All over the United States, a principal source of revenue for Native American tribes has been shut down by orders of the (primarily white) state governors. But if Indian nations are sovereign, which is how they’re able to run casinos in the first place, why do they have to abide by the White Man’s shutdown order (which may violate their First Amendment right to assemble in any case)?
There is no “scientific” research to support the idea that Indian-run casinos have contributed to the spread of coronavirus. Many such casinos are in states with a minimal infection rate. If the Indians take basic Chinese shopping mall-style precautions such as checking forehead temps at the front door, how is the White Man entitled to starve them out on a “this might help us” pretext?
(If public health concerns trump (so to speak) the Constitution, why can’t the casino closure order be made permanent? “Gambling Disorder” is a public health concern, complete with DSM-5 code. Plainly having casinos in nearly every state will contribute to the spread of Gambling Disorder. That’s a legitimate public health concern, with potentially fatal consequences, just as much as Covid-19.)
Related:
- “Harvard Says Pandemic Casino Shutdown Is ‘Immediate Threat’ to Native Americans”: “The COVID-19 crisis poses an immediate threat to three decades of improvement in economic conditions across Indian Country,” the letter to Mnuchin said. “Prior to the total shutdown of their casinos, tribes’ gaming enterprises alone were channeling more than $12.5 billion per year into tribal government programs.”
The Indian tribes are not exactly sovereign — they have some aspects of sovereignty but not all. But that seems like a side issue because it is unclear whether the state or national governments have the power to prevent citizens from congregating. Perhaps some of the people beaten by police in NYC will decide to litigate the issue and we can then start to see what the Constitution has to say about all of this. Though judging by the latest reporting it does not seem as if the government really wants the courts to take a look. https://nypost.com/2020/05/04/manhattan-da-defers-charges-in-violent-nyc-arrest/
> why can’t the casino closure order be made permanent? “
google => Tribes don’t pay taxes on casino income, but employees and winners do. … This means that the casinos don’t need to pay taxes to the federal or state governments, although there are usually still compacts and stipulations that see casinos paying local counties or states a portion of the profits
so tourism and taxes
jerry: tourism and taxes used to be important, but we now say that human life is priceless. If we can save even one person from dying of Covid-19, surely that is worth shutting down tourism (a frill) and giving up taxes related to gambling (we’re spending $trillions on the current shutdown). Gambling Disorder can eventually lead to death. So the same calculation should apply indefinitely.
In Arizona the Indian Tribal councils met and closed their respective casinos, not the Governor. As noted on the article below the councils closed them on various dates in March. Many before the Governor closed the state. Plus in our case some of the worse hit Covid areas are on the Navajo reservation. They had a huge outbreak versus their sparse population.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2020/03/15/arizona-tribes-respond-covid-19-emergency-declarations-and-testing/5055702002/
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS689US689&sxsrf=ALeKk02ZacxpKHEE4fSR-x74o4hoMTA4rw%3A1588615266741&ei=YliwXvLoLIbt-gSwxqjQBw&q=navajo+covid+19+cases&oq=navajo+covid+19+&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgAMgUIABCDATICCAAyAggAOgcIIxCwAhAnOgQIIRAKUOKEAVjj9gFgjY0CaAFwAHgAgAGeAogBvSaSAQcxMy4yOS4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-ab
https://www.npr.org/2020/04/24/842945050/navajo-nation-sees-high-rate-of-covid-19-and-contact-tracing-is-a-challenge
Please watch and read the attached video and story about what is going on on the Navajo reservation. Note that the COVID 19 rate is 3rd worst in the US right behind NY and NJ…….
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/coronavirus-batters-navajo-nation-it-s-about-get-worse-n1187501
bill: Thanks. It is a shame about the Navajo situation, but I think the typical Native American casino is not in a plague-hit region (since the typical U.S. state is not accurately described as “plague-hit”). http://www.graywolfpeakcasino.com/ for example is in Montana, a state at the very bottom of https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/ (roughly 1 Covid-19-tagged death for every 100,000 people).
Why do the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation have to shut down their casino, rather than check forehead temps at the front door, because Boston and New York are full of plague?
Lotto and other state-sponsored gambling are continuing, as they have throughout this crisis. All those people going to a convenience store for the sole purpose of buying a lotto or scratch-off ticket make one heck of a vector to spread disease.
This fact tells the lie of government choosing lives over money.
Online gambling is continuing also and it’s shutdown proof.
https://www.playusa.com/
It’s going to complicate and delay any rebound for casinos/resorts, Tribal or not. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any difference in the diagnosis of Gambling Disorder. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for that research.
https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2020/05/01/armageddon-in-atlantic-city-trumps-former-casino-town-facing-ruin-again-1281131
““[Online gambling] already, in my judgment, was showing the impact that if people were able to gamble from their bedroom in Livingston, N.J., or on their toilet seats in Haddonfield, N.J., they don’t have to come to Atlantic City,” he said. “A lot of people, not just temporarily but maybe permanently, will say ‘Why bother taking the drive to Atlantic City when I can gamble from the convenience of my own home?‘”
The United States has succeeded in creating a dispersed superghetto for the Native American. And you answered your own question! This is a partnership. They’re going to have to allocate another $18 billion dollars as a down payment and will presumably keep doing that until the Church of Shutdown and the Tribes agree that it’s safe to reopen. In the meantime Ro Khanna (D-Silicon Valley) and the EMPA act, once passed, will send everyone $2000 checks each month until employment returns to pre-COVID levels. How someone with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago can predict that will ever happen is beyond my powers to fathom.
https://www.casino.org/news/tribal-casinos-cash-strapped-by-outbreak-at-risk-for-permanently-closing/
It will take a long time for the revenue to return, and only half the tribes operate casinos anyway, so there’s going to be an ongoing, enormous outpouring of need.
Trump had better not order them to reopen, or even suggest it heavily. Then Orange Man will be guilty of murdering the Red Man. Don’t believe me? Look at what’s happening with meat packing plants. The New Republic says (in my inbox):
“Trump Orders Murder!”
https://newrepublic.com/article/157501/give-meat-give-death?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=suboffer
This is the kind of wisdom coming from the Left at the New Republic. Shut them all down!
“The best way to invoke the Defense Production Act today, then, would be to shut down industrial meatpacking operations until we can figure out whether there’s a more sustainable, equitable, and safe way of running them. For all the xenophobic talk about Wuhan’s “wet markets”—one of many possible origins of the current pandemic—the Chinese government closed them down when they were seen to pose a risk. The U.S. would be wise to follow suit with its own disease-spreading facilities.”
Can you imagine what Aronoff would say if Trump encouraged Native Americans to commit murder by reopening their casinos? Genocide!
If they were truly sovereign they would send a drone to take out the enemies of their nations (perhaps in this case it is state governors?). Now that is some sovereign power.
But on a more serious note, how many tribes are actually complaining? They can certainly go to federal court if they want and the federal courts have been quite accommodating of tribal sovereign claims lately. However, I think they are all playing ball on this more than willingly.
Maybe this is a cause Elizabeth Warren could champion for the Cherokee? Maybe that way they’d let her back in their casinos? 😉
The whole Indian scam should be shut down stat. They lost. We won. Why do they have reservations? Do we allow Nazi reservations in Europe? Ship all Indians to Puerto Rico and blockade the island. And I mean both feather Indians and dot Indians. We don’t need either.
They don’t have to abide by the order, but the White Man can shut down the Black Roads that lead to the casino. Yes the Red Men can gamble among themselves, but that’s robbing White Hawk to pay River Fox.