Learning how to protect the present and grow the future

Ask most non-Indians what they know about American Indians in commercial
businesses and their first response will undoubtedly contain the word
“casino.” Indeed, the Indian casino has quickly become a ubiquitous symbol
for the reservation economy. But as come the casinos, so have, in more and
more tribes, the growth and diversification of tribal business enterprises.

The expanding universe of Indian trade and commerce comes to the forefront
later this month at the first-ever Tribal Wealth Management Conference.
That there’s even a need for such a gathering tells much about the growth
of Indian business in the aftermath of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of
1988.

From Sept. 27 – 29, Indian country’s governmental leaders and business
executives will gather at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in
Hollywood, Fla. Conference participants will discuss and explore ways to
diversify tribal business holdings, principles of financial planning and
management, maximizing investment potential and cross-tribal enterprises
among many other topics.

Why is this landmark conference so important? Think back to the state of
tribally-owned and reservation-based business before IGRA. Tribal
governments held bingo games to fund whatever programs and services they
could, while entrepreneurial activity, both by governments and individuals,
was small-scale. Many took advantage of reservation sovereignty to get into
the tobacco and fuel businesses. Taken as a whole, however, limited access
to investment capital made it difficult to grow business operations on
tribal lands.

In 1988, Congress created IGRA to serve as a revenue generator for tribal
governments – a tribal tax base of sorts. IGRA has morphed into the first
and as yet only consistent means of economic development in Indian country
since European contact.

Fast forward to 2004: According to the National Indian Gaming Association,
Indian gaming has gone coast to coast. The industry generated $16.7 billion
in revenue last year, with 354 casinos owned by 224 tribes, whose lands lie
surrounded by 28 states. There are 249 tribal-state gaming compacts
currently in force.

Casino revenue has enabled many Indian governments to provide improved
health care, education, housing and other essential services to
long-deprived populations. It has also given the more successful tribes the
capital with which to flex their muscles in both the national political and
economic spheres.

From humble beginnings in many a bingo hall, many tribes have branched into
full-fledged destination resort casinos. Indian entrepreneurial presence is
beginning to gain a tenuous toehold in a wide variety of industries. Some
of these – like bison ranching and fisheries – have traditional roots.
Others – such as aviation, textiles, mass media, banking, energy and pro
sports – represent vast new directions.

Safeguarding the future requires that Indian entrepreneurs and governments
learn to navigate the complex realities of the business world and the
financial markets, to manage assets and to invest wisely, to recognize
opportunity and to seize it – both in their business operations as well as
in their investments.

A few of the many topics to be covered at the Tribal Wealth Management
Conference are: Establishing trust funds; financial engineering and cash
management; entering the financial services industry; tribal money held in
government trust and cross-tribal enterprise – investing in Native
community development financial institutions.

As gaming continues to build wealth in Indian country, the Tribal Wealth
Management Conference will likely become a staple event – one to which the
successful Indian businessmen return and the newly emerging tribal
entrepreneurs come to learn.