The Legal Regimenting of Tribal Wealth: How Federal Courts and Agencies Seek to Normalize Tribal Governmental Revenue and Capital

This article examines how federal courts and agencies employ “rich Indian” discourses to force tribal economic development to fit normative notions of market capitalism in the United States. In particular, we evaluate the ways in which tribal government revenues are falsely portrayed as individual tribal wealth. Probing rulings on tribal labor relations as well as federal policy that regulates issuances of tax-exempt bonds, our analysis finds that federal courts and agencies use the financial success of tribal governmental industries such as gaming as an excuse to limit tribal government access to federal programs or exemptions. By limiting tribal access to these institutions and programs, federal agents undermine tribes’ ability to produce revenues that are critical for tribal nation (re)building. Thus, employing a rich Indian rhetoric in federal courts and agencies results not only in stifling tribal economic development, but more importantly, undermining tribal sovereignty and self-determination

Measuring the Impact of Reduced Free-play Offers on Casino Loyalty Behavior

Performance data from a tribal casino operating in the Western United States indicated a general insensitivity to free-play (FP) offer reductions. This finding addresses considerable industry-wide concerns regarding the potential for negative customer reactions to conspicuous offer reductions. Further, FP campaigns are costly annual investments representing the lion’s share of casino marketing budgets in many jurisdictions. A within-subjects design featured the random assignment of 100 loyalty program members from a common offer tier to each of four groups, with the experimental groups receiving different yet substantial reductions in FP during the post-demotion period. The results demonstrated a lack of significant differences in gaming spend and visitation, across the pre- and post-demotion periods. Our findings generally failed to indicate support for social inequity theory, aligning more with the literature on force-of-habit behavior. Additionally, the growing body of FP research was meaningfully extended

Online Sovereignty: The Law and Economics of Tribal Electronic Commerce

In 1886, the US Supreme Court wrote that, for Indian tribes, the people of the states where they are found are often their deadliest enemies. Recently, state agencies and regulators have continued that tradition of hostility by improperly attempting to regulate electronic commerce businesses operated by tribal governments that are more properly subject to regulations established by tribal law and subject to federal oversight. Despite the fact that these online businesses operate exclusively under tribal law and make their tribal affiliation clear to customers, certain state regulators have demanded absolute compliance with state law, even when such laws are from states thousands of miles away. Not only does this over reaching by uninformed state regulators limit the products available to consumers, it also severely undercuts on-reservation economic development, imperils tribal electronic commerce, and challenges basic notions of tribal sovereignty. Businesses and consumers entering into commercial contracts rely heavily on consistency and predictability in contracting, including when the parties mutually agree to apply tribal law or utilize tribal courts to resolve disputes. Uniform interpretation and enforcement of such agreements are critical to ensuring continued investment in tribal businesses. With over one quarter of American Indians living in poverty--nearly twice the national average--it has never been more important to promote confidence in the Indian economy. When courts do not give full force and effect to contracting parties\u27 desires to resolve their private disputes using tribal courts and tribal law, this confidence is threatened. While it is unclear how this controversy will ultimately play out, one thing is certain: states are not only undermining tribal innovation and harming tribal economies but also attacking tribal sovereignty itself. Perhaps lost in the legal rancor, however, are the very real human and economic consequences of the loss of tribal revenues from e-commerce business, as well as the potential damage to tribal e-commerce as a whole. This Article presents results of empirical research into the economic impact of tribal online lending in Indian Country. The Article first frames the issue with a brief summary of the legal foundations for tribal e-commerce and tribal lending in particular. Next, the Article presents several case studies of tribes that have engaged in online lending, focusing on the direct economic impact to those tribal communities. Finally, the Article concludes with policy arguments as to why state and federal regulators should support rather than suppress tribal e-commerce, including tribal small-dollar online lending

Seizing the Future: Why Some Native Nations Do and Others Don't

This study examines the question of why is it that some Native nations seize upon the nation building strategy and take effective control of their futures while others do not. We find that foundational change in a community arises when the external and internal conditions a people face interact with their interpretations of their situation, producing a new, shared "story" of what is possible, and how it can be achieved. The keys to changing a community's "story" are found in proactive decisions to alter internal and external situations, acquire concrete knowledge of the feasible, build on the community's cultural assets, and exercise leadership—especially in educating the people in a new vision.

The Politics of Indian Gaming in the United States

Dr. Spilde's presentation included a discussion of research addressing the social and economic impacts of Indian gaming in the United States. She also examined the ways in which Indian gaming has been met with decidedly mixed reactions by the public in the U.S. and outlined how these same issues might impact First Nations gambling in Alberta.OtherNoAlberta Gaming Research Institut

Social and Economic Consequences of Indian Gaming in Oklahoma

The mainstream press has written a great deal about Indian gaming and its impact on Indian and non-Indian communities. The debate, however, tends to focus on Class III or “casino-style” gaming. The press and, unfortunately, the research community have largely overlooked the effects of Class II gaming. Notwithstanding their second-class status in the research, Class II gambling ventures have the potential to bring substantial change to the Indian communities that develop them. This study of Class II gaming operations in Oklahoma concludes that tribal governments are translating revenues and employment opportunities derived from Class II gaming operations into positive social investment reflected in quality-of-life improvements within both the tribal communities themselves and in surrounding nontribal communities. Moreover, Class II operations have a net positive impact on the Oklahoma economy through their demonstrated ability to attract out-of-state customers to depressed regions of the state. The tribes’ successes offer a striking example of the principal intent of gaming operations: socioeconomic self-determination for tribes

Social and Economic Consequences of Indian Gaming in Oklahoma

The study analyzes the impacts of Class II gaming operations in Oklahoma and finds that tribal governments are translating revenues and employment opportunities derived from the gaming operations into positive social investment. This change is reflected in quality-of-life improvements within both the tribal communities themselves and in surrounding non-tribal communities.