A few years ago, one of my 5th grade students, who is Ojibwe, told me that he would get “a lot of money” when he grew up. The money, he said, would come from the reservation where he was an enrolled tribal member.The student was explaining a high-stakes tradeoff facing American Indians who grow up in the era of tribal-run casinos. Thousands of these Minnesota kids expect to receive large sums of money when they reach adulthood.He told me his mom wanted him to go to college. But another option tempted him. Sometimes people “buy lots of things” when they get the money, he said. I remember wondering how many Ojibwe kids really did use this coming-of-age windfall for post-secondary education....
Continue reading...
It turns out that in Vegas, the house doesn't always win.Nevada's casino industry lost $662 million last year, and has been in the red consistently for six years. Things hit bottom in 2009 when the industry posted a staggering loss of $6.8 billion.It's not that casinos don't bring in plenty of cash. Nevada's 271 casinos collected a hefty $24.6 billion in fiscal year 2015 (which ended June 30,) according to the state's Gaming Control Board. That's up from $21 billion in revenue for 2010.The problem: Visitors are spending plenty on restaurants, booze and glitzy shows featuring Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and magician Criss Angel. But spending on actual gambling is way down, according to...
Continue reading...
Professor E. Jane Costello of the Duke University Center for Child and Family Policy testified on Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to tell senators about a long-term study following members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.She said researchers have studied the same group of 1,400 people in western North Carolina including 350 members of the Cherokee band. The study looked at the long-term effects of money from a casino on the tribe’s land on the Qualla Boundary. Members have received about $4,000 per person per year. Costello said that when these funds lifted people above the poverty line, it made a lot of difference in the lives of...
Continue reading...
The wife of a suspected Chinese-Australian money launderer who allegedly turned over more than $850 million at Crown Casino has failed in her bid to access a Californian luxury home held under proceeds of crime laws.High-stakes gambler Dan Bai Shun Jin is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service in the United States and Australian Federal Police over suspicions he was involved in large-scale illegal money laundering at casinos in Australia, the US, Macau and Singapore.His wife, Hongjie Ma, recently applied to the Victorian Supreme Court to lift a restraining order on a multimillion dollar property in Fremont, California but was unsuccessful, as the court agreed that the purchase...
Continue reading...
