Page 24 - March 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
California Tribal Government Gaming Brings Jobs and Income to Areas Most in Need of Development
...Continued from Page 23
Rumsey Band of Wintun
Indians gives $250,000 to TCal State Sacramento
he Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians, owners of Cache Creek Indian Bingo and Casino, announced on February 6th its rst-quarter charitable donations, which totaled
$728,850 and included a gift of $250,000 to California State University, Sacramento, for an endowed Native American Studies Center.
“ e study and knowledge of Native American ancestry is such an important element in our nation’s history. We are proud to support the center,” Tribal Chairman Marshall McKay said.
is gift is the tribe’s largest contribution to the University, says Vince Sales, associate vice president for development. Funding for the Native American Studies Center will help pay for annual events, conferences, speakers, visiting professors and a pow wow. A portion of the donation also will be used to provide scholarships.
Other donations from the tribe’s Rumsey Community Fund, which has donated more than $8 million since its inception in October 2000, include $60,000 to Cache Creek Lodge, a nonpro t drug and alcohol recovery center; $19,000 to Woodland High School’s Healthy Start Program for at-risk youth and more than 20 other nonpro t organizations.
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Between 1990 and 2000, tribal governments with gaming in California saw a signi cant reduction in the percentage of families in poverty, from 36 percent in 1990 to 26 percent in 2000. at is still well above the national average (about 10
percent).
e poorest communities in California in 1990 have captured the largest increases in median family income.
Overall employment grew about 3.9 percent between 1990 and 2000 in areas near tribal gaming establishments, even after controlling for population growth.
Anthony Miranda, a member of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians in Temecula and Chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA), said the study provides an important benchmark for analyzing change over the term of the existing tribal-state compacts.
“The first compacts between California tribal governments and the state were signed in 2000,” said Miranda, an alumnus of UC Riverside.“This research provides an important evaluation of the impact of tribal government gaming during its initial growth phase in the 1990’s. Now we will have the methodology to generate a systematic analysis of the impacts of gaming under those compacts, which include mitigation and revenue-sharing provisions for both local governments and non-gaming tribes.”
Page 24 March 2006
Tribes in the News (Continued)