Legalized gambling has evolved into a mainstream leisure activity in America. States relentlessly advertise their lotteries in the print and broadcast media. Major casinos emphasize their theme park atmospheres, promoting themselves as adult equivalents of Disneyland. Many religious institutions have become dependent on legalized gaming revenues. Native American tribes continue to be major players in the industry. Although gambling is now a national pastime, economists and sociologists express alarm at the rising social costs of this pursuit.
Native American tribes have reaped enormous economic benefits from legalized gambling. Tribes operate 225 gambling establishments nationwide, which took in an estimated $15.2 billion in 1992, a figure that is expected to grow by $500 million a year (Hirshey, 1994, p. 37). Native Americans operate the world's largest casino, Foxwoods in Ledyard, Connecticut, which generates revenues of more than $600 million annually.
Because Native American tribes use a significant portion of their gambling proceeds for economic development, some have started to question the wisdom of dependency on gaming revenues. An example is the Cherokee Nation, based in Oklahoma. The nation's bingo operation nets nearly $3 million dollars annually, but faces stiff competition from the gaming operations of other tribes and is gearing up to contend with the stiffest competition of all--the state of Oklahoma: "Native Americans . . . believe that once a state decides to roll its own dice, that will be the end of the easy-money bonanza for Indians" (Norman, 1995, p. 93). To weather this eventuality, the Cherokee Nation is struggling to enhance its economic self-sufficiency by diversifying into such areas as manufacturing. Cherokee Nation Industries is a wholly owned subsidiary of the tribe which generates $15 million dollars annually through manufacturing electronic components for defense and aerospace compan...