Cultural Preservation

• Native American casinos host annual festivals that showcase traditional art forms, such as basketry, painting, jewelry making, pottery and rug making. Visitors watch art and cooking demonstrations and try traditional Native American food. Traditional musical and dance performances take place, too. Some critics of Indian gaming argue that casinos exploit Native American culture, but others, including UCLA anthropologist Jessica R. Cattelino in her contribution to the 2004 book "Native Pathways: Economic Development and American Indian Culture in the Twentieth Century," say Native Americans throughout history have adapted their cultural activities to become more economically prosperous.
  
  

Economic Stability

• In its 2009 Economic Impact Report, the National Indian Gaming Association wrote that $26.2 billion in gross revenue -- before wages, capital costs and operating expenses were paid -- came from gaming. Another $3.2 billion in gross revenue that year was from casino-related hospitality and other services, including golf and other recreation and entertainment. The money gives Native Americans access to better health care (by funding clinics and medical centers), emergency preparedness measures, education and programs for children and the elderly. The money also goes to fund tribal government and charitable organizations.
  
  

Employment

• In 2009, an estimated 628,000 jobs nationwide existed because of reservation casinos in three kinds of employment: those employed directly at the casinos, employees involved in the hospitality industry related to it and people who work on renovations, upgrades and other casino-related construction projects. In 2002, the National Bureau of Economic Research paper, "The Social and Economic Impact of Native American Casinos," cited an 11.5 percent increase in reservation population and a 26 percent increase in adult employment in areas where casinos had been operating at least four years.
  
  

Negatives

• With the advent of casinos on Indian reservations came a few undesirable characteristics, too: theft and other crime, alcoholism and drug abuse. About a 10 percent increase is seen in auto thefts, larceny, violent crime and bankruptcy in counties four years after a casino has opened there, according to "The Social and Economic Impact of Native American Casinos." Casinos make money, but sometimes to the detriment of local businesses that surround them.