California is no stranger to Indian Gaming, it represents a $7 billion a year industry and with the passage of props 94-97 it’s soon to grow.  The original intent of legalized Indian Gaming was to help tribes develop economically and socially.  Ralph Stone, a retired attorney living in San Francisco, revisited the issue in a recent commentary.  He points to “An Impact Analysis of Tribal Government Gaming in California,” published by the Center for California Native Nations at the University of California, Riverside (January 2006) to help examine if these casino’s are in fact helping Native Americans.

I encourage you to read the article as it provides some very reveling statistics that leads Stone to conclude:

Clearly, gaming revenue has not been the cure-all for the economic and social problems in the Indian community. Hopefully, future gaming revenue will be judiciously spent to eliminate the economic and social disparity between American Indians and the general population.