Casino plans lead to conflict

Anyone who has dabbled in American history will know about the country’s past when it comes to the native Americans. Though the country has done its best to try and give these ethnic groups restitution, there are still conflicts over land on a daily basis. In fact, near the border of Mexico, there is one reservation that is currently in the news, the land occupied by the Fort Sill Apaches.

Though there are no members of the tribe occupying the land yet, the Native American’s have dubbed this area an ancestral ground and want to claim it. It seems that the government does not agree with what they intend to use it for. While the federal government did indeed give the area to the tribe, the tribe’s plans to build a casino on the land have not been well received.

According to a tribal representative, the tribe wants nothing more than to build a casino so that they can gather enough money to relocate over 700 displaced tribesmen to the area. The government it seems, is not convinced that a casino is the right way to do this.

For a previously disenfranchised group, this move forward seems to make sense on paper but when considering the amount of people affected by alcohol and gambling addiction, both in and outside of the borders of the tribe, does it make sense to build a new house of temptation. On the other hand, how will this population group survive otherwise? Though they do have some sources of income, these are a trickle rather than a steady stream and this means that they could potentially die out.

Is the only option really to build a casino on the land? It would seem that for the Fort Sill tribe, who can trace their heritage all the way back to the famous Native American Geronimo, this is all they have left and all they will consider. Whether they government will give in and allow them to do as they wish is still under contention, but they are certainly not giving up without a fight, and without battling the legislature in their own way.