May 22, 2008

"Think tribal ancestors wanted casino?"

Tribal casino is product of governmental sovereigntyTo directly answer your cynical question, Ms. Cassady, no, our ancestors would never have imaged a casino as reparations for the millions of acres of land that was stolen from us. That is why the word “casino” is not found in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, the Treaty of Chicago (1821), or the Treaty of St. Joseph (1827); all of which were signed by our Chief, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish.

Those treaties did preserve our inherent sovereignty. Under federal and international law, sovereign governments have the right to make laws, collect taxes, protect the rights and welfare of their citizenry and maintain a system of government on their own lands.

Just as the voters of the State of Michigan implemented a public lottery in 1972 to help fund governmental services, our tribal members voted for a casino to fund our governmental services.
Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Facts About Indian Gaming.

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