"Nine years ago, 64 percent of the California electorate voted to give American Indians a monopoly on casino-style gambling. It was an effort to help lift California Indians out of poverty – all 32,000 enrolled tribal members. The public was assured by state officials that tribal gaming would occur only on established reservations.

The promise of permitting gambling only on Indian lands has been kept. However, the public was not made privy to, and lawmakers did not consider, the complex federal laws restoring Indian groups from a half-century or more ago permitting the creation of Indian lands for gaming.

The Wilton Miwok of Sacramento County is California's latest restored tribe. Not surprisingly, restored tribes are often sponsored by out-of-state or off-the-continent gaming investors. Restored tribes are an exception for gaming that circumvents the intended two-part determination process that empowers a state to manage the location and growth of gambling.

California has more restored tribes and more applications for new lands for gaming than any other state. Controversial casino projects based on claims of restored tribes and lands include Guidiville and Scotts Valley in Contra Costa County, the North Fork in Madera County, the Mechoopda in Butte County, Ione and Buena Vista in Amador County, and the Graton and Cloverdale in Sonoma County – all in or near urban areas.

Gaming investors are exploiting Californians' concern for our state's American Indians. Newly restored tribes and federal laws allowing exceptions for restored lands have created a political vacuum where there is ambiguity and confusion. The profiteers have created or manipulated newly developed Indian tribes to promote gaming in areas that would never have supported gaming expansion."

Get the Story:
Cheryl Schmit: Slick casino maneuvers must be opposed (The Sacramento Bee 6/26)