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Waging War on Native American Casinos

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Re “In Casino Wars, She’s a Player,” Nov. 3: Hooray for Cheryl Schmit! Finally, California has someone who is not afraid to take on the new scourge destroying people’s lives -- the Indian casinos. Why Native Americans feel that casinos are the only way they can make a living is a mystery. But they seem to have become the new Mafia, using reservations as staging grounds for spreading gambling into communities all over California.

Will Ray

Burbank

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Re Schmit’s concern that casinos operated by Native American tribes will “smother community character”: Unfortunately for Native Americans, their “community” was smothered by the U.S. government long ago. Now that the public sees native tribal communities prospering from capitalism, instead of hunting buffalo, they want them back in the system by way of taxation. I am ashamed of how we have treated Native Americans and even more ashamed that a letter defending the tribes has to be written. It is 2003, not 1803.

Ken Madson

Los Angeles

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