INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
GAMING/GAMBLING DISTINCTION AND NATIVE AMERICANS
CALIFORNIA SPECIFICS
COMPETITION AND CONCLUSIONS
"APPROXIMATE" CASINO SPACE IN SQUARE FEET AT VARIOUS FACILITIES AND LOCATIONS
SOME SELECTED REFERENCES AVAILABLE
SOME SELECTED VISUALS

INTRODUCTION

"The Russians have a proverb: He lies like an eyewitness. Few eyewitnesses see it all, fewer still understand all the implications. And their reports are always personal. Yet what they see is essential. History begins with people caught in the moment-by-moment rush of events. The correspondent on the scene shares the jolt of joy or horror in watching the world change in an instant. Personal bias becomes part of the story, and often makes the account more vivid [stress added]." David Colbert [Editor], 1997, Eyewitness to America: 500 Years of America in the Words of Those Who Saw It Happen (NY: Pantheon Books), page xxvii.

The United States of America has a lengthy history of interest in gaming (called "gambling" or "entertainment" to some) and "gaming" generates a tremendous amount of revenue, has great visibility, and is creating some interesting partnerships. Four events contributed to today's domestic gambling: (#1) State lotteries, beginning in New Hampshire in 1964; (#2) Holiday Inn entering gaming in 1978; (#3) the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) by the United States Congress in 1988; (#4) and human nature. A great deal is going on right now in this area (and my own research interests have shifted), but I still follow some aspects of this volatile area:

"In 1996 Congress created the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) and directed it to conduct a thorough study of the attitudes, events, and trends shaping the social and economic mpacts of legal gambling in America. It quickly became apparent to the Commission that very little objective research existed on the current state of gambling in our nation. The Commission decided to commit nearly half of its $5 million budget to a research agenda that would help policymakers and the public better understand the dramatic growth of the gambling industry over the last two decades [stress added]." http://www.casino-gambling-reports.com/GamblingStudy/Recommendations/index.htm

It will be interesting to "bet" on the future of legalized "events of chance" in this country and anyone who denies the impact of Native American "gaming" on the states of Nevada and California need merely read the following:

"A new legislative reports says the state's budget deficit [in Nevada] could reach $333 million next year, much worse than the $280 million estimated. Lawmakers were told that Gov. Guinn, who has already slashed millions from the budget and is preparing to cut an additional $38 million, will have to trim up to $58 million more or find revenue to make up the difference [stress added]." Anon., September 11, 2002, USA Today, page 11A.

And in keeping in mind the "connections" (or alliances) being made between various interests groups, consider the following:

"Casino operator MGM Mirage has agreed to help a California Indian tribe develop a casino in Palm Springs. The company will serve as a consultant to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who already own a resort and casino in the area. The agreement marks the casino giant's first forray into Indian gambling." Anon., September 13, 2002, USA Today, page 14A.

BACKGROUND

"The truth about California Indians isn't pleasant. Driven from the land that sustained them, decimated by unfamiliar diseases, they were hunted to near-extinction during the Gold Rush. Once estimated at 300,000, only 15,000 remained by the 1900 census. Almost 95 percent of the original population had vanished." Anon., July 7, 2002, Native California still determined to set historical record straight [stress added]." The Chico Enterprise-Record, page 1D.

I am certainly not a "Native American" expert but am aware of certain facts:

"Today, most thoughtful people would think that the idea of American history without American Indians was an absurdity. Yet for generations historians of the United States wrote the nation's story as if Indians did not exist, or at best historians marginalized native people as bit players in the great national drama. In U.S. history textbooks Indians emerged only in time to be swept aside by westering white Americans. In the 1960s, the civil rights movement and the growth of political activism among people of color, ethnic groups, and women resulted in a challenge to exclusively Anglocentric history [stress added]." Albert L. Hurtado and Peter Iverson, 2001, Major Problems In American Indian History (Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.), page 1.

"Had we been able to visit the coast of California between 5000 and 400 years ago we would have seen a remarkable sight. We could have wandered into large, permanent villages, some perhaps consisting of a thousand or more people. There we would have found a ruling elite, a working class, ritual specialists and skilled craftsmen and women, as well as extensive evidence of trade. While this kind of society may seem familiar, the thing that made the Californias special was that nowhere around these towns would you have seen fields or pasture. All of this social complexity was generated in the absence of agriculture [stress added]." Tim Flannery, 2001, The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America And Its People (NY: Atlantic Monthly Press), pages 239-240.

"...the bloody years of Yana history: 1850-1872. It was in the early 'sixties that the whole white population of the Sacramento Valley was in an uproar of rage and fear over the murder of five white children by hill Indians--probably Yahi. But the soberly estimated numbers of kidnappings of Indian children by whites in California to be sold as slaves or kept as cheap help was, between the years 1852 and 1867, from three to four thousand; every Indian woman, girl, and girl-child was potentially and in thousands of cases actually subject to repeated rape, to kidnapping, and to prostitution. Prostitution was unknown to aboriginal California, as were the venereal diseases which accounted for from forty to as high as eighty per cent of Indian deaths during the first twenty years following the gold rush [stress added]." Theodora Kroeber, 1961, Ishi In Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America (Berkeley: UC Press), page 46.

GAMING/GAMBLING DISTINCTION AND NATIVE AMERICANS

"This game was both a sport and a sacrificial ritual. It was played throughout Mesoamerica, using a large rubber ball that could be hit by the elbows, knees, or hips, but could not be touched by the hands or feet. The game required the players to wear heavy protective equipment, and much paraphernalia was developed during the Classic period. It was often played in masonry courts, and rings or other markers were used for scoring." Esther Pasztory, 1983, Aztec Art (NY: Harry N. Abrahams), page 41.

Before Europeans came to the Americas it is quite clear that Native Americans partook of "games of chance." Patolli has been documented, with "competitors throw[ing] a form of dice in order to move beans around a cross-shaped board" (Jonathan Norton Leonard et al., 1967, Ancient America; NY: Time-Life, page 159) and 125 miles west of Cancún, at Chitchén Itzá, one can see the largest "ball court" in all of Mesoamerica, measuring some 272 feet in length (Joyce Kelly, 1993, An Archaeological Guide To Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, Norman: University of Oklahoma, page 55). Incidentally, it has been written of the Mesoamerican game mentioned above that "losers in a sacred game often forfeited their lives" (Philip Kopper, 1986, The Smithsonian Book Of North American Indians Before The Coming Of The Europeans , Washington, D.C., page 55) and that the Aztec deity Macuilxóchitl was the "god of games and feasting" (Esther Pasztory, 1983, Aztec Art , NY: Harry N. Abrahams, page 62) or the "god of music, dance, and pleasure" (Paul Westheim, 1965, The Art Of Ancient Mexico [first published in Spanish, translated from the original German by Mariana Frenk as Arte Antiguo de Mexico in 1950], NY: Doubleday & Co., page 96) or the "god of gambling, dance, and music." Jonathan Norton Leonard et al., 1967, Ancient America, NY: Time-Life, page 159).

