Transcripts

[INDISTINCT CHATTER] RACHEL RABI: The Grand Casino has been open just a month. But already on weekends, customers have been standing in line to play one of the 400 slot machines that line the walls of this brightly-lit room. General manager Rick Cole says a major expansion that will double the size of the casino is expected to be completed next winter. Until then, several temporary structures are going up to keep up with the demand.

RICK COLE: We have estimates that during our initial year of operations, it will attract a half a million guests. I would think that the band would enjoy at least $1 million profit this year.

RACHEL RABI: The tribe is guaranteed over 50% of the profits from the casino operation which they own. The $5 million project was built by Twin Cities investors who plan to build a second Grand Casino next year for the Mille Lacs Band, on reservation land in Hinckley, adjacent to Interstate 35. Tribal Chief Marge Anderson says casino gambling is an economic turning point for her 2,400-member band that in the past has just gotten by.

MARGE ANDERSON: It was bad. I mean we didn't have any money. We had enough money to probably pay our bills, and that was about it. We just existed.

RACHEL RABI: Anderson says almost any reservation member who wants a job is able to find employment at the casino, where 40% of the 400 employees are Native Americans. The 50% unemployment rate on the reservation has been reduced to almost nothing. And the casino is apparently just the beginning of a major development planned for the reservation Anderson points to a large framed architectural rendering of what the reservation might look like in five years.

MARGE ANDERSON: This is a casino right here. We're going to build a hotel, close this off, and use all this as a-- this is an RV park here, hotel here, entertainment center, we're talking Las Vegas. Doug Twaite, commissioner of economic development for the tribe, says the success of the casino and its major impact on the area economy can help change the community's attitude towards the reservation.

DOUG TWAITE: Only just recently have some of the other local area businesses started to take the reservation seriously in terms of being a real player in the area economy. I think this will draw people's attention to the fact that Indians do run successful businesses.

RACHEL RABI: The casino's annual payroll is estimated at $2 million. It is now one of the largest employers in Mille Lacs County and is already having an impact on area businesses. Frank Feil is doubling the size of his grocery store in Garrison. Clerk Roxanne Boley says the store is noticeably busier since the casino opened a month ago. She has also noticed a change in the reservation members she waits on.

ROXANNE BOLEY: They have pride now. They're dressing better. They have money in their pocket. I don't know, I think they're happy. They have a place to go every day. They have a job now. I don't know, it changes their attitude towards me.

RACHEL RABI: There seem to be little organized opposition to the casino coming to Mille Lacs Lake. There is concern, though, about traffic congestion on Highway 169, the narrow, two-lane highway that runs up the western shore of Mille Lacs Lake and passes right by the casino. Traffic is bad in the summer already, with the influx of fishermen and tourists, and is only expected to get worse with the casino. And some people are worried about the social and moral implications of gambling. Just north of Garrison, at the Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church, the choir gathers to practice their number for Sunday morning worship.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

(CHOIR SINGING) Lord, make me an instrument. Lord.

Pastor Terry Grzybowski says the church is really against gambling as bad stewardship. But he realizes the Mille Lacs Lake area desperately needs more jobs.

TERRY GRZYBOWSKI: It puts me in an awkward position. On the one hand, some of the members who were unemployed were able to find employment there. And that, you see, is a plus. On the negative side of things, there are some dangers connected with gambling. The people in small town Minnesota really don't make a lot of money. And it's very important that they manage the money that they do make as well as they can. And gambling is not a good way of managing the money.

RACHEL RABI: Grzybowski says they will keep their eyes open and be ready to provide help for the people that need it. Tribal Chief Marge Anderson says there may be some problems generated by the casino, but the economic good it will provide for the tribe makes the risk worth it.

MARGE ANDERSON: Well, we've always worked toward self-sufficiency. This is the answer, I believe.

RACHEL RABI: Anderson says their dreams of better healthcare, and expanded school, and improved services for tribal members are possible now because of casino gambling on their reservation. I'm Rachel Rabi.