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TRIBAL GAMBLE: THE SERIES

Day One, 12/10/00
Casino boom benefits non-Indians

The $800 million deal for outsiders at Mohegan Sun

Day Two, 12/11/00
Few tribes share in casino windfall

Gaming success helps tribe gain community acceptance

California tribes hit the jackpot with gaming vote

Day Three, 12/12/00
It's a war of genealogies

Lineage questions linger as gaming wealth grows

Tribes scramble to get into the game

Day Four, 12/13/00
Tribes make easy criminal targets

Trump plays both sides in casino bids

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By Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff, 12/20/2000

alling for an overhaul of the Indian gaming industry, Congressman Frank Wolf yesterday urged the incoming Bush administration to '' initiate a full-scale reform of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.''

Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, said at a press conference yesterday in Washington that he was reacting to a series of stories published last week in the Boston Globe.

The Globe reports, Wolf said, ''illustrate the unforseen inequities of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which has resulted in a tainted recognition process, massive revenue windfalls for the gambling industry and a few well-connected individuals, and worst of all, continuing poverty for most Native Americans.''

In a letter to Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, who is heading the transition team for the Bush administration, Wolf and Congressman Christopher Shays, Republican of Connecticut, wrote: ''Contrary to the predictions of many, Indian gaming has not brought self-reliance for most Native American tribes...

''The overall picture is one of untold riches for a few smaller tribes and continued poverty for the vast majority of Indians spread across rural America.

''The gambling industry has poured millions of dollars into efforts to obtain recognition for tribes located in potentially lucrative markets. Potential gambling revenues have caused numerous outsiders with no affiliation with the tribes to have a financially lucrative interest in the result. In essence, tribes have become pawns for the powerful gambling interests.''

In addition, Wolf and Shays wrote to President Clinton asking him to refrain from issuing any executive orders or taking any other steps to bring federal recognition to tribes with applications pending before the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Several tribes in Connecticut and two in central Massachusetts have asked for federal recognition, which is a requirement for tribes to open casinos. The financial backers of some of those tribes have been significant contributors to Clinton and the Democratic National Party.

Wolf and Shays also wrote a letter to the General Accounting Service, the investigative arm of Congress, requesting that it expand an ongoing investigation into the process by which tribes are recognized.

In terms of revenue, the Indian gaming industry is centered in the wooded hills of Eastern Connecticut, where the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos gross more than $2 billion a year, or more than $1 million for each tribal member.

According to a Globe analysis, the high earnings in Connecticut compare with annual gross gaming income of only $167 per member of tribes in South Dakota.

The Globe also reported that Trading Cove Associates, an early backer of the Mohegan Sun casino, will receive more than $800 million, including $430 million above a congressionally established limit.

The Globe's recent four-part series, ''Tribal Gamble,'' can be viewed on the Web at www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/gaming /

This story ran on page A08 of the Boston Globe on 12/20/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.