 Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! |
Gaming News
Casino Lifts Minnesota Tribe Out of Poverty4 November 2002DULUTH, Minnesota – As reported by the Wausau Daily Herald: "When Fond-du-Luth Casino manager Maurice Ojibway sits in his Duluth office and counts his facility's profits at the end of every day, he doesn't see a stack of cash, checks and credit card receipts. "Ojibway sees instead a down payment on a new health care center, a gymnasium for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation school or a scholarship that will help a young tribal member go to college, he said. "…Gaming has worked as no other interaction between Indian tribes and European Americans has ever worked, Ojibway said. Until tribes began operating casinos and bingo halls about 20 years ago, most American Indians lived in poverty, without health insurance and on unproductive land. "Today, Indians have their own schools, health care facilities and real chances to become productive members of society, Ojibway said. "… Gambling money also has changed life in Duluth overall. The casino employs 230 people with an annual payroll of $8 million, including medical, dental and vision insurance, Ojibway said. It also sponsors community events such as the annual downtown blues festival. "And as Indians have prospered through gaming, tribal crime rates have dropped, Duluth Police Chief Scott Lyons said…" |