Indian Gaming > Opinion: State leaders show 'hysteria' on gaming

May 25, 2005

Opinion: State leaders show 'hysteria' on gaming

'[Minnesota] Gov. Tim Pawlenty and others such as Rep. Michael Beard, R-Shakopee, insist on redistribution of wealth among Indian people. They say the state government must take from the haves and give to the have-nots. The same officials would never support redistribution of wealth among non-Indians. They would call this communism.

They support overturning hundreds of years of cultural history and federal policy by plopping a casino owned by an Ojibwe nation into traditional Dakota territory near a historic Mdewakanton village site. They suggest the Mdewakanton need to get over it. Forget the history. They say times have changed. However, they would never ask us to forget the Declaration of Independence. They would never ask us to forget the Nazi Holocaust. But it is OK to insist that the Mdewakanton forget the theft of their land, the massacre of their people and the destruction of their way of life."

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Editorial: On gambling, dishonesty reigns (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 5/25)
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