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I can only speak from my observation of the tribes local to me. In the 80s and early 90s the reservation was very poor on average (entire area is/was rural so

by Ccecil 5y ago

I can only speak from my observation of the tribes local to me. In the 80s and early 90s the reservation was very poor on average (entire area is/was rural so it wasn't just on the res but it was significantly worse there). If you have ever watched the movie "Smoke signals" it has scenes shot which depict life on the local reservation (Coeur d'Alene tribe). Since the mid 90s or so things changed very rapidly for the tribe. The people are healthier, the infrastructure is better and the population seems to be growing and overall happier (again...observations). What changed? Casinos. Our local tribe went from being very poor with seemingly little voice in local politics to "very important" to the local community. They have not only improved their own lives but also invest heavily in improving the region and have a focus on things like the lake and natural preservation. Again...from my general observations...

brendoelfrendo 5y ago
Economically, casinos are a mixed bag for tribes. The ones that have been successful are super successful, but many other tribes operating casinos find themselves spending money on gaming that doesn’t pay off. It makes a certain intuitive sense; a lot of reservation land was, unfortunately, poor land in the middle of nowhere. Building a casino in the middle of nowhere won’t do you any good, so the tribes that profit are the ones with proximity to major population centers (see: Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in CT; Winstar and Chocktaw in OK). It ends up coming down to luck and location more than anything else.
boomboomsubban 5y ago
I also can only speak to the tribes near me, but casinos only help if the reservation is near people. The poorest US counties are mostly either places with a prison or a reservation, the lowest median household income is Buffalo County in South Dakota with a casino of it's own.
clsec 5y ago
A couple of very large settlements [1], one being $452M, can go a long way to helping a poor community. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeur_d%27Alene_people#Environmental_suit,_land_claim_and_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeur_d%27Alene_people#Environ...
- Ccecil 5y ago
  Without the casino opening in 1993 would they have been able to afford to gain traction on that suit? The whole lake should be a superfund site...but that would have ruined tourism. The Silver valley has been well known and from what I know is the only area really being actively "cleaned". Cd'a, Spokane, Kalispel and Chewelah all opened tribal casinos and a few of them did fairly well. As others have stated...proximity to a fairly large metropolitan area helps bring in traffic. Not to mention the area is on/near the junction of 2 major highways (I-90 and US95), airport, tourism...etc.
  - boomboomsubban 5y ago
    >I-90 Fun fact, the poorest county's casino I mentioned in my other post is 20 miles off of I-90 as well. Interstates are funny like that.
    - Ccecil 5y ago
      Yeah...Spokane/Cd'A area isn't a small region. Even though it borders rural. I was told once it was the largest metropolitan area on I90 between Seattle and Minneapolis. There is a lot of nothing out there.

by Ccecil 5y ago

brendoelfrendo 5y ago

Economically, casinos are a mixed bag for tribes. The ones that have been successful are super successful, but many other tribes operating casinos find themselves spending money on gaming that doesn’t pay off. It makes a certain intuitive sense; a lot of reservation land was, unfortunately, poor land in the middle of nowhere. Building a casino in the middle of nowhere won’t do you any good, so the tribes that profit are the ones with proximity to major population centers (see: Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in CT; Winstar and Chocktaw in OK). It ends up coming down to luck and location more than anything else.

boomboomsubban 5y ago

I also can only speak to the tribes near me, but casinos only help if the reservation is near people. The poorest US counties are mostly either places with a prison or a reservation, the lowest median household income is Buffalo County in South Dakota with a casino of it's own.

clsec 5y ago

A couple of very large settlements [1], one being $452M, can go a long way to helping a poor community. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeur_d%27Alene_people#Environmental_suit,_land_claim_and_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeur_d%27Alene_people#Environ...

Ccecil 5y ago
Without the casino opening in 1993 would they have been able to afford to gain traction on that suit? The whole lake should be a superfund site...but that would have ruined tourism. The Silver valley has been well known and from what I know is the only area really being actively "cleaned". Cd'a, Spokane, Kalispel and Chewelah all opened tribal casinos and a few of them did fairly well. As others have stated...proximity to a fairly large metropolitan area helps bring in traffic. Not to mention the area is on/near the junction of 2 major highways (I-90 and US95), airport, tourism...etc.
- boomboomsubban 5y ago
  >I-90 Fun fact, the poorest county's casino I mentioned in my other post is 20 miles off of I-90 as well. Interstates are funny like that.
  - Ccecil 5y ago
    Yeah...Spokane/Cd'A area isn't a small region. Even though it borders rural. I was told once it was the largest metropolitan area on I90 between Seattle and Minneapolis. There is a lot of nothing out there.