Casino Enterprise Management

Read the goings-on in Indian country from September 2008. California Indian tribes have established a new association, the California Association of Tribal Governments, a nonprofit consortium of federally recognized Indian tribal governments. And, In a first-of-its-kind study, J.D. Power and Associates has conducted a Southern California Indian Gaming Casino Satisfaction Study for 2008.

As we count down the remaining weeks before the 2008 elections, excitement and promise is building for all Americans. Indian Country can expect to deal with a new executive leadership, a new Congress and thousands of new local leaders in communities across the country. For American Indians and Alaskan Natives, there is an issue that should be at the forefront of consideration: tribal sovereignty.

As we begin the last month of summer, parents everywhere are starting the process of preparing to send their children back to school. New clothes, books and supplies will be purchased in anticipation of the first day of school. However, on many Indian reservations, the back-to-school rituals only bring new levels of stress and anxiety for Indian families. Revenue boosts from gaming help, but will it ever be enough?

Recent communications between the National Indian Gaming Commission and Indian governments have become emotional and heated. After a House of Representatives field hearing in Oklahoma and a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., this year, NIGC Chairman Phil Hogen addressed Indian representatives at the National Indian Gaming Association’s Indian Gaming ’08 tradeshow as “You people, the downtrodden.”

Check out these latest news bits from Indian Country: A federal ruling found that California is not allowed to ask for payments from Indian tribes in exchange for more slot machines during compact negotiations. In New York, the Department of Interior has placed 13,004 acres of land into trust for the Oneida Indian Nation, and in Washington the BIA published final regulations of IGRA.

The summer of 2008 will see a great deal of activity at tribally owned and licensed casinos and resorts throughout the country. Despite the slowdown in the national economy, tribes are finding the resources to renovate existing facilities and to expand on current entertainment options. This summertime expansion is a good measurement of our progress, success and determination.

Read about Native American gaming news from June 2008. Read about Arizona's drop in gaming revenue, why the Penobscot Indian Nation is exercising its rights as a sovereign nation and about a major victory for the Gun Lake Tribe of Michigan's Band of Potawatomi Indians.

NIGA celebrated the arrival of spring with our 17th annual meeting and tradeshow in San Diego. This year, our annual tradeshow commemorated passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which was passed by Congress the year after the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the right of Indian tribes to engage in gaming on tribal lands as a means of strengthening their governments and economies.

Read news from Native America from May 2008 with stories such as Butte County taking its issue with a proposed Tribal Gaming property to Washington, Mohegan Tribal Council elects to return a significant portion of funding to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Navajo Nation is now officially poised to join the Indian Gaming community in New Mexico.

Memorial Day has long been celebrated as the unofficial beginning of summer, when family and friends look forward to a weekend of barbeques and outdoor activities. However, Memorial Day is also a time for Americans to remember and honor veterans who gave so much for their country, as well as those currently serving in the military to defend our freedom.