Native American Gambling Gambling

Over four decades ago, a couple living on reservation land filed an otherwise insignificant tax dispute over the status of their mobile home. Little did they know that this case would spark the beginning of a multi-billion dollar industry built on slot machines and card games. Gambling thrives on many Native American reservations. The impact of gambling reaches beyond reservation borders, providing jobs to the general public as well as income to Native American tribes. The early history of gambling on Native American reservations starts with a mobile home in 1972. Helen and Russell Bryan, a Native American couple living on a Minnesota reservation: Leech Lake, filed a dispute on a property tax they received from Itasca county. After speaking
This money, shared among the 224 tribes who participate in gaming, averages out to roughly six million dollars per year. Splitting the same 27 billion dollars among every Native American sees every Native American receiving 260 dollars per year. Of course, this money often funds public projects intended for Native Americans, such as the Suquamish Tribe’s fitness center. Revenue generated by casinos does not only benefit tribes. Taxation of casino revenue by states also generates a significant amount of revenue. Louisiana, for instance, earns a minimum of 60 million dollars per year from gambling taxes on land-based casinos
In the US, around two million people suffer from pathological gambling, but as many as six million suffer from problem gambling. A statistic published by the Gazette using data from 1999 shows that pathological gamblers made up two million, or 0.8 percent, of the US population, while problem gamblers made up six million, or 2 percent, of the US population. A lack of growth in the number of problem gamblers shows that despite large-scale casino development, gambling addiction is holding steady in numbers.
The future development of casinos benefits government, tribes, and the general public. While problem gambling continues to affect millions in America, casino development has little effect on the growth of problem gambling. However, casino development cannot help every tribe. Many tribes live in remote or otherwise uninhabited spaces, making casino development a fruitless endeavor. Gambling can, in some cases help bridge the gap, but in general the Native American population still faces hardships. Gambling, in conjunction with assistance from the government, may bring Native Americans away from