There has been a lengthy history gaming (called "gambling" or "entertainment" to some) in the Americas and Native Americans are becoming very big "players" in contemporary 21st century activities!

"The boom in tribal gambling began in the mid-1970s, when tribes in Florida, Wisconsin, Connecticut, and California operated relatively modest, low-stakes bingo halls on their reservations. Encouraged by the Reagan administration, which hoped gambling would reduced tribal dependence on Washington, these tribes had expanded their gambling enterprises significantly by the end of the decade [stress added]. Robert Goodman, 1995, The Luck Business: The Devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America's Gambling Explosion (NY: Free Press), page 111.

Tribal gambling accelerated in the 1980s. Prior to 1988, federally recognized Native American tribes and individual States had the authority to enter into various agreements concerning taxes as well as tribal social services. It was the United States Supreme Court decision in California versus Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (begun in 1986 and eventually decided in favor of the Cabazon in 1987) that resulted in the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. It has been pointed out that "the primary issue in Cabazon was whether the State of California had authority to enforce its gambling laws within the reservation occupied by the Cabazon Indians" (N. McKay, 1991/92, "The Meaning of Good Faith In The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act." Gonzaga Law Review, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 471-486, page 472) and the resulting court decision on the Cabazon "allowed unregulated gambling to flourish on Indian reservations [stress added]." Joseph J. Weissmann, 1993, "Upping The Ante: Allowing Indian Tribes To Sue States In Federal Court Under The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act." The George Washington Law Review, Vol. 62, No. 1, pages 123-161, page 124.

Needless to say, not everyone was excited about "gambling" in the 1990s as USA Today stated in an editorial on August 19, 1991: "Cool the growing fever for casino gambling."

"The USAs gambling fever is rising. This week, Illinois paddle-wheelers with casino games will begin competing with five Iowa boats that began rolling on the Mississippi in April. Last week, the Lac Court Oreilles Chippewas reached an agreement with Wisconsin officials that would allow the tribe to build a $5 million casino. The state was forced to negotiate by a 1988 federal law and later court decisions that upheld Native American rights to run gaming operations allowed by the state for other purposes, such as charity. ... since opening a casino in April, Chippewas on the Mille lacs Reservation have seen joblessness drop from 45% to nearly zero. That's why the Pequot Indians plan to build a $50 million casino in Connecticut; why the Seminoles this week said they'd petition Florida for casino gambling there.... [stress added]." Anon., August 19, 1991, USA Today, page 8A.

In 1996 the United States Supreme Court ruled (Seminole versus Florida) against a portion of IGRA and, as one commentator has written, "since 1996....there rarely has been a compact negotiation that did not involve revenue sharing [between a tribe and the state in which it was located in] [stress added]." Matt Connor, 2002, A Taxing Situation." International Gaming & Wagering Business, Vol. 23, No. 3, pages 1, 34-35, page 1. The money involved in this leisure industry is tremendous and it has changed perceptions of Native American issues:

"What do the Indian nations of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and several other states have now that they did not have 15 years ago? The answer is political clout. ... According to Bill Eadington, a specialist in gambling economics at the University of Nevada-Reno, by the end of the decade the Indian casinos in California will be raking in $5.1 billion to $10.3 billion a year in gambling revenues. He said about half of this will be profits. The $5.1 billion figure is still higher than the income generated by the entire Las Vegas strip casinos [stress added]." Tim Giago, July 30, 2000, Jury Still Out On Indian Gaming's Impact. The San Francisco Chronicle, page 5.  

"A flock of politicians gathered in a corner of Southern California's outback Monday [June 24, 2002] to pay homage to an indian tribe as it opened California's newest gambling casino. The presence of politicans such as Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson and Senate republican leader Jim Brulte at the opening of the Pechanga Resort and Casino testified to the immense political clout that California's gambling tribes enjoy. In scarcely more than a decade, tribal leaders have moved from complete political impotence to total hegemony. And they won that power the old-fashioned way--by buying it. Tribes have spent upwards of $150 million on 'political action' over the last decade, including tens of millions to pass two ballot measures. ... The new casinos are not always popular with their non-Indian neighbors--as a current flap in the scenic Capay Valley northwest of Sacramento attests--but the compacts [Governor] Davis signed give the non-Indian communities virtually no say over what the tribes do, even though the projects may have heavy environmental and social impact [stress added]." Dan Walters, June 28, 2002, Tribes wield immense political power--and are seeking more. The Sacramento Bee, page A3.

In 1998, Proposition 5 was passed by California voters and consider the following:

"...Nevada's gambling industry...is expected to sustain significant losses if Indian casinos were allowed to expand. One recent estimate shows northern Nevada losing 15 percent of its casino business to California tribes if a ballot initiative passes in November. ... A recent report by Bear Stearns analysts predicted casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin would lost $260 million to $300 million--a hit of about 7 percent--in the first years that wide-open Indian gambling his California. Casinos in the Reno-Lake Tahoe area would fare even worse, losing 15 percent of their business--$110 million to $130 million--to California Indian casinos [stress added]." (Reno Gazette-Journal August 18, 1998, page A1 and 6A).

The state of Connecticut is the location of the largest casino in the world: Foxwoods Resort and Casino. When it opened on February 15, 1992 Foxwoods employed 2,300 people; in January 1999, Foxwoods employed 11,000 people. "Since Foxwoods Resort and Casino opened in February 1992, the business has poured many hundreds of millions of dollars into the regional and state economies. The [Mashantucket] Tribe contributes 25 percent of all slot machine revenues directly to the state. That money, which the state redistributes to all of Connecticut's municipal governments, totaled $824,793,482 from 1992 through December 31, 1998 [stress added]." Pequot Times, February 1999, page 3. Consider the following:

"Foxwoods had another strong month in February [2002], reporting $65.2 million net slot win to the state of Connecticut, and generating a $16.3 million contribution to the state treasury. In terms of slot machine busness, it was the busiest February since the casino began offering slot machines to its customers in January 1993, 11 months after it first opened [stress added]." Pequot Times, April 2002.

