THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280034
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
American Indians have long been portrayed as helpless victims of history, exploited by racism, imperialism and just about every other malady ascribed to the United States in intellectual circles. The Indians have indeed been treated shabbily for most of American history, but they are no longer helpless. Many Indian tribes have been turning around the poverty and degradation of their reservations through venture capitalism and selling low-tax goods.
Tribes such as the Mashantucket Pequots of Connecticut have become rich enough to donate $10 million to the Smithsonian to help the nation's museum build the National Museum of the American Indian. The cash contribution, by the way, was the largest single such donation in the museum's history. Such financial muscle would have been unheard of for Indian tribes just a few years ago.
The Connecticut Pequots achieved their fortune by capitalizing on a 1987 Supreme Court ruling that recognized the right of Indian tribes, as sovereign nations, to build gambling casinos. Their casino, based near the city of Ledyard, now rings up revenues of nearly $1 million a day. Around 100 other tribes have also built casinos, and most have profited handsomely.
Other reservations are making money by selling alcohol, tobacco and other consumer goods at prices well below that of their tax-laden competitors off the reservation. In New York and other high-tax states, authorities have sought to stem the flow of consumers onto reservations, fearing loss of revenue. Of course, it is hardly the fault of the Indians that governors like Mario Cuomo have decided to raise their tax rates to uncompetitive levels.
The growth of casinos on non-Indian lands will likely bring tribal profits down somewhat, but with the lessons learned from starting up casinos, and the benefits of their low-tax status, the tribes can invest in other enterprises and begin controlling their own destiny. Perhaps then they will find a way out of the dead end of the federal reservation. by CNB