Mt. Blogmore is following speculation over the possibility of an Indian casino opening up in the Rapid City area:
The NYT has an article this morning about Indian gaming that has all kinds of parallels and maybe even possibilites for tribes in South Dakota — especially the Oglalas of Pine Ridge. In Indians’ Wish List: Big-City Sites for Casinos reporter Fox Butterfield describes how the Cheyenne and Arapaho ribes in Oklahoma are offering the state of Colorado a billion dollars — a “billion”with a “b” –in exchange for 500 acres near Denver and permission to open a super casino the likes of which has never been seen on the Great Plains. The tribes also would agree to give up their land claims to Colorado.
Naturally, the story and the tribes’ offer are more complicated than that. Still, it’s an intriguing idea. One of the proponents — a Colorado venture capitalist — points out that the Oklahoma reservation he visited had 11,500 people and 70 percent unemployment. Sound familiar?
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