Harrah’s Cherokee casino has provided good jobs
for tribal members and sparked economic
development
Despite these disadvantages, there have been some inspiring success stories.
- In the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Michigan, a grandmother was making ends meet by selling candles around town. One of her grandsons designed a web page as part of a school assignment. He put the site up for his teacher to evaluate over the weekend. By Monday morning, the grandmother had orders for $30,000 worth of merchandise. The web had allowed her to access markets well beyond her remote rural home, but it also created problems. To fill those orders she would have to get a loan, find space and hire workers. And even if she got the loan she had nowhere to deposit the money. She had never needed a bank account before.
- At the other end of the spectrum, Ho-Chunk Enterprises was created in 1994 with profits from the gaming casino owned by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Ho-Chunk is a separate entity from the tribal council, although two members of the council sit on the company's five-member board. The tribe had seen the state of Iowa authorize several commercial casinos just 80 miles away from them. The tribe's casino profits fell by 90 percent in one month. The company bought a modular-housing manufacturer in Minnesota and a construction company to install the houses. Those enterprises were successful. Then they built or bought 10 grocery stores and convenience stores, taking advantage of the tribe's tax breaks. They also got into the banking business. By 2003, Ho-Chunk was a $40 million business with 12 subsidiaries and 1,100 employees. Unemployment on the Winnebago Reservation dropped from 66 percent in 1998 to 24 percent in 2004.
- Lakota Express is a growing firm that offers direct mail marketing, a sophisticated call center, fundraising consulting and web site development to clients all over the world. To get started 10 years ago, the firm's owner Karlene Hunter had to convince her U.S. Senator to help get two commercial T1 Internet lines extended to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Then she got business training through a community development agency. She then made it in the business. And in an ironic twist, Lakota Express has benefited from a kind of "reverse outsourcing" — Chinese firms have contracted with Lakota Express to run accuracy checks on the work of the Chinese.
- DECO Security Services is based in Baxter, Minnesota, and was founded by a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. The company started installing security systems in 1996 and stayed small. Then in 2002, they became an SBA 8(a) firm and got contracts with the new Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, State Department, FAA and EPA. They now employ 1,600 and had revenues of over $58 million in 2004.
- Siyeh Development Corporation is the business arm of the Blackfeet tribe in Browning, Montana. They have turned the tribe's bingo hall into a profit center instead of a job factory. They also have a cable TV company, a bottled water firm, a heritage center and art gallery and online store. They've created 100 jobs and maintained profitability.
- The Oneida Nations Farms in Wisconsin began with only 150 acres and 25 head of cattle in 1978. Today, they farm 8,000 acres with 400 cattle and 200 buffalo. They raise staples like corn and soybeans, as well as specialty produce like apples, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, snap beans, squash and pumpkins. They pride themselves on being a sustainable operation and promote whole foods and a healthy diet for Oneida citizens.
These are only a few of the diverse Native American enterprises that are springing up all over Indian Country. The Native Americans involved in this push for economic development probably all agree on one thing — as Lakota Express owner Karlene Hunter puts it, "Until you have control of your finances, you'll never truly have sovereignty."
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