about one that sits adjacent to the San Andreas Fault....the fire marshal who accompanied the writer said he'd shut the entire place down, if only because of incorrect escape doors and exit signage.
Emotions as an excuse for an armed raid.
What about health inspectors for the restaurants, swimming pools, etc.?
Not in Florida. The Seminole Hard Rock Casino is so full they had to build extra mult-level parking lots. Ditto the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino.
fallen into nasty, sometimes violent, power struggles pitting factions and families against one another.
Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians in an armed raid on by one faction that caused gamblers to flee, leaving their chips on the table.
Way back when. This is how the Sioux wars started against the Cheyenne....
A friendly game of cards then arrows started flying.
I dunno, but I don’t recall seeing any of those “A” (or whatever grade) ratings signs which are everywhere else off-reservation in Kalifornia.
Some things never change.
The more money lost gambling in California Indian casinos, the less money is lost gambling in Las Vegas Casinos.
Dingy Harry is in there somewhere
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