Post by Okwes on Dec 21, 2006 11:37:28 GMT -5
LOCAL COMMENT: No jackpots for Native Americans
November 25, 2006
BY DIANE KAWEGOMA
The Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Reservation near Mount Pleasant. (AL GOLDIS/Associated Press)
On a recent trip Up North, I overheard two men talking about American Indians who sit around, do nothing and receive free health care along with money from their casinos.
Being Native American and specifically from the tribe they were discussing, the Odawa tribe from the Petoskey region, I was dismayed and frustrated to realize so many people have the same stereotypical view.
I'm ashamed to say that I did not speak up for my tribe at the time. Although I missed that opportunity, I would now like to dispel the untruths that have circulated since Native Americans opened Michigan's first casino in 1993.
Contrary to the opinions of the men I encountered on my trip, I do not sit around doing nothing, raking in thousands of dollars a month from gambling proceeds and enjoying government-subsidized health care. I am hardworking and conscientious. I earn my living, having worked 40 hours a week at the same place for the last 19 years. I am not dependent on the government for any financial assistance and hope never to be.
My tribe does have a casino, Victories Casino in Petoskey. But it's not making me rich.
Each tribe associated with a casino decides how to distribute the money it earns from the casino. Some tribes elect to build affordable housing for members on the reservations, others pay for health care benefits for tribal members through a group insurance plan, and still other tribes pay a per-diem once a year, letting individual members decide how to spend the money they receive. Mine does an annual per diem, but this year, we're not even sure we're getting one because proceeds are going toward building a new casino.
None of those options makes us wealthy do-nothings. Even when the tribe provides affordable housing, members must pay the tribe back for the house, and they also must pay for their own utilities, food, clothing and gas for the car. We still need to earn a living, especially when the median household income based on a 1998-2000 average is $31,799, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The casinos were supposed to be a business venture to further our tribes' independence, but they are fast becoming a curse because of the misconceptions and dependence they've fostered. Most of the population has decided we are living the privileged life. How can that image hold true when the Census Bureau reported in a 1998-2000 study that 25.9% of the Native American population was below poverty level? Visit almost any reservation in the United States and you'll wonder whether you've stepped into a Third World country.
Yet Native Americans are continually criticized for getting so-called government aid.
One of my sisters was laid off this year from the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education after 27 years of service. She immediately sought information about continuing health care coverage. But one of her union representatives told her not to worry because, as a Native American, she gets health care free. This seems to be a misconception many people share.
There are a few federally funded health care programs for Native Americans that provide only preventive care. This service does not include prescriptions, X-rays or emergency care, and the government is always trying to cut back on services or close health clinics.
Of course, there are other health programs for low-income people, regardless of race. But what happens to people like my sister, who earns too little to pay the bills but too much to be classified as poor by federal poverty level standards? According to the 1998-2000 U.S. Census, 4.1 million individuals identify themselves as Native American and 26.8% of those people lack health care coverage.
Native Americans strive to be self-sufficient, since we cannot depend on any treaty that was ever made in exchange for the land we once occupied. The government has broken promise after promise to our people.
We have little if no political representation in Washington to take up our fight. We seem to be the forgotten people. We have suffered in silence since our ancestors were forced to live on reservations situated on land that was thought to be uninhabitable. We adapted and survived, only to face the indignities that now come with Indian-owned casinos.
Enough is enough; the American public needs to realize that casinos are not making Native Americans millionaires. We are still struggling to reach the economic level that most Americans take for granted.
DIANE KAWEGOMA, 45, is of Mohawk and Odawa ancestry and lives in Detroit. She is a graduate of Wayne State University and works for Wayne County.Write to her in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit 48226 or oped@freepress.com.
November 25, 2006
BY DIANE KAWEGOMA
The Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Reservation near Mount Pleasant. (AL GOLDIS/Associated Press)
On a recent trip Up North, I overheard two men talking about American Indians who sit around, do nothing and receive free health care along with money from their casinos.
Being Native American and specifically from the tribe they were discussing, the Odawa tribe from the Petoskey region, I was dismayed and frustrated to realize so many people have the same stereotypical view.
I'm ashamed to say that I did not speak up for my tribe at the time. Although I missed that opportunity, I would now like to dispel the untruths that have circulated since Native Americans opened Michigan's first casino in 1993.
Contrary to the opinions of the men I encountered on my trip, I do not sit around doing nothing, raking in thousands of dollars a month from gambling proceeds and enjoying government-subsidized health care. I am hardworking and conscientious. I earn my living, having worked 40 hours a week at the same place for the last 19 years. I am not dependent on the government for any financial assistance and hope never to be.
My tribe does have a casino, Victories Casino in Petoskey. But it's not making me rich.
Each tribe associated with a casino decides how to distribute the money it earns from the casino. Some tribes elect to build affordable housing for members on the reservations, others pay for health care benefits for tribal members through a group insurance plan, and still other tribes pay a per-diem once a year, letting individual members decide how to spend the money they receive. Mine does an annual per diem, but this year, we're not even sure we're getting one because proceeds are going toward building a new casino.
None of those options makes us wealthy do-nothings. Even when the tribe provides affordable housing, members must pay the tribe back for the house, and they also must pay for their own utilities, food, clothing and gas for the car. We still need to earn a living, especially when the median household income based on a 1998-2000 average is $31,799, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The casinos were supposed to be a business venture to further our tribes' independence, but they are fast becoming a curse because of the misconceptions and dependence they've fostered. Most of the population has decided we are living the privileged life. How can that image hold true when the Census Bureau reported in a 1998-2000 study that 25.9% of the Native American population was below poverty level? Visit almost any reservation in the United States and you'll wonder whether you've stepped into a Third World country.
Yet Native Americans are continually criticized for getting so-called government aid.
One of my sisters was laid off this year from the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education after 27 years of service. She immediately sought information about continuing health care coverage. But one of her union representatives told her not to worry because, as a Native American, she gets health care free. This seems to be a misconception many people share.
There are a few federally funded health care programs for Native Americans that provide only preventive care. This service does not include prescriptions, X-rays or emergency care, and the government is always trying to cut back on services or close health clinics.
Of course, there are other health programs for low-income people, regardless of race. But what happens to people like my sister, who earns too little to pay the bills but too much to be classified as poor by federal poverty level standards? According to the 1998-2000 U.S. Census, 4.1 million individuals identify themselves as Native American and 26.8% of those people lack health care coverage.
Native Americans strive to be self-sufficient, since we cannot depend on any treaty that was ever made in exchange for the land we once occupied. The government has broken promise after promise to our people.
We have little if no political representation in Washington to take up our fight. We seem to be the forgotten people. We have suffered in silence since our ancestors were forced to live on reservations situated on land that was thought to be uninhabitable. We adapted and survived, only to face the indignities that now come with Indian-owned casinos.
Enough is enough; the American public needs to realize that casinos are not making Native Americans millionaires. We are still struggling to reach the economic level that most Americans take for granted.
DIANE KAWEGOMA, 45, is of Mohawk and Odawa ancestry and lives in Detroit. She is a graduate of Wayne State University and works for Wayne County.Write to her in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit 48226 or oped@freepress.com.