A Tale of Two Tribes

When the Menominee Tribe announced plans for a new entertainment center and casino in Kenosha, the Potawatomi reacted to the threat of competition for their Milwaukee casino by:

• Organizing front groups – one, two, and possibly a third – to oppose the Kenosha plan;
• Spending more than $1 million on a massive, extremely negative campaign to defeat a 2004 countywide referendum on the Kenosha project. (Potawatomi’s anti-competition efforts failed when voters overwhelmingly endorsed the Menominee project at the polls.);
• Fabricating opposition to the Menominee plan by busing their own casino employees to a BIA hearing in Kenosha. (Project supporters still outnumbered Potawatomi’s hired opponents by more than 7-to-1.);
• Funding a flawed economic study claiming it would be somehow bad if the Potawatomi actually had to operate in a competitive marketplace like everyone else;
• Spending millions on lobbyists pushing Potawatomi’s pro-monopoly agenda in the State Capitol, the U.S. Capitol and even the Executive Office of the President of the United States;
• And more.

When the Potawatomi decided to upgrade their on-reservation casino in Carter, less than an hour’s drive from the Menominee’s on-reservation casino in Keshena, the Menominee Tribe reacted by:

• Becoming a stronger competitor.

We don’t know what the Potawatomi will say about the on-Reservation casino expansion the Menominee announced today, but what we can tell you is this: It’s very different from the Kenosha project, and both are badly needed by the Menominee, one of the largest and poorest tribes in the state.

Here’s what Menominee Chair Lisa Waukau had to say about the two efforts:

“Improving our on-Reservation casino will help the Menominee maintain existing conditions by allowing us to continue to provide very limited, but badly needed, services to our members. But building in Kenosha will allow us to do much more – we will be able to hope, plan and work for a better tomorrow for our Tribe. While the on-Reservation casino generates most of Menominee’s current operating income, the Kenosha project will provide new resources to address the significant unmet needs our Tribe has even with current funding in place.

“Revenues from Kenosha, while creating thousands of good jobs and a multimillion-dollar economic boost that will be felt statewide, will allow us to more effectively address the issues of poverty, health care and housing; train our young people for positive and rewarding careers; better care for our elders; and contribute more in our communities. Like other Wisconsin Tribes that have benefited from expanded gaming, we will be able to build a more solid Menominee future.”

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