In August 2002, the Pequot Times reported the following:

"Foxwoods Resort Casino reported a record June [2002] slot revenue of $66.1 million, an increase of $1.6 million over the $64.4 million reported in the same month in 2001, which itself was a record amount. The Mashantucket Tribal Nation, Foxwoods' owners, reported sending $15.4 million t the state, raising the total to $1,490 million given Connecticut since Foxwoods began offering slots to its customers in January 1993. 'It is a tribute to our dedicated team Members and the superior product we offer that we continued to have this level of business activity, especially in an increasingly competititve marketplace,' said bill Sherlock, Foxwoods president and CEO [stress added]." Anon., 2002, Best June in Connecticut casino's history; Foxwoods reports $66.1 million. Pequot Times, August 2002, page11.

In October 2002, the Pequot Times reported the following:

"Foxwoods reported an August [2002] slot revenue of $73.3-million, the second best in the casino's history, exceeded only by the record $76.8 million reported in August 2001. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal nation, Foxwoods' owners, reported sending $18.3 million to the state, raising the total to $1.526 billion given Connecticut since Foxwoods began offering slots to its customers in January 1973. ... During the month of August [2002] an average of 6,629 slot machines were in play at Foxwoods compared to the previous August, when there were 6,480 slot machines [stress added]. Anon., 2002, Foxwoods' August slot win - $73.3M. Pequot Times, October 2002, page11.

The "competitive marketplace" comes not only from Atlantic City, New Jersey, but from another Native American casino in the area: The Mohegan Sun Casino which opened in 1992, in Uncasville, Connecticut. Success soon followed and the Mohegan Sun expanded and, after Foxwoods, is now the second largest casino in the western hemisphere:

"Mohegan Sun semiofficially opened its new 34-story hotel recently and became the second largest casino in the world." Bob Delisle, 2002, New England News. Card Player, June 7, 2002, Vol. 15, No. 12, pages 65-66, page 65; and "...the 315,000-square-foot Mohegan Sun Casino complex is the second largest in the nation behind nearby Foxwoods.... [stress added]." Kitty Bean Yancey, June 24, 2002, Many stars orbit Mohegan Sun. USA Today, page 2D. 

"It's Saturday night in Uncasville, Connecticut, a little town in the middle of nowhere. Common wisdom holds that the place should be dead. And it is. Until you proceed down a new four-lane road, buffered by dense forest and illuminated by a long parade of headlights. At the end of the road resides a natural, flowing river, beautifully landscaped foliage, and a hard-angled building that shimmers like an enormous multifaceted diamond. You've arrived at Mohegan Sun, a casino that serves as a three-dimensional exemplar of everything that gambling wants to be in the twenty-first century: sleek, efficient, alluring and immensely profitable. ... What's truly shocking, however, is that the most successful casino in the world, Foxwoods Resort and Casino, is only 15 minutes away. A spokesman for the Sun--which has just completed a $1 billion expansion to become the largest casino in North America [?] and, it's been said, the world--attributes the casino's success to blessed proximity and only one nearby competitor: 'There are 22 million people within an hour-and-ahalf drive of us.... Together, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods take in $2 billion annually in total gross revenues. And while that might be a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated $100 billion that gambling in America generated during 2000, it's a pretty good sum of mostly tax-free cash--especially when you consider that prior to 1983, the Mashantucket Pequots, who own Foxwoods, wheren't even recognized as a tribe. In a broader sense, the figures speak volumes about what many Americans like to do with their free time and extra income: gamble. Even in the wake of 9/11, Vegas slowed down for a little more than a hiccup before regaining its footing and climbing back [stress added]." Michael Kaplam, 2002, Gambling in America. Cigar Aficionado, September/October 2002, pages 60-81, page 62.

Indeed, concerning the "Las Vegas hiccup" please consider the following from October 30, 2002:

"The nagging travel slump that has most of the U.S. tourism industry facing a recovery crapshoot has positioned Las Vegas as a high-stakes winner--with packed hotels, rebounding room rates and profits for the city's leading casino giants. Vegas has emerged as a strong bet in an uncertain economic climate largely because more leisure travelers and convention-goers are driving to Sin City rather than flying to places such as San Francisco and New York since last year's Sept. 11 attacks. Gaming and tourism statistics show that ... And Steve Wynn, the casino mogul who led the city's transformation of the past two decades with the creation of theme-oriented resorts such as Treasure Island, Mirage and Bellagio, is preparing for a comeback after selling his Mirage resorts Corp. to MGM Grand Inc. two years ago. Last week, he took his company, Wynn Resorts Inc., public and raised at least $400 million to finance plans to build a $2.4 billion, 2,700-room casino and resort called Le Reve on the Strip [stress added]." Bonnie harris, 2002, Las Vegas a good tourism bet. The Sacramento Bee, October 30, 2002.

By-the-way, while Las Vegas appears to be doing well, there do appear to be some "problems" in Connecticut. In 2001, USA Today reported the following:

"The tribe that owns and operates the Mohegan Sun Casino can't stop legitimate descendants of other branches of the tribe from calling themselves Mohegans, the state Supreme Court ruled. Justices rejected a suit by the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, which owns the casino, against the Mohegan Tribe and Nation Inc. The Casino-owning Mohegans claimed that the use of the tribe's name by another faction was an infringement under federal trademark law and represented unfair competition [stress added]." Anon., 2001, USA Today, February 14, 2001, page 6A.

To place the impact of the dollar amounts in Connecticut into some perspective, please consider the following:

"By our estimation, the two [Connecticut] casinos generated nearly $1.5 billion dollars in revenue for 1997. By way of comparison, that is roughly 38% of what the twelve Atlantic City [New Jersey] posted in casino revenues in 1997" [stress added]." Sebastian Sinclair, 1998, "Go-Go Times Roll On For Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun." Indian Gaming Business: A Quarterly Supplement to international Gaming & Wagering Business, May, pages 8-9, page 8.

This is why, when Proposition 5 was being discussed in California, the following was frightening to many individuals:

"Imagine a California with 40 or more Foxwood-sized gaming facilities, many lining the thoroughfares leading from Southern California to the Nevada border, each aggressively wooing the millions of customers from the population centers of Anaheim and San Diego to the gambling meccas of Las Vegas, Reno, Stateline, and Laughlin. That's the doomsday prediction of some gaming observers watching the action in California.... [stress added]." Matt Connor, 1998, "Nevada's Bad California Dream" in International Gaming & Wagering Business, July 1998, page 1, pages 26-31, page 1 and 26.

