Giago: Complaints about gaming are true

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2003

"The two-part series in Time magazine investigating Indian gaming set off a lot of denial and angst in Indian country. The series validates many of the things I have written since 1988 on the same issue.

It has never been a secret in Indian country that many of the tribes who are latecomers had a lot of help in gaining federal recognition. Twelve years ago I wrote about the financial assistance given to groups claiming to be Indian, whether real or imagined, by moneymen only too eager to build lucrative casinos for the new tribes once federal recognition was established.

It is also no secret that dozens of nebulous management teams appeared and signed lucrative contracts with Indian tribes to assist and to profit from their new casinos. Most tribes opted out of these contracts just as soon as they discovered that much of the profits were going to line the pockets of the management groups. Oftentimes these contracts were voided after costly legal battles.

Time magazine could have taken its investigative series much further. The writers implied that there might have been a connection between granting federal recognition to borderline tribes and the lining of pockets in the Bureau of Indian Affairs hierarchy. I believe this is an avenue that still needs to be explored. There is, after all, some sleek ex-BIAcrats sliding around Indian country. . ."

Get the Story:
Tim Giago: Please Do Not Kill The Messenger (The Lincoln Journal Star 1/4)

TIME Report:
Part 1: Wheel of Misfortune | Part 2: Playing the Political Slots

Relevant Links:
National Indian Gaming Commission - http://www.nigc.gov