November 01, 2006

More on casinos and culture

PBS film to explore Cherokee vitality in the 21st century“There’s been criticism of Indians and casinos. I think when Congress passed the law to allow this they just never in their wildest dreams envisioned what has happened with Indian gaming,” Joyce Dugan, the only woman elected principal chief and now a casino executive, says in the film. “Whether anyone likes gambling, whether they despise it, whether they agree with it or not, because of it we’re finally seeing a sense of independence that we have not seen in over two hundred years.”

Casino profits have swelled the tribal budget to $150 million dollars and made the community more self-sustaining. But it’s also raised some very contentious issues. To answer this, Howe delves into the complicated arena of tribal politics, where issues of absentee voting, blood quantum, and what it really means to be a Cherokee are being hashed out.

2 comments:

Rob said...

Hmm. Sounds like the reporter should've watched the special rather than taken someone's word for it. The article implied that the show would cover gaming's impact in some depth.

I don't know much about Geiogamah, other than a vague sense of his credits. But he's called himself Hanay ever since I first heard of him. If his birth name is Henry, he hasn't used it for at least a decade or two.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Bates, what does "Hanay" mean in Kiowa? Altayhdi