And, incidentally, not everyone in Connecticut is delighted with with the idea of the potential of casino expansion in that state! On October 25, 2002, The New York Times reported the following:

"With support from state and municipal officials, regional business groups, church leaders and residents, a coalition of casino opponents announced today that they had formed a statewide nonprofit group to fight the expansion of casino gambline. ... its primary goal was to prevent the construction of a third casino in the state. ... The impetus for the anti-casino coalition quickly formed this summer, after a third Connecticut tribe, the Eastern Pequots of North Stonington, won federal recognition in June. Recognition allows tribes to build casinos in states where gambling is legal. Several other tribes, in Bridgeport, Kent and other parts of western Connecticut, also have petitions for recognition pending before the Bureau of Indian Affairs [stress added]." Paul Zielbauer, 2002, Connecticut Group Is Formed To Oppose Casino Expansion. The New York Times, October 25, 2002, page A31. 

For a fascinating account of the development of Foxwoods, please see Jeff Benedict, 2000, Without Reservation: The Making of America's Most powerful Indian Tribe and Foxwoods, the World's Largest Casino (NY: HarperCollins) and another valuable book is Kim Eisler, 2001, Revenge of the Pequots: How a Small Native American Tribe Created The World's most Profitable Casino. In reviewing the book for The Wall Street Journal, Allan Demaree pointed out the following concerning the financing to construct Foxwoods:

"Twenty-four Northeastern institutions refused to lend money to Foxwoods, convinced a casino in staid Yankee country would flop. No such doubts deterred billionaire Lim Goh Tong, who owned casinos in Malaysia and Australia and was salivating to crack the U.S. He ponied up $60 million in return for interest plus 9.99% of the total profit until 2018--a deal that would make any loan shark proud [stress added]." Allan T. Demaree, 2001, Betting on a Casino, and Winning Big. The Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2001, page 20.

CALIFORNIA SPECIFICS

In 1998, Proposition 5 had both advocates and adversaries and some $50 million to $60 million was spent to sway voters one way or the other (Jon Ralston "Nevada Politics" in the Reno Gazette-Journal, July 20, 1998, page 1B). Proposition 5 passed and this is just some of what has happened to date:

"The Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians will break ground on their new $150 million hotel and casino in the foothills of the Sierra nevada on Tuesday [October 29, 2002], the tribe's leader said. The tribe plans to open the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino on June 24, Chairwoman Dixie jackson said. Tribal members must complete the 296,00-square-foot-building on its nearly 49-acre site near Highway 41 within one year or risk losing a state license for its planned 1,600 slot machines. The tribe will also build a fire station and provide funding to Madera County officials to hire five sheriff's deputies to help monitor the casino and the 200-room hotel's bar-entertainment lounge, three restaurants and 1,000-seat special events room. Anthropologists estimate ancestors of the Chukchansi have occupied the area from the Fresno to Kern rivers dating back at least to the year 800 B.C. [stress added]. Anon., 2002, Tribe to break ground for hotel, casino. The San Francisco Chronicle, October 29, 2002, page A21.

"July 27, 2001--Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:HET) snnounced the official groundbreaking ceremonies for construction of a permanent casino and luxury resort hotel on the Rincon Band of San Luiseno Mission Indians Reservation in Southern California are scheduled for July 31. The $125 million facility, located approximately 25 miles from San Diego, will feature 45,000 square feet of gaming space, more than 1,500 slot machines, about 30 table games, 200 luxury rooms and suites, and six restaurants. The project, to be managed by a wholly owned subsidiary of Harrah's Operating Co. Inc. for the Rincon Band, is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2002. [stress added]." http://www.americancasinoguide.com/News/7-20-01-Rincon.shtml

"The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians has come a long way since 1995, when it first welcomed gamblers to a casino made of tents and vinyl-sides trailers. That humble facilty has been transformed into a deluxe $262 million resort and casino that opens its doors today [June 24, 2002]. ... the facility will be the largest Indian casino in the Western United States [stress added]. Daisy Nguyen, June 24, 2002, Tribe bets future on new casino. The San Francisco Chronicle, page B1 + B2, page B1.

"Corning, Tehama County -- The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians is looking to hire more than 400 people in preparation of the planned June opening of the Rolling Hills Casino. The tribe will host job fairs in Red Bluff and Corning in April. ... While the exterior of the 70,000-square-foot casino is nearly complete, landscaping and interior works still needs to be finished. The casino will feature 650 slot machines, 12 gaming table,s a steakhouse, a buffet, a bakery/deli and a bar. The facility's parking lot will have enough space for 771 vehicles and a waterfall-like display will greet casino-goers as they approach the front door [stress added]." Anon., January 30, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle, page A17.

"Resort developers have joined an American Indian tribal group to announce plans to develop a casino-hotel on a site that Yuba County officials had hoped would be a racetrack. ... [The developers] announced plans for an approximately $90 million casino resort to be built in partnership with a 500-member Oroville [Butte County] tribal group known as the Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe. ... Tribal representatives said the casino-hotel project would create as many as 2,000 jobs and infuse the local economy with millions of dollars [stress added]." Associated Press, July 5, 2002, Tribal casino plan backed by developers. The San Francisco Chronicle, page A21.

"The future of a proposed Indian casino in West Sacramento remained uncertain Thursday [July 11, 2002] following a City Council decision to leave an advisory measure on the project off the Nov. 5 ballot. ... But the leader of a Lake County tribe that wants to build a $100 million casino-hotel off Reed Avenue and Interstate 80 was optimistic about the project's future [stress added]." Steve Gibson, June 12, 2002, W. Sac puts casino bid on hold. The Sacramento Bee, page B3. 

"It's just an 11-letter word, but it can confound state and local governments, turn the once-poor and downtrodden into the rich and powerful, and pit neighbor against neighbor. The word is "sovereignty" -- the right of a group to govern itself. And it's at the root of a fight in the rustic recess of Yolo County known as the Capay Valley. The Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians wants to triple the size of its thriving Cache Creek Indian Casino and turn it into a thriving resort. Other valley residents, and almost every governmental agency in the county, don't much care for the idea [stress added]." August 18, 2002, Steve Weigand & Pamela Martineau, http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/story/4031521p-5056992c.html

"Yolo County's dispute with with indians who want to expand Cache Creek casino perfectly illustrates how an incompetent or, perhaps, compromised [Governor] Gray Davis administration betrayed local governments and their citizens when it negotiated tribal state gambling compacts. ... The 113,000-square-foot Cache Creek Casino in the isolated Capay valley has already made the 44 members of the Rumsey Band of indians very rich. Now the tribe wants more. It proposes to triple the size of the casino, add a 300-room, six story hotel and build a parking garage for 4,500 cars. After expansion, the number of gambling patrons would grow from 5,000 a day to 8,000, served by 2,100 employees [stress added]." Editorial, June 30, 2002, Cache Creek cashes in: A way of life threatened by Indian casino. The Sacramento Bee, page E4.  

