Overview

This case study examines the impact of casino gaming on Native American reservations, and also explores why the idea of 'rich Indians' and their participation in corporate America disrupts dominant assumptions and attitudes about indigenous peoples, their cultural authenticity, and their place in mainstream urban society. Taking an anthropological approach to studying gaming on Indian reservations, the case study explores the implications and challenges of historically marginalized peoples now participating in a corporate entertainment industry. The study also raises broader questions about the nature of capitalism and the enduring stability of predominant cultural constructs about Indians that have dominated the country's political and economic arenas. The impact of Indian gaming in the United States is discussed against a backdrop of globalization and other capitalist endeavors by native peoples in Canada and Australia who are increasingly demanding greater rights to participate in the formal institutions and governments of modern western societies. The book aims to: 1. Introduce students to the legal, political, economic and cultural tensions surrounding casino operations on Native American reservations. 2. Explore why gaming has become such a politically and emotionally charged issue. 3. Emphasize how these tensions existing between Indian and non-Indian communities are representative of wider cultural conflicts and identity politics increasingly confronting many countries.

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9780534613082

Table of Contents

Reviews

Introduction. 1. Enduring Western Stereotypes of Native Americans. 2. Law and the Management of Indigenous Peoples. 3. The History of Indian Gaming in the United States. 4. The Chumash Indian Casino Expansion Project. 5. Rich Indians, New Capitalists. 6. Local Implications, Global Connections. Appendix A: Answers to Common Questions about Indian Gaming. Appendix B: Internet Resources on Native Americans and Tribal Gaming.

Author Information

Eve Darian-Smith is associate professor and chair in the Law and Society Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Trained first as an attorney, Darian-Smith obtained her M.A. in Anthropology at Harvard University and her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago--institutions with top departments of anthropology. Her book, BRIDGING DIVIDES: THE CHANNEL TUNNEL AND ENGLISH LEGAL IDENTITY IN THE NEW EUROPE (UC Press), won the 2000 Herbert Jacob Book Prize from the Law & Society Association. Darian-Smith also serves as international faculty and Teaching Fellow for the Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, is an Associate Editor for the American Ethnologist, and is an advisory board member for Law and Social Inquiry and the Law & Society Review.

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