Don Marks: First Nations unfairly pushed to share casino revenue

It's easy for those of us who don't own that wealth to say it should be used to help impoverished First Nations, but we don't see anybody telling the billionaires in Beverley Hills to help unemployed coal miners in Appalachia. So why should the owners of the mega-huge Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut be forced to build a community centre on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota? First Nations people see this as just another infringement on their sovereignty.

And so, as the South Beach Casino became successful here in Manitoba, there was pressure for the profits to be distributed to First Nations throughout the province, despite the fact the casino was only developed because the nine members of the South East Tribal Council (SETC) put up whatever they had to develop their idea, and were forced into a less-than-ideal management deal with an American company to finance that development because local Canadian banks and the Manitoba government would not provide the bridge financing they needed. Nothing in their deal requires them to distribute a portion of revenues to First Nations in northern Manitoba, but the provincial government put incredible pressure on South Beach to do that.

South Beach is to be commended for establishing a charitable foundation that supports First Nations projects as well as groups such as the Spirit of Giving, CNIB, the Kidney Foundation and Winnipeg Harvest. Perhaps they would have sent some South Beach profits north on their own, but they certainly did not need the attitudes that forced them to give up their riches in the past imposed on them again because of a stereotype. It is all part of mainstream society's belief they can tell Indians what to do instead of recognizing their sovereignty. Heck, "rich Indians" who can run successful casinos can't be "real Indians" anyhow. They are too much like other Canadians.

The myth that is perpetuated is that rich First Nations people do not display enough traditional Indian values and customs to be considered authentic. Money destroys cultural authenticity, so their rights must be taken away.