"Members of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously condemned a plan to nearly triple the size of the Cache Creek Indian gaming casino in rural Capay valley, saying the environmental evaluation of the project is 'inadequate.' ... Indian leaders hope to expand the casino from about 100,000 square feet to more than 300,000 square feet [stress added]." Pamela Martineau, June 26, 2002, Yolo assails plan by casino. The Sacramento Bee, pages B1 + B4.

"Members of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors said Tuesday [July 9, 2002] they will launch a legal and political campaign to stop the expansion of the Cache Creek Indian casino in rural Capay Valley if tribal leaders do not propose stronger environmental protections for the project [stress added]." Pamela Martineau, July 10, 2002, Yolo talks tough on casino plan. The Sacramento Bee, page B1 + B4.

Recently, a headline in The Sacramento Bee pointed out that "Accord reached on Yolo casino expansion" as follows:

"After months of negotiations, the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians and Yolo County officials struck a tentative agreement Wednesday that reduces the size of a proposed expansion of the Cache Creek indian Gaming Casino. The deal also requires the tribe to pay Yolo County more than $80 million over the next 18 years to mitigate traffic, air quality and other problems. ... The deal would reduce the proposed enlargement from 200,000 square feet to 150,000.... [stress added]. Pamela Martineua, October 3, 2002, Accord reached on Yolo casino expansion. The Sacramento Bee, Page A1 and A14, page A1.

If Cache Creek is currently at 113,000 square feet and if the expansion will add 150,000 square feet, that will be one big casino of 263,000 square feet! (Please see the chart at the end of this presentation for some comparisons.) Incidentally, the day before Yolo County official were to vote on the casino expansion, a report (which cost the tribe $25,000) was released (by a private consulting firm) that hailed "the casino as a powerful economic generator" in the county (Pamela Martineau, October 15, 2002, "Study hails Yolo casino expansion." The Sacramento Bee, pages B1+B4, page B1.) On October 16, The Sacramento Bee headline by Martineau was "Casino construction to start today."

An influential trade journal pointed out the following in August 1998:

"California contributes about 35% of Nevada casinos visitors and at least $1.5 billion of the state's $7.6 billion 1997 GGR [Gross Gaming Revenue]. Suppose the Indian initiative passes, survives the inevitable legal challenges, and encounters no meaningful opposition in Congress or the Interior Department. A large new California machine market would thereby be created. Every device manufacturer on the planet would rush to supply it. California has 106 federally recognized tribes all over the State, including southern California. Casinos would blossom like flowers in the spring. Racetracks and card rooms, and California's lottery, would ask for and very possibly get the right to offer equivalent games. At least one-third, and perhaps two-thirds, of the $1.5 billion Californians currently leave in Nevada casinos would stay in California [stress added]." (Eugene Martin Christiansen, 1998, "A New Entitlement" in International Gaming & Wagering Business, August 1998, pages 3-35, page 26)

Please note the headline in The Chico Enterprise-Record of Sunday November 18, 2001:

"By 2007, with the anticipated construction of several other key Indian casinos, including a $100 million project planned outside Roseville, [Bill] Eadington estimates that eight key Northern California casinos could exceed $600 million in cash flow on $1.8 billion in revenues [stress added]." John Stearns, 2001, California Tribal Casinos Threaten Northern Nevada Economy. The Chico Enterprise-Record, November 18, 2001, page 4G.  

It is not only Native American casinos that are expanding; consider the following from the model many wish to emulate, Foxwoods:

"The tiny Mashantucket Pequot tribe--grown wealthy by casino profits--is putting the finishing touches on a $135 million museum that resurrects a nearly forgotten past. The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, which celebrates the lives of American Indians of southeastern Connecticut, open Aug. 11 [1998]. The 308,000-square-foot complex is set on the tribe's reservation, also home to the Foxwoods Resort Casino. ... The money to build the museum comes from the tribe's casino.... The Pequot tribe, which has about 400 members, got assistance from about 50 other tribes, from helping to reproduce artifacts to sharing oral histories and providing original artwork [stress added]." Anon., 1998, The Washington Post, August 4, 1998, page C10. 

COMPETITION AND CONCLUSIONS

"'Gaming is the return of the buffalo,' said Mrs. Bridgeman, who is part Cherokee and part Seneca-Cayuga. 'There is an Indian saying that the day the buffalo return, prosperity will return to the Indians." Anon., September 21, 1998, The Chico Enterprise-Record, page 3A.

"Yet even within the Native American communities, many admit that gaming can be a mixed blessing, and often tribes are often split over the issue. More traditional tribal members worry about the effects of gambling on morals and values, fearing destruction of their cultures. Others worry about the future of children growing up amidst the new-found affluence. According to Victor Preston, a commissioner with the Modoc tribes Susanville Casino in Northeastern California, a possible pitfall can be that kids on reservations with successful gaming enterprises inherit large trust funds when they turn 18. For some, such easy money can be a disincentive to continue school or work [stress added]." Jennifer Sherman, 1997, http://www.cirsinc.org/rcr/casino.html.

"Imagine Indians having a monopoly on anything. Yep, things have changed. Take the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, who once traded in shells. They just closed a $150 million high-yield bond financing deal to expand the casino they've been operating for eght years. And political power? Indians, who once couldn't get the time of day from anybody in Sacramento, now have some of the deepest pockets around when it comes to political contributions. Now they've being criticized for playing politics by backing legislation and politicans favorable to their interests. They've even been accused on being -- gasp! -- greedy. ... The fact is some people seem to want Indians to be self-sufficient. But not too, self-sufficient. They seem to want Indians to be successful. But not too successful. Well, folks, the genie's out of this bottle and it ain't going back in. So let's all try to deal with it [stress added]." Annie Nakao, October 17, 2002, American Indians play their hand. The San Francisco Chronicle.

"Many lay people erroneously believe that the cultural anthropologist studies only ancient or nonwestern cultures, digs in the ground, or otherwise studies primates. A passage from a book by card authority John Scarne stood out in my mind as a prime example: 'The observation of crooked card players is my business, as the observation of nonhuman primates is the anthropologist's.' (John Scarne, Scarne On Cards, p. 4). Cultural anthropology is the study of extant human cultures and societies around the world. As a branch of cultural anthropology, ethnography is devoted to the scientific description of one particular culture or group of people [stress added]." D. Hayano, 1982, The Life And Work Of Professional Card Players, page 183.

