Gaa-zhiigwanaabikoogag

I grew up in Northern Minnesota. The predominate minorities, and therefore the basis of many jokes, were the Finnish, the Polish and the Indians (American Indians).

Their history wasn’t taught in my school. We learned about George W., Lincoln, and Hitler, but not a lot about Tojo, Mao Ze-Dong and Stalin. Ismail Enver and Pol Pot were never mentioned. We also didn’t learn about the history of one of the peoples who came before us in Northern Minnesota, the Ojibwe.

Pre-history – 1700’s -

A *very* brief history of time: By the mid-1700s, the Ojibwe had established themselves in the region around Mille Lacs Lake in what is today Central Minnesota. They supported themselves by hunting deer, bear, moose, waterfowl and small game; fishing the area's lakes and streams; gathering wild rice, maple sugar, and berries; and cultivating plants.

Soon the Mille Lacs Ojibwe's self-sufficient way of life was affected Europeans who started arriving in numbers and in violation of treaties, statutes and agreements.

1988

Congress passes the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act which recognizes that Indian tribes have the right to own and operate casino gaming businesses on reservation lands.

Hinckley

Hinckley, when I grew up in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, was a very small town, know primarily as the site of a graveyard that held the remains of 400 or so souls (most of the population) that died in the “great fire” of 1918. We learned about that in our classes at Moose Lake High too.

Hinckley, in the local Indian dialect of Ojibwe language, is "Gaa-zhiigwanaabikoogag" (the place of grindstones) due to being located along the Grindstone River.

How Times Have Changed

But my how times have changed. Because of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the small town of Hinckley has changed dramatically. Hinckley is a city located in Pine County, Minnesota. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,291. The racial makeup of the city was 91.87% White, 0.15% African American, 5.81% Native American, 0.70%

• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley directly employ more than 3,000 people (note, Hinckley has a population of 1291), of whom about 94 percent are non-Indian.
• Since the casinos opened, the number of jobs in Pine County has increased nearly 70 percent and the number of jobs in Mille Lacs County has increased approximately 35 percent.
• In 1990, before Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley opened, the Mille Lacs Reservation was one of the poorest reservations in the nation, with a poverty rate of nearly 81 percent.
• The population of Hinckley from 1990-2000 increased 36 percent.
• According to the most recently recorded figures, property market values have increased by 550 percent in Hinckley since Grand Casino Hinckley opened.

A Nation Within A Nation

• Indian gaming represents only about 5% of all gambling in the United States and only a third of tribes currently operate gaming facilities.
• While some tribes have earned millions, others remain mired in poverty. The problems of the Indian reservations include a 24% poverty rate, a suicide rate more than twice that of all other nonwhites, and the highest high school dropout rate among all non-whites. Many Indians live on remote lands with no resources.
• The federal government has reduced economic assistance by two-thirds over the last 15 years.
• Unemployment still averages 45%.
• In Minnesota, roughly 37% of the tribal gaming employees had received state or federal welfare assistance prior to their employment and another 31% were drawing unemployment compensation. Daniel Tucker, chairman for the Sycuan band of Mission Indians, points out that "Indian gaming not only reduces the burden on tax-funded social programs but it now increases available reserves."
• Mystic Lake - one of the nation's largest casinos - which has turned 150 members of the Mdewakanton Dakota tribe into millionaires since it opened in 1992.
• Tribal member ship is based on a proof of a 25% bloodline
• Minnesota's estimated 50,000 Indians in 11 federally-recognized tribes.