Native American Gaming History

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The history of Native American gaming dates all the way back to the beginning of time. One of the earliest forms of gaming they took part in were games such as payas, peon, and tikauwich. These games were played in a designated area in each reservation called the malamtepupi (History of Native 2009.) Native American tribes have had the right to self-rule since 1832 but it wasn’t until 1987 when casino gaming became legal without state interference on reservation land (Schaap 2010.) The tribe that changed the law for the industry was the Cabazon Band, a tribe located near Palm Springs, California. They sued the state of California after they threated to shut down their bingo and poker operations claiming that since they were a sovereign government, the state could not interfere (Schaap 2010.) When the Cabazon Band won the trial, there became endless …show more content…

Some tribes have already jumped on the bandwagon to keep up with the quickly changing industry. The Pala Band of Mission tribe of San Diego County has recently opened an online gaming casino in New Jersey. The Internet casino offers slots, roulette, and poker (Olson 2015.) CEO Jim Ryan of Pala Interactive said, “Much of what we’re doing today is about preparing for the legalization of online poker in California and online gaming across the country.”(Olson 2015). While most tribal leaders think that online gaming will hurt the physical gaming industry, others like Lynn Valbuena of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has high hopes for online gaming. She has the idea that many people are hesitant to come into physical casinos because they are intimidated by their lack of knowledge of how to play the games and that online gaming from home will give them the opportunity to learn and improve their skills before stepping into the casinos (Olson

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