Indian gaming industry works to dispel myths

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Aug. 22, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Myth 1: All American Indians walk around with money falling out of their pockets.

Myth 2: The Indian gaming industry needs more regulation because it is chaotic and those running the show are corrupt.

CASS LAKE -- Those are the two biggest myths spread about the Indian gaming industry, according to Jacob Coin, the executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association.

People may be surprised to learn what the Indian gaming is like, he says.

In fact, Indian gaming is only a segment (11 to 12 percent) of the much larger gaming industry that includes state lotteries and Nevada-style casinos. About 195 of a federally recognized 558 tribes participate in gaming of some kind, he said.

About 168 of those tribes belong to Coin's group, a trade association that lobbies Congress and state organizations that are sometimes at odds with Indian gaming. It is supported by the member tribes.

Coin, who took over as director of NIGA in 1998, toured Wednesday the two major casinos operated by the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe -- the Palace Bingo and Casino here in Cass Lake and the Northern Lights Casino in Walker. After his visit he said the gaming operations at Leech Lake resemble those of hundreds of tribes nationwide.

Coin says there are 311 Indian gaming facilities nationwide, which generate about $8.1 billion dollars annually.

That does not mean, however, that all Indians are filthy rich, Coin said. On the contrary, most tribes aren't and use gaming to stem unemployment rates that sometimes reach 70 to 80 percent.

"Most facilities are marginally profitable. If they can net $1 million a year to help tribes, that's a big success," Coin said during an interview at the Leech Lake Reservation tribal office. "Leech Lake is typical; gaming gives them money to supplement to their budgets."

Coin said examples such as the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux in the Twin Cities metro area are not the norm. That tribe is well known for its large gaming income which is distributed annually by per capita payments to band members.

Of the nearly 200 tribes practicing some form of gaming, Coin says only about 50 tribes make per capita payments. And those tribes own the big casinos, such as the top 5 percent of the highest grossing facilities that earn 40 percent of Indian gaming income. "You're not going to find them in Leech Lake," he said.

Most casinos are built to provide jobs with livable wages and some benefits, he said, and most are not that profitable.

The second myth concerning regulation, or the lack thereof in some people's eyes, is just as widely believed, he said. NIGA resources are used to educate people to the fact that Indian casinos are more stringently regulated than even state lottery operations.

Not only does each tribe have security personnel overseeing their operations, but in some form, each tribe is answerable to state and federal authorities, including the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior.

"The security is as good as any state regulation," Coin said. "I don't see anybody personally getting rich off of Indian gaming. There are too many checks and balances."

NIGA's role

Coin says as executive director of NIGA, it is his job to educate people about the truths of Indian gaming.

NIGA was first organized in 1985, but it wasn't officially recognized as the trade association it is now until 1993.

The organization pursues its goals, according to Coin, by interacting with Congress, state associations or even the Department of Interior, under which the Bureau of Indian Affairs resides.

"We're actually the direct contact on behalf of Indians with these organizations," he said.

Leech Lake Public Relations Director Judy Hanks says it behooves reservations like hers to belong to NIGA because it lobbies on their behalf and also provides the tribes with legislative updates.

"Our doors are open and we want to keep dialogue going with all the associations related with gaming," Hanks said Wednesday. "It seems like everybody's looking at (Indian) gaming and has an opinion not based on fact. That's why we have this membership."