Gambling or gaming or entertainment is here to stay and is definitely a fertile ground for research! What role will the World Wide Web play in "electronic" off-shore gambling? What will Las Vegas do to maintain its appeal? Las Vegas is already a major shopping destination and the November 2002 election in Nevada will be interesting: the ballot has a measure which would allow adults to possess 3 ounces of marijuana for personal use (Joel Stein, 2002, The New Politics of Pot: Can It Go Legit? Time, November 4, 2002, pages 56-61). Will this be something to draw in new individuals to the state? How long will Hawai'i be able to be only one of two states in the United States of America which lacks any form of legalized gambling? (Utah is the other state without legal gambling.) I predict that one day Hawai'i will have casinos, with native Hawai'ians building on the "sovereignty" movement among North American Native Americans.

There is much to study in looking at "Native American" gaming issues and since tribes have sovereign status, getting information is very difficult: there is competition "out there" and it will only get worse. Some casinos do survive and some don't (including Native American and non-Native American facilities):

"A plan to build the state's largest casino has turned into a crapshoot. Windsor Woodmont Black Hawk Resort could face default on $100 million in depts for its Black hawk Casino by Hyatt that opened in December [2001] [stress added]." Anon., October 15, 2002, USA Today, page 15A.

Traditional casinos versus Native American Casinos; Nevada versus New Jersey (or really only Atlantic City) and Atlantic City versus Connecticut! Then there is northern Nevada versus southern Nevada as well as northern Nevada versus the burgeoning northern California Casinos and Las Vegas versus southern California Native American casinos.

"San Diego, California's second-biggest city, now has nine tribal casinos sprinkled around its outskirts. One of them, the Barona Casino, owned and operated by the Barona Band of Mission Indians on its reservation near Lakeside, Calif., has targeted Las Vegas turf. While waiting for the tribe's new $260 million hotel-casino to open in mid-December, Barona casino executives already run a gambling operation most Las Vegas gaming bosses would envy [stress added]." Jeff Simpson, September 1, 2002, Gambling Beyond Nevada: California Dream. The Las Vegas Review -Journal. http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Sep-01-Sun-2002/business/19393773.html

Then there are also Native American casinos versus Native American casinos and then Native Americans within a particular tribe versus other Native Americans within the same tribe! See The Sacramento Bee (February 4, 2001) and an article on "Gaming Tribes" and a listing of those "experiencing internal membership disputes" (mentioning the Berry Creek Rancheria as well as the Mooretown Rancheria of Butte County). " Various problems also occur outside of California; my wife and I received our undergraduate degrees from Western Washington University (then Western Washington State College, in Bellingham, Washington). Although Native American gambling did not occur when we were there (IGRA was passed by the United States Congress in 1988), we did make several trips to Bellingham after that date and did visit the Lummi Tribe casino mentioned below:

"Indian gambling revenues have exploded nationwide -- from $100 million in 1988 to $8.26 billion a decade later -- but most Native Americans have little to show for it. Although some tribes have increased reservation revenues and reduced unemployment, poverty continues to plague many casino-operating tribes across the nation, an Associated Press investigation has found. From the Shoalwater Bay Casino in southwest Washington to the Apache Gold Casino in San Carlos, Ariz., it's the same story: Most casinos provide a few Indians with jobs, and that's about it. Two-thirds of the Indian population belong to tribes locked in poverty that still don't have LasVegas-style casinos. And of the 130 tribes with casinos, only a few near major population centers have thrived. Most make just enough to cover the bills, the AP analysis found. Despite new gambling jobs, unemployment on reservations with established casinos held steady around 54 percent between 1991 and 1997 as many of the casino jobs were filled with non-Indians, according to information the tribes reported to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. ... [and] 'If you want to look at the tribes in this state that are successful with their casinos, it's tied directly to their proximity to the I-5 corridor and major population centers.' The Lummi Tribe north of Bellingham learned the hard way about the importance of location. 'We were the first casino to open and the first casino to close its doors'" said former tribal chairman Henry Cagey. The casino was located several miles from I-5 on a remote road fronting Puget Sound." Indians losing in Gambling Business. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/gamb04.shtml.

As I wrote in 1998:

"In August 1997, however, the Lummi Nation Casino, located in the American State of Washington (just south of the Canadian border and the major metropolis of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), was forced to close and 238 people lost their jobs, clearly demonstrating that not every single Native American casino can succeed. The casino was successful until Canadian "entertainment" (gambling) rules were changed and the Lummi's lost out. Indeed, in the publication entitled Indian Gaming (April/May 1998), while not specifically naming the Lummi Nation Casino, the following was reported: "In Washington, one of the 12 tribal casinos approved by the state was forced to close last summer and at least three more have stopped making required community-impact contribution" and for the American State of New Mexico it was reported that "Tribal leaders at Taos Pueblo say their gaming operation is in 'dismal financial condition' and it can afford to pay only $US4,516 of the $US169,000 it owes to the state" (Anon., Indian Gaming, 1998: 22; and see http://www.sunherald.com/casinos/docs/trbcas013098.htm). The same information also appeared in the March 1998 issue of the Pequot Times, page 10. In June of 1998 Harrah's Skagit Valley Casino (owned by the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe), located 15 miles south of Bellingham, had to lay off approximately 5 percent of the more than 700 individuals employed at the casino because of changes in Canadian gaming rules and the current economic crisis in Asia; and Native American casinos in Washington State will not be the only ones affected by changes in Canadian gaming: in June of 1998 it was also reported that:

"The Reno-Sparks area [of Nevada] has seen its share of Canadian visitors dwindle in recent years and could sustain more losses when gaming destination casinos begin operating in British Columbia next year....As Canadians who like Reno age and travel less, however, Reno needs to attract the younger customers who tend to prefer the glitter of Las Vegas....Szony [the Chief Executive of The Sands Regency Hotel Casino in Reno] expects the B[ritish] C[olumbia] casinos to have a chiseling effect on Reno similar to that felt from Indian casinos and California card clubs." (John Stearns, 1998, "Canadian Casinos May Cut Tourism." Reno Gazette-Journal, June 16, page 1E and 3E.)." Gambling (Gaming) In The United States of America From An Anthropological Perspective.

What will it be like in Washington State, Oregon, California, or Nevada in five or ten years? Who knows?!

"A Lake County Indian tribe's bid to build a $100 million casino in West Sacramento has drawn fire from eight other Northern California tribes, signaling a high-stakes challenge over the drive to bring indian gambling to Sacramento's metro area [stress added]." Peter Hecht, April 5, 2002, Tribes protest W. Sac Casino. The Sacramento Bee, pages A1 and A14, page A1.

"The Me-Wuk Indians disappeared from this part of the Sierra Nevada foothills not long after people began scraping gold from the streams and charging a day's wages for whiskey. They left without much of a trace 150 years ago, leaving a land that would be know for Zinfandels and long weekends. But now the Buena Vista Me-Wuks have reappeared--at least on paper--and are going after a mother lode of their own: a $150 million casino and resort on a cow pasture 35 miles from Sacramento. The casino has been approved and construction was to start this month. The only problem is, the group calling itself the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians are not who they say they are, according to the Bureau of indian Affairs. ... is being challenged by another woman who says she is the last surviving members of the tribe. This creates a problem [stress added]." Timothy Egan, April 10, 2002, The New York Times.

