A Big Casino for a Tiny Tribe
Consisting of just 11 adults and 17 children, the tiny La Posta band of Kumeyaay Indians opened its casino, which features 349 slot machines, in January. Read the San Diego Union Tribune's coverage of the tribe's history and near extinction.
Is this the norm? Absolutely not -- most gaming tribes have much larger memberships. But it does provide an intriguing example of the exception.
posted by Kathryn & Steve at
2:51 PM
1 Comments:
Don't forget, La Posta is located in the furthest southwest corners of San Diego County and less than two miles from the LARGER Golden Acorn Casino.
Here's another EXCEPTION that's far more ludicrous:
The Big Lagoon Rancheria, a small tribe of 18-24 members (all part of the Moorehead family) could end up with a Las Vegas like casino resort hotel and spa in Barstow including 2,500 slots and poker tables. etc.
And they would be granted a competition-free zone ensuring that no casino could be built within a 5,044 square miled of Barstow.
That Big Lagoon tribe already gets $1.1 million a year free and clear from the gaming tribes .... that's roughly $55,000 per member, tax free. The average household of four in CA does about $46,000 per year and then has to pay taxes.
The Family units within the Moorehead clan are sure doing substantially better than most hardworking Californians.
That small Big Lagoon tribe is trying to block another Tribe from out near Lake Havasu in the Mohave Desert east of Barstow from returning to Barstow and setting up a casino there for it's 1,000 member tribe. A third of that tribe's reservation residents live below the federally defined poverty level and they have a medical clinic there three days a week ... at night and on the other four days they must drive more than an hour to the nearest medical facility and that includes emergencies ...
And further, the larger tribe has not had a kid from the reservation graduate from high school in more than a decade. The high school students must take a two hour bus ride to get to school, without air conditioning. It's no wonder the kids drop out ... four hours a day on a non air conditioned bus in the Mohave Desert?
Meanwhile the Moorehead clan will be living on their pristine Humboldt County Reservation surrounded by ThE Redwoods on the edge of the Big Lagoon ... and within earshot of the crashing waves from the Pacific Ocean ... and counting the millions they make as absentee casino owners.
That's not RIGHT!
But since the Big Lagoon Rancheria went ahead and started to build a casino on their 20-acre ocean front property illegally and now threaten to disturb the "environment" they could be rewarded with this large casino 750 miles from their reservation.
Big Lagoon Tribe would be doing FAR better than most Californians if they were to build a small casino like La Posta and then continued to collect the $1.1 million per year from the bigger casinos.
GREEDY. SELFISH. UNCARING. That's what Virgil Moorehead calls Pechanga, San Manuel, Agua Caliente, etc. Sound like a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Mr. Moorehead should be grateful for what he's been given including the ability for him and his family to live along California's pristine coastline.
This is a classic case of having your cake and wanting to eat it too.
By
Verifiable, at Friday, February 23, 2007 2:26:00 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home