Indian Gaming: The Janus of Gambling

In Roman mythology, Janus is the Roman god of the doorway to a treasure trove. He is depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions - the beginning and end. The twin faces is a symbolism of looking at the past and at the same time gazing at the future. In many ways, the same could be said of Indian Gaming, the acceptable term used to describe legalized gambling activities by Native American tribes on their reservation lands.

Native American tribes are recognized by the U.S. Federal Government as sovereign nations and that their reservation lands are deemed as self-governing lands. However, much of these reservation lands are largely undeveloped and sadly lacking in resources and other vital infrastructure. With no tax base to finance education, health, law enforcement and civil works programs, Native American tribal leaders found it impossible to provide for the welfare of their marginalized people. Tribal leaders henceforth sought salvation in legalized gambling profits for their sought after social and developmental projects on reservation lands for the benefit of their people who have become one of America's poorest. After all, Native Americans are allowed under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 to create and regulate gambling activities inside their reservation lands.

Within just a decade from start up gambling in bingo halls, the Indian Gaming industry moved from high stakes bingo to card games and slot machines in neon lighted casinos that rival their glitzy counterparts in the gambling capitals of Reno and Atlantic City. The phenomenal success of the Indian gaming industry is short of a gambling miracle considering that it is based on reservation lands previously shunned by tourists, businessmen and investors. Employment opportunities in gambling casinos abound for the taking of Native and Non-Native Americans alike. Legalized gambling profits went towards providing decent health care services, educational trust funds, vital utilities and infrastructure. The financial windfall from legalized gambling has improved the quality of life of Native Americans and gave them back the dignity of providing for their own needs and of determining their own destiny as a tribe and as a nation.

Just like the mythical Janus, Indian Gaming makes us look back at a time when Native Americans wallowed in abject neglect and poverty and when hunger, disease, hopelessness and despair virtually stalked every household on the reservation lands. Indian Gaming makes us also look forward to the promise of a brighter and more prosperous times for Native Americans that lie just beyond the doorway to a treasure throve of legalized gambling profits guarded by twin headed Janus.