High stakes : Florida Seminole gaming and sovereignty / Jessica R. Cattelino.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cattelino, Jessica R., author.

Series:

e-Duke books scholarly collection.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Seminole Indians--Florida--Government relations.

Seminole Indians.

Seminole Indians--Florida--Economic conditions.

Gambling on Indian reservations--Florida.

Gambling on Indian reservations.

Indians of North America--Gambling--Florida.

Indians of North America.

Tribal government--Florida.

Tribal government.

Self-determination, National--Florida.

Self-determination, National.

Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 295 pages) : illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

Durham : Duke University Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English.

Summary:

Ethnography that looks at how the casinos run by the Florida Seminoles have affected the tribe's ideas about sovereignty and cultural distinctiveness.

In 1979, Florida Seminoles opened the first tribally operated high-stakes bingo hall in Native North America. At the time, their annual budget stood at less than $2 million. By 2006, net income from gaming surpassed $600 million. This dramatic shift from poverty to relative economic security has translated into tangible benefits for tribal citizens, including employment, universal health insurance, and social services. Renewed political self-governance and economic strength have reversed decades of U.S. settler state control. At the same time, gaming has brought new dilemmas to reservation communities and triggered outside accusations that Seminoles are sacrificing their culture by embracing capitalism. In High Stakes, Jessica R. Cattelino tells the story of Seminoles' complex efforts to maintain politically and culturally distinct values in a time of new prosperity. Cattelino presents a vivid ethnographic account of the history and consequences of Seminole gaming. Drawing on research conducted with tribal permission, she describes casino operations, chronicles the everyday life and history of the Seminole Tribe, and shares the insights of individual Seminoles. At the same time, she unravels the complex connections among cultural difference, economic power, and political rights. Through analyses of Seminole housing, museum and language programs, legal disputes, and everyday activities, she shows how Seminoles use gaming revenue to enact their sovereignty. They do so in part, she argues, through relations of interdependency with others. High Stakes compels rethinking of the conditions of indigeneity, the power of money, and the meaning of sovereignty, wherever it is claimed.

Contents:

Introduction: Seminole gaming in the Sunshine State

1. Casino roots

2. Cultural currencies

3. Fungibility: the politics of casino money

Interlude: Mateo Romero's Indian gaming

4. Rebuilding sovereignty

5. Sovereign interdependencies

Conclusion: Betting on the house.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780822391302 (electronic book)

9786613036025

9781283036023

1283036029

9780822391302

0822391309

OCLC:

246726504