Wow. Some of you need to go back to 7th grade history and read about reservations. Reservations were created by treaties. Tribes were, at the time, separate nations from the US. The US government wanted the indian land. Plain and simple. Indians, however, didn't want the federals to have the land. Tribes banded together and started fighting back.
If the federals hadn't ceeded land to native tribes, the battles would have gone on for many more years (probably decades) with the indians ultimately losing EVERYTHING, and many many lives on both sides lost.
I'll grant that today it seems a bit silly, but in the 1700's and 1800's when these wars were fought and the treaties signed, it was very serious. Tribes were given nearly absolute governmental control over the reservations. Only a few federal rights were kept by the US government. It is safe to say that reservations are nations within a nation.
How do we take this away? How do we say, "Sorry, but reservations don't make any sense any more. So please go away?" Remember that the natives were here long before europeans. That would be like saying, "Sorry, we never should have brought your ancestors here as slaves. Please go back to Africa," to blacks.
States and the federal government have been trying for decades to draw American Indians out of the reservations and into general soceity. It has failed for the most part. However, things like casinos are creating an industry the American Indians can be part of. Is it the best choice? Probably not. Is it the only one that would work right now? Yes.
Even with the Vegas casinos getting a big chunk of the cash, and even with the average indian not receiving a dime from it directly, the infusion of cash into American Indian soceities WILL make a difference. Quality of life will go up over time. Self confidence in a traditionally poor people will rise. Future generations will find strength and pride in themselves where it is lacking in current and previous generations.
I have many friends who "escaped" from the Navajo reservation. Life for average tribal members is horrid. Living conditions wouldn't be tolerated in the poorest southern town, but are accepted as normal for many native americans.
I wish the casinos all the success they are capable of, and hope for future prosperity for all Americans, regardless of what race they may be.
IRS Definition of Reservations:
What is a reservation?
An Indian reservation is land a tribe reserved for itself when it relinquished its other land areas to the U. S. through treaties. More recently, Congressional acts, Executive Orders and administrative acts have created reservations.
There are approximately 275 Indian land areas in the U. S. administered as Indian reservations (reservations, pueblos, rancherias, communities, etc.). The largest is the Navajo Reservation of some 16 million acres of land in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Many of the smaller reservations are less than 1,000 acres with the smallest less than 100 acres. On each reservation, the local governing authority is the tribal government.
Approximately 56.2 million acres of land are held in trust by the United States for various Indian tribes and individuals. Much of this is reservation land; however, not all reservation land is trust land. The states in which reservations are located have limited powers over them, and only as provided by Federal law. On some reservations, however, a high percentage of land is owned and occupied by non-Indians. Some 140 reservations have entirely tribally owned land.
And:
What is Indian Country?
In Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Part I. Crimes, Chapter 53. Indians, or 18 USCS @1151, Indian Country was defined in 1948. It says, ? Except as otherwise provided in sections 1154 and 1156 of this title, the term 'Indian Country', as used in this chapter {18 USCS @ 1151 et. seq.}, means (a) all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and, including rights-of-way running through the reservation, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a state, and (c) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through the same?.
The codified definition above was enacted in regard to criminal statutes. For application of the IRC as it pertains to Indian tribes, civil courts rely on this statute in part. There is no generic definition for Indian Country applicable to all tribes. Once again, treaties and more recent legislation, such as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, must be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Another concept of Indian Country is illustrated in a recent Alaska Native case. In Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, the Supreme Court held that lands owned in fee simple of a tribal government following the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act did not constitute Indian country under 18 USC @ 1151 (Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, U.S. Supreme Court No. 96-1577).
Some attributes of Indian Country are:
generally non-alienable;
often not contiguous;
within the borders of the United States;
within the jurisdiction of a Federally recognized Indian tribe;
not part of the Alaska Native Settlements Claim Act.
Casino gaming:
What is the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act?
In the landmark decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, the U. S. Supreme Court held that the state of California had no authority to apply its Regulatory statutes to gambling activities conducted in Indian Country.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. sections 2701 et seq., enacted in 1988, quickly followed to provide a statutory basis for regulation of tribal games. This law allows traditional Indian gaming as well as bingo, pull tabs, lotto, punchboards, tip jars, and certain card games on tribal land. However, it requires a Tribal/State compact for other forms of gaming such as cards or slot machines. Today there are about 145 Tribal-State gaming compacts. Nearly 130 tribes in 24 states are involved in some kind of gaming.
The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) was established by Congress to develop regulations for Indian gaming.