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California Community Reacts to Tribal Casino Plan

PLYMOUTH, California – As reported by the Sacramento Bee: "History students might note some ironic symmetry in American Indians asking the residents of a place called Plymouth to allow the Indians to establish an enterprise in their midst.

"Many, if not most, of them see the proposal by the Ione Band of Miwok Indians to build a casino and hotel at the southern edge of town as the precursor to a modern-day version of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse: Crime, Traffic Congestion, Pollution and Diminished Lifestyle.

"…Tragic or not, variations of the Plymouth saga are becoming more common around California as Indian tribes without casinos -- and without land to put them on -- seek an economic base for their governments.

"…Like many California tribes, the Ione Band was formed in 1915 when the federal government gathered up Indians who had survived 146 years of genocide and disease and arbitrarily assigned them to tribes based on geography rather than cultural ties. Although a land base was promised each group, some tribes never received any land. Others gave up their land in the 1950s and 1960s when the federal government terminated tribes as sovereign entities in an effort to cut costs and coerce Indians into assimilation.

"…The tribe's plans call for a 120,000-square-foot complex, half of which would be taken up by the casino. The rest would house a tribal administration center and retail shops. Eventually, the tribe would build a 250-room hotel and conference center…"

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