MAY 13, 03:19 EDT
Calif. Indian Gambling Faces Crisis
By JENNIFER KERR
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Barbara Murphy remembers the blatant racism against American Indians. She recalls her tribe being declared ``nonexistent'' by the federal government. She saw teens at Redding Rancheria ashamed of who they were.
Then came the ``new buffalo'' -- the lucrative Indian gambling that has transformed reservations around the country from depressing welfare ghettos into bustling, prosperous enterprises.
``The same kids now talk about being proud of who they are for the first time,'' Murphy says. ``That's what makes a difference.''
But California Indian gambling is facing a crisis that pits most of the 107 tribes against the combined forces of the state and federal governments. It's a crisis that tribes say could cost 15,000 jobs and send their people plummeting back onto welfare.
``We're once again in the role of having something that someone wants and having it taken away under the guise of the law,'' says Daniel Tucker of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association.
Today is the deadline imposed by the state and federal governments for tribes to either accept a model agreement struck between Gov. Pete Wilson and a San Diego County tribe or make a deal on their own.
Most of the nearly three dozen tribes with casinos are unwilling to give up the 12,000 video slot machines they operate. Wilson says the machines are illegal and has refused to negotiate with tribes that insist on keeping them.
Wilson's deal with the Pala Band of Mission Indians, which does not currently run a casino, permits a new type of machine that allows players to compete with one another, rather than against the house.
Several lawsuits have been filed challenging the pact. Tucker's group has submitted a possible November ballot initiative that would allow them to keep the video machines.
But the four U.S. attorneys in the state, with Wilson's blessing, were to be allowed to begin taking action to shut down Indian casinos with the illegal machines starting today.
Justice Department officials said Tuesday that no action would come before Thursday, and even then the government would only be filing lawsuits.
A few tribes have said they will sign the Pala compact. Most have adamantly objected.
``For 150 years, we have been forced to sign bad treaties,'' said Hank Murphy of the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians. ``We will not sign the Pala compact and we will not surrender our machines.''
There are two key issues: the sovereignty of Indian tribes and the type of gambling machines used.
Federal law recognizes tribes as ``quasi-sovereign'' self-governments. Many tribes argue they should not be subject to state law; most states, including California, disagree.
As gambling spread around the country in the early 1980s, Indian tribes in Florida and California opened bingo parlors. The first in California was the Fantasy Springs Casino, opened in 1984 in Indio by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians.
States challenged the tribes. But the Supreme Court, ruling in the Cabazon case in 1987, said Indians could offer on their tribal lands any form of gambling permitted by state law.
Congress tried to solve the resulting disputes in 1988 with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. It requires states to negotiate in good faith with tribes that want to offer Class III games, which are casino-style games such as lotteries and slot machines.
Several California tribes tried to make a deal, but negotiations broke down. The tribes wanted lucrative slot machines, while the governor insisted only lottery-type games were permitted under California law. During nearly a decade of dispute and lawsuits, the tribes continued to open casinos, most with video poker and video slot machines.
The Pala compact was announced March 6. Wilson gave other tribes 60 days to accept its terms or face raids on their casinos.
The other tribes are skeptical that the Pala's new machines will be as popular with gamblers as the current slot-type machines.
``Machine gambling is what drives the gambling industry,'' says Scott Crowell, an attorney who represent tribes in Washington state and California.