"...home is only a few miles down the road from the site of a proposed 200,000-square-foot casino at Athens and Industrial avenues [in Lincoln]. Last month, the cities of Roseville and Rocklin, and a grass-roots group called Citizens for Safer Communities filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C. against the federal Department of the interior to stop the United Auburn Indian Community's proposed $100 million casino [stress added]." Jennifer K. Morita, May 7, 2002, The Sacramento Bee.

"A federal judge ruled Monday [July 29, 2002] that California's Indian gambling law violates no federal law, though it gives tribes special privileges to operate casinos. U.S. District Judge David F. Levi accepted the argument by four Bay Area card clubs that the state gives American Indians a monopoly on Nevada-style gaming, which includes slot machines and blackjack. But he ruled the state's decision to permit tribal casinos violates neither the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), nor the U.S. constitutional guarantee of equal protection [stress added]." http://gamingmagazine.com/managearticle.asp?c=460&a=2179

"A coalition of card rooms and charities is asking a Sacramento judge to block federal acquisition of San Francisco Bay Area property for use as an American Indian casino. The proposed casino, on a parcel 20 minutes from downtown San Francisco in Contra Costa County, would operate under the auspices of the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians, the coalition contends. But it would actually benefit 'a group of wealthy non-Indian investors and their allies,' according to a motion submitted late Friday [October 4, 2002] to U.S. District Judge David F. Levi [stress added]." Denny Walsh, October 5, 2002, Halt sought on Casino deal. The Sacramento Bee, Pages A1 and A6, page A1.

It is exciting to see what is occuring all around us. Here in Butte County, the process continues.

"With plans for a casino and their own reservation in the heart of Butte County, the Mechoopda Indians stand on the threshold of an economic and cultural rebirth, said Steve Santos, the tribal chairman. ... If all goes as he hopes, within two years, the federal government will take into trust for the tribe 645 acres northeast of the intersection of highways 99 and 149. Then the Mechoopda, Chico's original residents, will once again have their own reservation. Plans can then proceed to devleop a casino, which Santos said could end the poverty that has plagued the tribe [stress added]." Larry Mitchell, April 6, 2002, The Chico Enterprise-Record, pages A1 and A12, page A1.

We all "gamble" to some extent and the opportunities to gamble are increasing an lightning speed! From driving to Oroville or Anderson or Colusa or just being "entertained" on the Internet: the choices are incredible and it can be dangerous:

"Gambling could be the fastest-growing cause of the record rates of bankruptcy in America this year [1997] , a consulting group says. ... The study found bankruptcy rates are 18 percent higher in counties with one gambling facility and 23 percent higher in counties with five or more gambling facilities. ... Between April and June, for example, bankruptcy filings hit a record 367,000, up 24 percent from 297,000 in the same period of 1996 ... The SMR [Research Corp. of Hackettstown, New Jersey] found that the counties with the highest bankruptcy rates in the nation were close to Tunica [Mississippi]. They are Shelby County (Memphis), Tenn., Marshall County, Miss., Crittenden County, Ark., Tipton County, Tenn., and Madison County, Tenn. The bankruptcy rate in Atlantic City, N.J. was 71 percent higher than in any other country in New Jersey last year, while Clark County, Nev., where las vegas is located, has the highest bankruptcy rate in that state [stress added]. Lance Gay, September 4, 1997, Why is bankruptcy soaring? Gambling, commission told. The Chico Enterprise-Record, page 7C.

You understand, of course, that Tunica, Mississippi, is the home of numerous major casinos, within easy driving distance of Memphis, Tennessee; and one could argue that the situation in Nevada is equally grim:

"Pick almost any index of social well-being and Nevada ranks at or near the very bottom of the 50 states, though it ranks near the top in personal wealth. Besides having the highest suicide rate (almost twice the national average), Nevada has the highest adult smoking rate and the highest death rate from smoking, the highest percentage of teenagers who are high school droupouts, the highest teenage pregnancy rate, and the highest rate of firearm death. Nevada ranked 45th among the states for overall health last year [2000], just above states such as West Virginia and Arkansas, compiled by United Health Group, a Minnesota-based health care company. Over the last 11 years, Nevada has scored between 43rd and 50th in the group's ranking, because of its high rate of smoking, big lack of health insurance and high premature death rate, among other problems. 'You name it, we go it,' said bill Thompson, a professor of public admiistration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an expert on the state's reigning industry, gambling [stress added]." Todd S. Purdum, 2001, Nevada's glitz masks ailing society. The Sacramento Bee, May 19, 2001, pages A1 and A19.

In concluding, I wish to end with two theories: I believe that individuals gamble so they can be in "control" of decision-making activities. So much of our daily lives are beyond our control and we "gamble" to take back some control (and perhaps we are "entertained" by the games of chance). The second theory is that Native American "entertainment facilities" will continue to grow and grow throughout California (and the nation). When some will collapse upon themselves, I do not know: but it probably will happen.

Some additional statements I believe in are as follows: if you wish to "gamble" in any casino (or take any sort of risks in life), it is best if you "know before you go!" The second statement comes from an "industry" professional: Thomas Austin Preston (also known as Amarillo Slim) who stated it well when he was quoted as saying that some "dudes [are] in the category of guessers, and guessers are losers [stress added]. Anthony Holden, 1990, Big Deal: A Year As A Professional Poker Player, page 164. Finally, "human nature" (as well as "culture") plays a part in all that we do and I end this paper with the words of the French writer Jean Cocteau (1889-1963): "We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?"

"APPROXIMATE" CASINO SPACE IN SQUARE FEET AT VARIOUS FACILITIES AND LOCATIONS

The following chart is a "very rough approximation" of casino space in various locations in the USA and I have been to every one of these facilities (except for the proposed La Reve). You note that I did not include the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians below, even though they are planning a 296,000 square foot building (as mentioned above): how much of that will be actual "casino space" is not available. The figures below are "actual" gambling spaces.

SOME ADDITIONAL SELECTED REFERENCES (in addition to the items cited in the text):

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1996a Gambling or Gaming: Which Is It? (For the CSU, Chico Anthropology Forum, April 11.)

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1996b An Anthropologist looks At The Geography of Gaming. (For the Northern California Geographical Society Meeting, Chico, CA, December 8.)

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1996c To Gamble, Or Not To Gamble? Is There A Question? (For the Chico Breakfast Lions Club Meeting, Chico, CA, December 10.)

