Indian tribes change the script with Arizona resortsCommunities showcase their heritage through story-telling, art, craftsIt's tough to grow up as the perpetual bad guy. From kids' games to cowboy movies, the Indians have always been portrayed as the villains.
However, two tribes in the Phoenix/Scottsdale region have changed the script, successfully showcasing their heritage at two first-class resorts.What the Gila River Indian Community offers at Wild Horse:
Wild Horse is home to all the amenities that you would expect from an upscale destination. It boasts two golf courses (the Cattail course hosted the Nationwide Tour from 2003 to 2005), four riverside pools plus a 35-metre waterfall, a spa, tennis courts, conference centre, equestrian centre and a half dozen restaurants including Kai, a AAA Five Diamond dining room. Right around the corner from the resort is a casino run by the tribe. (The resort made headlines this winter when the New York Giants made Wild Pass their home away from home during Super Bowl week.)
What makes the place unique, though, is the Indian ownership and influence. Members of the tribe greet visitors at Wild Pass's front entrance, the public spaces and rooms are decorated with the works of dozens of Indian artists, ingredients used at the Wild Horse restaurants come from nearby fields farmed by the tribe and treatments at the spa are based on tribal remedies. At night, during the winter, a tribe member gathers visitors around a roaring fire and tells stories based on Indian history. Tribal members fill the management trainee positions.Comment: For more on the benefits of casinos, see
The Facts About Indian Gaming--Benefits.
8 comments:
There's just not enough of this at casinos, I think. Not really the fault of the tribes running them, probably. I think that the vast majority of the patrons consider this stuff to be lobby decorations (no different than at a Holiday Inn) to be pretty much ignored as they breeze through on the way to the slot machines.
As for me, I'm more likely to linger in the lobby to see this stuff than to linger among the slot machines.
Writerfella here --
But what you have to see is that Native casinoes are an economic growth industry and not initially a promotion of the Natives themselves. OF COURSE, they become a display of Native people and Native culture, but that is secondary to the actual reason the casinoes came into existence at all. What is missing is that the displays should be more modern than musea. If people want past history, let them attend the NMAI. Casinoes are what is happening NOW, and thus what the attending public should see is what is happening NOW for the people. It's business, and tribal existence cannot be a distraction to that business. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be there, but it should educate and THEN let the customers do what they came for in the first place...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Writerfella here --
POSTSCRIPTUM: per exemplum, writerfella's Kiowans purchased an old but scientifically authentic cultural attraction here in Anadarko, OK, called eponymically INDIAN CITY USA. First, it will be re-developed, renovated, and then rebuilt as an even more authentic presentation of Plains cultures. Thereafter, it will become the cultural center of the Kiowa people. The current Kiowa cultural center is a single large room in the tribal complex, the centerpiece being a decatych of paintings showing Kiowa legends and history by the modern Kiowa Five. Imagine what it would be like to see such things in spaces that they demand. THEN, there will be added a hotel, a restaurant, a large outdoor arena and, finally, a casino. At last, someone may be doing it right!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
FYI, the plural of "museum" is "museums." There's no such word as "musea."
The plural of "casino" is still "casinos," not "casinoes." Similarly, the plural of "piano" is "pianos," not "pianoes."
Writerfella here --
And the true form of the word 'blog' is 'web log." CORRECT that coinage, and THEN maybe we'll talk...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
There's nothing to correct. Unlike "casinoes" or "musea," "blog" is now a word in the dictionary:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blog
blog (blŏg)
n. A weblog.
intr.v. blogged, blog·ging, blogs
To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.
Writerfella here --
Poor Rob! His Classical education probably is limited to Classics Illustrated. 'Museum' is from the Greek word, 'Muse,' and the plural then derives from the plural for 'Muse,' or 'Musea.' Thus, any reasonably good dictionary lists both, with 'Musea' as the first pluralization and 'Museums' as the second, as it is a Westernization. In French, the word pluralized is 'Musee.' Shooting from the hip ordinarily means shooting one's self in the foot. It's even tougher when that foot is in your mouth...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Poor Russ. He pontificates about his archaic book learning because he's unwilling or unable to open an actual dictionary.
Rather than fantasizing about what you think you know, go ahead and quote "any reasonably good dictionary." Because I've already checked several online dictionaries and they confirm my claims.
Just to show you up further, I'll check a printed dictionary also. The American Heritage Dictionary, New College Edition, doesn't list any such word as "musea." Oops...you lose again.
Perhaps you were stupidly confused because the plural of the Latin word museum is musea. Unfortunately for you, we're talking about the English word, not the Latin word. English words are pluralized differently from Latin words...duh.
You're also wrong about the plural of "casino" being "casinoes." Fortunately for you, you didn't even try to defend this ignorant mistake again. Perhaps you finally checked a dictionary and realized just how wrong you were.
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