3,000 Rally for Indian Casinos

In a downtown Los Angeles rally punctuated by drumbeats, chants and a traditional burning of sage, 3,000 Native Americans and gaming industry workers vowed Monday to fight a proposed government shutdown of tribal casino slot machines and other types of gambling.

Calling the slots the main moneymaker in a business that has begun to defeat grinding poverty on the reservations, the leaders of several California tribes said a federal civil lawsuit seeking to unplug the machines is the latest example of oppression against American Indians. The tribes refused to sign an agreement with the federal government to give up the slots.

“We feel an injustice is being done to us, and we’re here to fight for what we deserve,” said a tribal coalition spokeswoman, Lynn LeRoy, to the cheers of the crowd. “We’re not going back to the way it was.”

The protesters, most of them casino workers who are not Native Americans, rooted loudly for the nine leaders as they climbed the steps of the federal courthouse on Main Street to receive copies of the lawsuits.

Bearing placards with slogans such as “Support our right to support ourselves” and “Indian gaming means getting well, not welfare,” the crowd later walked to the south lawn of City Hall for a picnic.

Tribal members and casino workers say California’s Indian gaming provides 15,000 jobs and infuses $450 million into state coffers from taxes and wages. They claim their operations make up only 5% of the nation’s $5-billion betting industry, while the bulk is controlled by Las Vegas casinos and state lotteries.

One protester, Efren Lozoya, 36, employed at a casino on the San Manuel reservation in San Bernardino County, said he feared the government action could cost him the job that has given him financial stability after several lean years of work in a department store.

“What’s going to happen to us if they shut down the slots?” he said. “I need to provide for my family.”

But U.S. Atty. Nora Manella, whose office filed the suit last week, said the 12,000 machines now operating at 34 tribal casinos throughout the state are a means of betting against the house, which is illegal in California.

She said that of the more than 30 tribes that offer casino gambling in California, only the nine that were sued last week have refused to sign the agreement to get rid of the slot machines.

Manella said the federal government, which has exclusive jurisdiction over the reservations, has allowed slot machines to exist in a kind of legal limbo for three years while negotiations among the tribes and government officials took place. One possible compromise would be for the tribes to enter into an agreement with the state that would allow limited casino winnings to be covered by the house.

She said that despite claims of government oppression and the issue of poverty on reservations, she must enforce the law.

“The fact that an illegal activity is profitable is not a defense. If it were, cocaine traffickers would have a perfect defense,” Manella said.

The tribes being sued are the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, the Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, the Soboba Band of Mission Indians, the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians, the Pechanga Band of Mission Indians and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Poker and bingo, in which players compete for each other’s money, are legal. But the government is seeking to halt “Class 3” gambling, such as slot machines and other games where bets are covered by the casino.

Class 3 gambling was allowed on Indian land until last year, when the California Supreme Court found that the state’s own lottery-style keno game was illegal. Authorities are now trying to apply that decision to Indian gaming.

But last week the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Clinton administration for its views on what kinds of gambling states must consider permitting on Native American soil.

That request, some experts say, signals that the high court is considering stepping into the long-running battle. In the meantime, tribes have made their case on television and radio, using action movie star Steven Seagal as a spokesman.

Richard Milanovich, tribal chairman of the Agua Caliente Band, said Class 3 gaming brings in two-thirds of the casino’s profits.

He said the money is used to build and upgrade facilities and provide health insurance and scholarships.

Anthony R. Pico, chairman of the Viejas Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, said that five years ago 90% of the 270 members of the band received public assistance. But Pico credited the Viejas Casino and Turf Club in eastern San Diego County, which opened five years ago, with eliminating the need for welfare. He said that like many tribes the band is now diversifying its financial base by investing in banks and shopping centers.

“We were languishing out there for years,” he said. “But the casinos have made us self-sufficient.”