"Indian Mafias"?!?

In a piece titled "Native American Corruption," syndicated columnist David Mittell blames the "virus" of Indian gaming for what he sees as the Cherokee Nation's illegitimate and money-driven decision to expel black Cherokee descendents from its membership rolls. In so doing, Mittell's criticism goes far beyond the complex issues raised by the Cherokee vote, and charges an entire industry -- and some 300 tribes -- as corrupt.

He writes, "Indian-only gaming really amounts to a perfect Mafia for government and casino companies to manipulate and be manipulated by. Each corrupts the other and all are corrupted by the enormous amounts of cash gambling brings in. Indian Mafias can 'rub out' their own, thereby increasing their profits, their control and their reliability to corruptible politicians. It is Havana or Las Vegas, 1955, with a new dress."

In our first book, Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise, we discuss five anti-Indian gaming themes that are pervasive in public discourse on tribal gaming. Mittell's rhetoric feeds two themes we critique in our book: Tribal governments can't be trusted, and tribal sovereignty is simply an unfair advantage. (Mittell also states that in passing IGRA, "Congress gave up all pretense of equality under the law, and propped up tribal sovereignty for purposes of casino gambling.")

As we state in The Casino Compromise, such statements are ill-informed, strident, and one-sided, yet unfortunately they tend to set the tone of public conversation. Perhaps Mr. Mittell should read our book before he writes anything else on Indian gaming....

Read Mittell's column here.