Indian Gaming > Professor: Gaming motivates tribal recognition

July 20, 2004

Professor: Gaming motivates tribal recognition

Tribes seeking federal recognition are doing so only because they want to open a casino, a University of Nevada professor said during an online chat yesterday.

William N. Thompson, a professor and gambling researcher at the University of Nevada/Las Vegas, took questions about gaming issues. One person asked: "Is there a relationship between the granting of federal recognition to tribes and the arrival of slots and other forms of gambling?"

Thompson's reply was: "Absolutely. There is no group in America seeking recognition as a Native American entity that is not doing so for the precise reason that they want gambling operations. Period."

Thompson went on to say that the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act increased interest in being a Native American. "Since then, every issue involving Native Americans of any consequence has been tied to gambling," he says. "It's a fact of life."

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Outlook: Slots of Trouble? (The Washington Post 7/19)
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William N. Thompson: Bad Bet (The Washington Post 7/17)
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