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Six Nations Native Canadian Tribe Considers Online Gambling on ReservationThe Six Nations Native Canadian Indian tribe, whose tribal reservation is near Brantford, Canada, is engulfed in a controversy over online gambling, which an outside group is keen on operating from their reservation.The Six Nations tribe, which counts 22,000 members scattered across Canada, the United States, and military bases overseas, was first approached by the entrepreneurial group SixNet in 2003. SixNet, headed by local entrepreneur Gerry Monture, sought to establish the Six Nations reservation as a center for online gambling. He promised the tribe around $3 million each year from licensing fees, plus the creation of high- tech jobs on the reservation. Monture said that he would construct a business plan and deliver it to the gaming commission. Currently, it is illegal to host an online gambling business on Canadian land, with the de facto exception of on sovereign Native Canadian reservations. The Kahnawake reservation, which is located near Montreal, is at the present time the only jurisdiction in the country in which online gambling is conducted. While there is actually no law which expressly allows online gambling on reservations, the Kahnawake online gambling center has never been the subject of an investigation by the authorities. Nevertheless, the people of the Six Nations tribe are afraid that establishing an online gambling business would open up their tribe to potential litigation, since the law is not entirely clear. “There is no specific provision in the Criminal Code exempting First Nations people from the law,” said Six Nations Chief David General. A survey by Six Nations media adviser Dan David, said that a majority of people who attended a tribal public information session on the possibility for online gambling said that they did not like the prospect. People are also concerned, said General, that the tribe will lose control of the online gambling business if it is in the hands of an outside investment company like SixNet. There is also the worry that the bulk of any profits from an online gambling center would go to the investors, and not to the tribe’s members. However, the Chief said that the issue will have to be determined by the tribe members themselves. "The only way we can do it is by having a referendum," General told reporters yesterday. The vote will probably, he said, be held this year, and would be open to all of the tribe’s members, whether or not they reside on the reservation in Brantford. This is not the first time that the Six Nations tribe has held a referendum on gambling. Several years ago, when asked whether the tribe should open a brick and mortar casino on the reservation, the overwhelming majority said “no.”
The police recently raided an illegal casino site located in a dusty warehouse in Port Richmond, confiscating thousands of dollars and illegal gambling equipment. |
