Abstract
This study analyzes Indian gaming in South Dakota—specifically, that of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe (SWST)—via library material, telephone and taped interviews, nonparticipant/participant observation, newspaper and administrative reports, and public law statutes. Questions were developed, pretested, and applied to form a gaming narrative or voice of the SWST and its constituency. The article argues that tribes must define, exert, and use their political sovereignty to engage in positive, effective, and sustainable aspects of self-determination. Through the lens deemed most appropriate for the tribe, the SWST plays a vital role in overall economic development on and off the reservation. To be effective, the tribe must be the principal actor for positive economic development, the catalyst for recruiting outside enterprises, and the regulator/monitor of a positive economic development initiative and must develop/maintain the ability to define its organizational structures and engage in those day-to-day activities that advance overall tribal economic development policies and activities.
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