4 The pieces were in place for the state and federal governments to open the door for Indian gaming as a way to relieve tribal dependence on the federal government. Thomas Slade Gorton (Republican-WA) remarked, “no one can or should expect to be exempt from the inevitable cuts which ensue from balancing the budget.” 3 A “longtime tribal antagonist” and chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Gorton successfully pushed to cut Indian programs. In the early 1980s, programs run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs were at risk of being cut when the Reagan administration decided to balance the budget. (1989-1993) administrations solidified a policy of self-determination that began in the 1960s.īarona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino, 2017. By de facto ending termination and turning responsibility for federal programs over to the tribes, Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon set in motion a process that by the 1990s resulted in dynamic, thriving tribal governments.

Dale Mason wrote:īeginning with initiatives in the Kennedy administration, the 1960s brought about another dramatic change in Indian policy. The federal government gradually allowed a higher degree of tribal sovereignty and self-determination. In the 1960s, Indians began to demand control over programs that affected their welfare. It also includes the shared history of the Barona, Sycuan, and Viejas casinos. This article examines the political climate that allowed the courts to favor Indian gaming. Butterfield (1979), Barona Group of the Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians v.

The process of winning the right to gamble took place over the course of nine years and involved three landmark cases: Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Gaming has allowed Indian tribes to pursue the policy of self-determination, which means that Indian tribal governments can conduct their own affairs. San Diego County has the largest concentration of Indian casinos in the nation. Indian Gaming in the Kumeyaay Nation (PDF)

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