July 2011, From the Editor
Rolling the Dice on Economic Diversification
I grew up just 10 miles from the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa reservation. I remember as a child visiting an impoverished community with some very deep cultural roots.
I moved away from the area when I went to college, but in return visits, I noticed a change as Indian gaming moved in. The casino seemed to be helping the community rise out of poverty. Jobs and cash seemed more plentiful than I remembered. But the steeped traditions of my youth — the powwows, the artistry and the history — seemed to have diminished in importance.
When I asked Samantha Greendeer, an attorney in the Indian Law Practice Group at Whyte Hirschboeck and Dudek S.C., about this phenomenon, she said she had noticed the same on the Oneida Indian Reservation where she grew up. “When tribes began gaming in the early ‘90s, they had to pull their focus away from other means of economic income, such as beadwork, quillwork and powwows,” she says.
But as Indians mastered gaming, the winds of change began to blow. Today state tribes are focusing on economic diversification. And there’s much everyone can learn from their diversification process and cultural values.
The trees in the world-renowned Menominee Forest are 200 years old, and have attracted the notice of parties across the globe interested in becoming more sustainable. “These forestry practices came from the elders many years ago, and are now being recognized as sustainable,” says Patricia O’Neil, executive director of the Northwoods NiiJii Enterprise Community.
Lac du Flambeau recently received a Ford Foundation Planning Grant to help refurbish its Indian bowl and bring back regular powwows and other cultural events. Programs at the Woodland Indian Art Center are also shining a new spotlight on Native American artistry. These programs are designed to educate others about Indian culture, as are the expanded museums, such as those found on the Oneida and Lac du Flambeau reservations.
Sharing their heritage will educate and inform visitors while drawing tourism dollars to tribal communities. In this way, the casino becomes the hub around which other cultural and tourism opportunities can be built.
There are more than a few lessons to be gleaned from the Indian gaming story.
1. Communities, and businesses, should not have all their eggs in one basket. It is as important to diversify a community’s business offerings, as it is to diversify a company’s products.
2. Individuals and businesses should take only what they need. Sustainability is a must if we hope to leave something better for our children.
3. Cultural, spiritual and family values have a place in business too, and a focus on these things can benefit the community economically as well.
Roll the dice on these lessons as the Native Americans are doing. They can benefit your business as well as your community. And that’s a win for everyone.