native american gothic

an article ran in this week's 'news & review' here in sac on indian gaming at cache creek. it is interesting to see how gaming has changed the native american culture. finally many tribes are financially successful - but at what cost? gambling has never been something i have understood - people think you'll actually make money doing it? didn't anyone take statistics? if you see it as pure entertainment with the bonus of *maybe* being really really lucky and limit the amount of money you will gamble with, i can kinda understand. but to play regularly in a noisy building that overwhelms your senses with bells, whistles and lights? what a waste. but, obvioiusly, gaming has brought prosperity to many tribes. now they want to expand the cache creek casino, located in an area where many organic farmers make their living.

The tribe’s goal is to expand the casino from 113,000 square feet to 313,000 square feet. In addition, the tribe also wants to construct a six-story, 300-room hotel; a 7,500-square-foot pool and spa; a five-story, 2,500-space garage; and a diesel power plant.

what do they think this is? las vegas? i agree that the american government walked all over the native americans. but it is truly sad that their only answer for financial independance (in fact, some tribes have grown quite wealthy) is casinos? THAT's all the government can do? they blew it a long time ago, and now this is how it's being 'fixed?

For example, the EE uses a rainy Thursday night in December as a benchmark for traffic figures. The architectural rendition of the expansion is also misleading, as it is not drawn to scale. The drawing shows the hillside towering above the hotel, but in reality the hills would be only slightly higher than the hotel roof.

an EE is environmental evaluation. the native americans made an agreement to produce this document instead of an EIS (environmental impact statement), which isn't required, since it is not federal (or technically state) land. hmph, seems like it's not much different than an EIS. why i don't work as an environmental planner. these documents aren't really about the preserving their environment. all to often there is a degree of bias. of course they are going to make the project look favorable - they want the money. and money always seems to win.

Campbell can’t help but reference the Native Americans’ own view of looking out for the next seven generations. “If you look at the resource degradation and potential depletion, they are jeopardizing their own long-term wellness,” says Campbell.

“Their intent is to take care of their tribal members--housing, health care, education ... not only for this generation but for future generations.”

i always liked this native american view of looking at seven generations. with our current practices, there is a likelihood that in seven generations this planet (if not hit by a meteor in 2019. but that's another story :) ) will not be habitable. they now have the short-sighteness that is prevelant almost everywhere in our culture. the only thing important is what we have now, not what may not be there in the future. it's disgusting. it's interesting to see how they see this as looking after future generations. because, in some ways they are doing something for those generations. but all they are doing is sending them down the same deplorable path as our culture. it's scary that is the only option to them.

“Our plan is to assimilate the Native Americans into the American way, to go after the American dream,”

i think that says it all. they faught hard to maintain the native american culture, yet now they want to assimilate them to the american culture. it seems so many aspire to our wasteful greedy ways. there is no way this planet could handle everyone (even a larger percentage) living the so-called 'american dream'.