First Nations casinos in Saskatchewan are putting Natives to work and distributing profits in communities across Canada.

The first casinos went up 1996. They now turn a profit of $40 million, a part of which is shared with First Nations without gaming.

With two more casinos on the way, profits could rise to $65 million a year. But the biggest benefits come to people like Melanie Trach, who grew up poor on the reserve but now sees a brighter future for herself and her family. At the four casinos, 80 percent of employees are Native.

"It's called empowerment. We feel that, we see it, people working in the casinos with their heads up, wearing nice white shirts and ties," Chief Lawrence Joseph of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations told The Edmonton Journal.

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A jackpot of jobs, self-respect (The Edmonton Journal 4/1)