“This tribe has integrity”

The Oct. 7 Sacramento Bee profiles Jessica Tavares, United Auburn Indian Community chairwoman and CEO of Thunder Valley, one of the world's three most profitable casinos. The tribe is known for spreading the wealth – it has given more than $5 million to county groups and charities since Thunder Valley opened in 2003 – and for working cooperatively with county officials. The tribe has gone out of its way to comport with the terms of state and local land-use laws that, according to the article, “other tribes ignore in the name of sovereignty.”

According to Cheryl Schmit of Stand Up For California, a self-professed “watchdog” group concerning Indian gaming, "This tribe has integrity. Not all tribes are like this tribe -- if they were, Indian gaming would not be an issue in California."

A backhanded compliment? Um, you bet.

While her leadership and the tribe’s political and business savvy are laudable, Tavares and the United Auburn Indian Community in essence “play well with others” as a result of their situation in a highly lucrative gaming market, which affords them the luxury to share revenue and compromise limited aspects of tribal sovereignty.

Despite Schmit’s admonishment, the lesson that might be drawn from the story is a more difficult one for many less fortunate tribes in California or across the U.S. to follow.

Read the Bee story at http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/418980.html