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1997a, Twenty-Six Sabbatical Institutions Visited: Spring 1997.

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1997b, Camping Is Great but Nothing Beats Home: Across the USA in Pursuit of Educational Technology. Inside Chico, Vol 26, No. 3 (September 25), page 2.

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1998a, One Anthropologist Looks At The Future of Education and Technology [For the CSU, Chico Anthropology Forum on April 30, 1998].

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1998b Gambling (Gaming) In The United States of America From An Anthropological Perspective. Presented at the 14th ICAES [International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences] Meetings on the Anthropology of Tourism for the 1998 Congress held at Williamsburg, VA, July 29-August 2, 1998. [Prior to the Congress, assisted Dr. Valene Smith, Professor Emerita in theDepartment of Anthropology, CSU, Chico, with programming a five-day Symposium for the 14th ICAES. The overall Congress theme was "The 21st Century: The Century Of Anthropology."]

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1998c, Comments on The Gaming Industry. For CSU, Chico RECR [Recreation] 232, Commercial Recreation and Tourism, at CSU, Chico, October 8 [and please see http://www.hotel-online.com/Neo/News/PressReleases1999_2nd/Apr99_Urbanowicz1.html].

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1998d, Proposition 5 And Native American Gaming Issues. (For the CSU, Chico Anthropology Forum, October 8.)

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 1999, The Gamble of Gaming: Where Does It Go From Here? (For the AAUW [American Association of University Women] Meeting, Chico, CA, March 19.)

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 2001, Gambling Into The 21st Century. Hosts And Guests Revisited: Tourism Issues of the 21st Century, edited by Valene Smith and Maryann Brent (NY: Cognizant Communication Corp.), pp. 69-79. (NOTE: this is based on 1998a Gambling (Gaming) In The United States of America From An Anthropological Perspective. Presented at the 14th ICAES [International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences] Meetings on the Anthropology of Tourism for the 1998 Congress held at Williamsburg, Virginia, July 26-August 2, 1998.)

Charles F. Urbanowicz, 2002, http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/aStoryof2027.html [A "Story" (Vision or nightmare?) of the Region in 2027.) (For classroom use at California State University, Chico, September 30.)

http://www.cirsinc.org/rcr/casino.html [1997} Rural California Report]

http://www.library.ca.gov/CRB/97/03/crb97003.html#toc [California State library} 1997} Gambling in California. By Roger Dunstan]

http://www.lao.ca.gov/12998_gambling.html [January 1998} Gambling in California} Overview from the Legislative Analyst's Office]

http://www.americancasinoguide.com/News/7-20-01-Rincon.shtml [July 27, 2001} Casinos News} Harrahs and the Rincon Band of San Luiseno Mission Indians]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/environment/story/4031521p-5056992c.html [August 18, 2002} The Sacramento Bee} In Casino Wars, Indians Hold the cards.]

http://gamingmagazine.com/managearticle.asp?c=460&a=2179 [July 30, 2002} [California Indian Casino Law Is Legal.]

http://www.gamingfloor.com/Indian_gaming.html [Native Indian Casino News} Good jumping off site.]

http://www.pechanga.net/ [Pechanga net} Good jumping off site.]

http://www.pechanga.net/indian_casinos.htm [Pechanganet] Listing of Indian Casinos]

http://www.pechanga.net/documents/california_indian_casinos.htm [California Indian Casinos]

http://dmoz.org/Games/Gambling/Casinos/Native_American/ [Open Director} Games, Gambling, Casinos, Native Americans]

http://www.casinos-online-casinos-gaming-gambling.com/native-american-indian-gaming.htm [Native American Indian Gambling]

http://www2.dgsys.com/~niga/ [American Indian Gambling and Casino Information Center sponsored by The National Indian Gaming Association]

http://www.online-casinos-locator.com/n44.htm [Las Vegas Continues to Lure California Visitors]

http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Sep-01-Sun-2002/business/19393773.html [September 1, 2002} Gambling Beyond nevada: California Dream} from The las Vegas Review-Journal].

http://standup.quiknet.com/indian_gambling/ [Indian Gambling} "Stand Up For California is a grassroots, citizen-organized group dedicated to opposing the expansion of gambling in California."]

http://www.casino-gambling-reports.com/GamblingStudy/Tribal%20Gambling/ [National Gambling Impact Study Commission, Final Report} Native American Tribal Gambling.]

http://poker-studs.com/n16.htm [American indians Eye The Internet for Casino Growth.]

http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/articles/14/14-1138.htm [Gambling Magazine} Gambling News]

http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/articles/42/42-42.htm [Gambling Magazine} Trends]

http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/academics/courses/is190-1/s96/abaurrea/assign5.htm [1996 paper} Lora Abaurrea} Native Americans are Cashing-In With Gambling Casinos on the Reservation.]

http://www.online-casinos-rated.com/n45.htm [Most Indians haven't Benefited from the 1990s Casino Boom.]

http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:nDSv5vZ317MC:www.gaming.state.co.us/documents/sf.pdf+casino+square+footage&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 [Colorado Casino Square Footage]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/gamb04.shtml [September 4, 2000} Indians losing in gambling business. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.]

http://www.foxwoods.com/pequots/mptn_home.html [The Mashantucket Pequot, Connecticut]

http://www.mohegansun.com/index.jsp [The Mohegan Sun, Connecticut]

http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-casinopolls1003.artoct03,0,4027809.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dlocal [October 3, 2002} "Two public opinion polls released Wednesday show strong opposition to a third casino in Connecticut."

http://www.indiancountry.com/ [Indian Country} "The Nation's Leading American Indian News Source."]

SOME SELECTED VISUALS (all photographs taken by C.F. Urbanowicz):

Spring 1997 Sabbatical Trip. (Note: 26 academic institutions were also visited on this trip: please see http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/Spring1997-Sabbatical.html

The largest "ball court" in all of the Americas, measuring 272 feet in length (83 meters). (See: Joyce Kelly, 1993, An Archaeological Guide To Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, Norman: University of Oklahoma, page 55.)	Rolling Hills Casino (2002), Corning, California

The Las Vegas Strip (2001) as viewed from the Stratosphere Tower.

Las Vegas "Vic" (2001) on Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada.	MGM Grand (2001) on the "Strip" in las Vegas, Nevada.

Reno, Nevada area (October 2002)	Downtown Reno, Nevada area (October 2002)

Colusa Casino (2002), Colusa, California.	Cache Creek Casino (2002), Brooks, California.

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 [~10,167 words]} 1 November 2002

Copyright © 2002; all rights reserved by Charles F. Urbanowicz

1 November 2002 by cfu