Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
.svg) |
|
| Long title | An Act to regulate gaming on Indian lands. |
|---|---|
| Acronyms (colloquial) | IGRA |
| Enacted by | the 100th United States Congress |
| Effective | October 17, 1988 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 100-497 |
| Statutes at Large | 102 Stat. 2467 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 25 U.S.C.: Indians |
| U.S.C. sections created | 25 U.S.C. ch. 29 § 2701 et seq. |
| Legislative history | |
|
|
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (Pub.L. 100–497, 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.) is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act. The stated purposes of the act include providing a legislative basis for the operation/regulation of Indian gaming, protecting gaming as a means of generating revenue for the tribes, encouraging economic development of these tribes, and protecting the enterprises from negative influences (such as organized crime). The law established the National Indian Gaming Commission and gave it a regulatory mandate. The law also delegated new authority to the U.S. Department of the Interior and created new federal offenses, giving the U.S. Department of Justice authority to prosecute them.
The law has been the source of extensive controversy and litigation. One of the key questions is whether the National Indian Gaming Commission and Department of Interior can be effective in regulating tribal economic decisions related to Indian gaming. Some in Congress are in favor of greater regulation, while a professor in the field is skeptical that such regulation is effective. Many of the controversies have produced litigation, some of it reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gambling is a part of many traditional Indian cultures. Tribal games include dice and shell activities, archery competitions, races, and so on. When Native Americans moved to Indian Reservations in the mid- to late 1800s, most were left with limited economic opportunity. Today, most of these reservations "are located in remote areas with little indigenous economic activity…[They] have some of the highest rates of poverty, unemployment, welfare dependency, school dropout, alcoholism, and other indicators of poverty and social distress of any communities in the U.S."
The use of gaming to generate profit did not begin until the late 1970s and early 1980s within Indian communities. Several tribes, especially in California and Florida, opened bingo parlors as a way to earn revenue. Their actions were related to the search for new sources of revenue, given the emphasis the Reagan administration placed on economic self-sufficiency for the tribes.
...
Wikipedia