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Abstract

This article chronicles the cultural, political, and economic impact of casino gaming on the Mesquaki settlement. It is based on extensive interviews with tribal members conducted 9 years after the original fieldwork for the ethnography The Heartland Chronicles. The article highlights a breakdown in the Mesquaki political system that resulted in a factional split that closed the casino. Tribal elders fear that the casino has created rampant materialism, which is undermining the traditional religion and leading youth away from higher education into drugsn and underemployment. In addition, a women’s rights movement has emerged to challenge the Mesquaki’s patrilineal enrollment rules and housing policies. Enrollment has become a major issue with a rise in marriages to non-tribal members. On the positive side, the casino has greatly reduced unemployment and increased income levels as well as the quality of housing, education, and healthcare.

Keywords

race relations Native American enrollment Mesquaki tribe Native American civil rights ethnogenesis

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The Heartland Chronicles Revisited: The Casino’s Impact on Settlement Life

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