Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Spring 2007

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Advisor

Todd Leahy

Abstract

The Sac and Fox and the Kickapoo nations, both residing in Kansas, proposed a generous casino plan involving profit sharing for both the State of Kansas and Wyandotte County, to Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius in 2003. The Sac and Pox nation own the Sac and Fox Casino in Powhattan, Kansas, while the Kickapoo nation operates the Golden Cloud Casino in Horton, Kansas. Despite both tribes experiencing success with their respective operations, they long for the increased revenue that a casino in Wyandotte County, Kansas promises. Indian gaming has grown in the United State out of a need for Indian tribes to raise money for tribal betterment. The profits tribes earn from casino gaming pay for social programs and infrastructure improvements on reservations, thus providing an increased level of sovereignty to each tribe. Sovereignty is the power of decision-making that has been reduced and in some cases eliminated by the federal government and the states for centuries. The Sac and Fox and the Kickapoo nations, currently awaiting the decision about the future of their proposed joint casino from Kansas's legislature, have joined forces before. They were part of Tecumseh's pan-Indian confederacy, they helped the British during the War of 1812 to thwart American expansion in the Old Northwest, and they followed Black Hawk during his war against federal oppression. Ultimately, as the Kansas experience of the Kickapoos and Sac and Fox illustrates, these tribes will not regain the sovereignty they deserve without state cooperation and federal. The tribes' cooperation in the casino ventures demonstrates a continued desire on the part of members of both tribes to protect tribal sovereignty at all costs.

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Rights

© 2007 Raymond A. Nolan

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