But when you compare the number of whites with the number of Indians, you end up with over half the Indian population still living in poverty. So now, for the first time, we have the Ojibwe and Sioux nations in Minnesota finding the revenue to build schools, hospitals, and new housing on the reservations. In Minnesota the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe had a 45-percent unemployment rate that fell to virtually zero after their casino opened. The Oneida Nation Casino near Green Bay became the largest minority-owned business in Wisconsin. We had a chance to get out of being perpetual victims and we took it.
Nobody complains around here about self-sufficiency.
But then the Ojibwe pushed the panic button. With their new income, they suddenly had the money to go to court and fight for their old treaties to be honored. Back in the 1800's, when nearly all of their land was seized by the state, they were given certain hunting and fishing rights in exchange. These rights were never respected. So in 1990, the Mille Lacs Band filed an 1837 treaty rights lawsuit in federal court.