As Indian Casino Profits Rise, So Does Disenrollment

In the United States, American Indian casinos are a big business. Many Native American tribes have used the proceeds from casinos to help formerly poverty-stricken tribes prosper, often distributing the casino profits to all members of the tribe on a monthly basis. However, this has also given tribes an incentive to keep their numbers as small as possible, making tribal disenrollment a hot button issue in these communities.

According to a recent report in the New York Times, tribal disenrollment is at all time high, particularly among tribes in California. Over 60 Indian casinos operate in California, and these facilities took in about $7 million in revenues in 2010 – the highest total for Native American-operated casinos in any state, says the Indian Gaming Commission.

This has been one of the major factors in a recent surge in the number of American Indians who have been banished from tribes. While this historically would only have been done for a serious offense, it has been increasingly important to tribes to disenroll people who are considered not to be authentic members of a given tribe.

According to the Times, at least 2,500 Indians have been disenrolled by their tribes over the past decade in California alone.

“Sometimes it is political vendettas or family feuds that have gotten out of hand,” David Wilkins, a Lumbee Indian and professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota told the New York Times. “But in California, it seems more often than not that gaming revenue is the precipitating factor.”

While some have speculated that tribes may be finding excuses to disenroll members in order to consolidate casino profits. However, tribal governments deny this, saying that they are merely being vigilant in preventing fraud. They say that some people with tenuous connections to a tribe (at most) have attempted to claim membership in order to get a share of the tribe’s casino disbursements.

In some cases, these disbursements can be extremely lucrative. The Times reported that some small tribes give members monthly checks of $15,000 or more, while others give smaller amounts, but also provide college scholarships, housing allowances, and other benefits to their players.