Tribal members, who for generations were unable to use tribal lands as collateral to secure loans or who faced banks reluctant to lend to American Indians, no longer face such obstacles.
"Now we don't have to wait on anyone anymore, and I think to me that means a whole lot, to be able to do something ourselves instead of having to wait on people," one Seminole tells Cattelino.
The author also found that many new employment opportunities make allowances for traditional practices that once put Seminoles at odds with non-Seminole employers. Tribal government and Seminole-owned businesses provide time off for their own holidays, events and mourning rituals, for instance.
Their wealth also comes with consequences, the anthropologist found. Traditional Seminole skills, such as making crafts and wrestling alligator, are not being passed on. Wealth has also attracted attention and resentment from the outside community, Cattelino wrote. Seminoles recount that strangers have approached them to ask how much money they make or have vandalized their vehicles.
High Stakes also returns frequently to the Seminoles' efforts to diversify into sugarcane and citrus production, eco-tourism and other business ventures and their success in avoiding gaming scandals.
"This is a money maker," one Seminole tells Cattelino. "It isn't who we are."
Cattelino is donating all proceeds from the book to the Seminole museum at which she volunteered during her research.
Click here to post and read comments
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
