Letter to the editor:
Published in the Mille Lacs Messenger
December 25, 2003

Opposed to casinos

This is in respect to the Dec. 18 Messenger article wherein former Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Chief Executive Marge Anderson responded to the Dec. 16 Time magazine article that criticized the Mille Lacs Band for "joining forces" with casino investor Lyle Berman, characterized by Time as a greedy person who "unloaded a block of stock before it plummeted."

I would like to say that the reason why the banks would not invest money in the band's proposed casino was because the bankers knew that too many people who start gambling end up addicted and lose their hard-earned money. Therefore, the bankers were conscientious and chose not to invest in the band's greedy casino business scam. The band chose to join force with an investor who didn't care about future casino victims.

The reason for my harsh criticism of the band's casinos is because some of my band member friends have become addicted to gambling and they are hurting.

I believe that the Indian casino profits are ill-gained and are destroying the Native American's traditional cultural and sacred spirituality.

The Time magazine article that Focused in on the Mille Lacs Band's casinos was titled "Who Gets the Money?" The article answers the question by stating, "In many cases the big winners are non-indian investors, some of whom pocket more than 40 percent of an Indian casino's profits." The article continues "Of all the bets Berman has placed, the smartest was to gamble on Indian gaming with his 1990 decision to join forces with a Minnesota tribe, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians."

The cover article also says, "Imagine, if you will. Congress passing a bill to make Indian tribes more self-sufficient that gives billions of dollars to the white backers of Indian businesses, and nothing to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans living in poverty. Or a bill that gives hundreds of millions of dollars to an Indian tribe with a few dozen members. Or a bill that allows select Indian tribes to create businesses that reap millions of dollars in profits and pay no federal income tax, at the same time that the tribes collect millions in aid from American taxpayers. Can't imagine Congress passing such a bill? It did."

The present-day consequences are scandalous for Congress and the many Native American leaders who pressured Congress to pass such a bill. I would like to see Congress put a moratorium on the expansion of Indian casinos in the United States and then help the Native Americans to convert their casinos into other types of businesses.

By Thomas I. Dahlheimer, Wahkon