I'm not a fan of gambling on Indian reservations. I'm not a big fan of Indian reservations in general, but I've understood the logic behind allowing Indian tribes to decide the gambling issue for themselves. These tribes and their lands supposedly represent sovereign mini-states within the larger United States. The idea that they can make their own policy decisions for themselves makes sense, though why these tribes can be expected to solve the gambling question for themselves yet can't be expected to do things like establish their own fire departments is beyond me.

What is troubling about recent developments in Indian gaming, however, is a trend toward moving the casinos off the reservation. Take the disclosure in this article of the fact that two North Dakota Indian tribes - the Turtle Mountain Chippewa and the Mandan Arikira Hidatsa tribes - will be opening casinos in Mississippi! Previously some North Dakota tribes have petitioned to move their casinos off the reservations and closer to larger North Dakota communities, but this involves opening a casino on the other side of the country.

This comes at a time when a majority of our politicians in Washington D.C. seem to be telling non-Indian Americans that we can't be trusted to gamble in our own homes via the internet, no less.

Anyone else seeing a double standard here? Why are Indians being allowed to move their casinos off the reservations and into our communities while non-Indian Americans aren't even allowed to play a little Texas hold 'em on the computer (internet gambling is considered illegal by the Department of Justice)? And isn't it a little discriminatory for the ability to engage in the gaming industry to be restricted to people of one race?

This is just another example of how absolutely ludicrous the Indian reservation system in this country has become.

(via Dakota Huseby)