Whereas buffalo herds once sustained Great Plains tribes, now it’s tribal casinos. “It is a big component to our survival, as was the buffalo to our grandparents and great grandparents. It’s just a different form of survival,” said Doug Yankton, chairman of Spirit Lake Nation, owners of the Spirit Lake Casino in North Dakota.
Tribal casinos in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota are fighting to survive in the age of Covid-19. The casinos closed in March and reopened with much-reduced capacity and new health and safety restrictions. Thousands of jobs were lost; prior to the pandemic, Indian gaming accounted for 23,517 jobs at Minnesota’s 42 gaming sites, 4,440 at 10 casinos in North Dakota and 3,090 at 14 sites in South Dakota.
Yankton said the tribe’s casino “helps fund a lot of programs all over the reservation. The tribe is really depending on it. Since Covid-19 happened, it’s really put a damper on a lot of our needs. It is our major employer.” The casino typically employs 300 people but only half are working during the pandemic.
Yankton said a spike in Covid-19 cases on the reservation caused tribal officials to consider another shutdown to help control the outbreak. The bingo hall and table games were closed but not slots, although fewer are available due to social distancing. As a result, casino revenues have plunged by more than half. “It’s really affected not only that business, but other businesses as well,” Yankton said.
Throughout North Dakota, Indian gaming has surpassed a quarter of a billion dollars, posting revenue of $249.6 million in 2017 and $42 million in non-gaming revenue in 2016, according to Casino City figures. North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission Executive Director Scott Davis said, “It’s been the big revenue source for each tribe and the biggest employer. The tribes are doing all they can to make the right decisions.” Tribes have received federal assistance, but, Davis said, “Anything the tribes get from the feds, it’s never enough.”
Davis is a member of the Standing Rock Indian Tribe, owners of Prairie Knights Casino and Resort in Fort Yates, North Dakota and the smaller Grand River Casino in Mobridge, South Dakota. On the reservation, average employment wages are two-thirds the national level and nearly one-third of households rely on food stamps. Prairie Knights generated revenue of $36.5 million and Grand River Casino produced $9.2 million, according to 2018 data.
With a casino, hotel and convention center, the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, Minnesota, owned by the Ojibwe White Earth Tribe, serves as a gathering place for residents of the reservation and surrounding communities. It normally employs 700 to 800 workers, but now is operating with about 400 employees, said General Manager Scott Stevens. He noted the venue closed March 18 and reopened in mid-June. “We’re not back to normal conditions at all at this point,” he said. Only 200 to 250 of the resort’s 371 rooms are being offered, and, he said, “Tours haven’t been happening,” although “There’s a few travelers coming through,” Stevens said.
Indian gaming in Minnesota generated $1.5 billion in gambling revenue in 2017 and $260.3 billion in 2016, the most recent figures available, according to Casino City’s Indian Gaming Business Report.
