The Maine Casino Question.
This is what the state of Maine reminds it's citizens and visitors on highway road signs. However, it's a different story if you look to where the Passamaquoddy Tribe lives, pressed against the US boarder. There you will find unemployment, drug abuse, and teen pregnancy. Over half of the tribe is un-employed and the little town is scattered with failed endeavors intended for economic revival. The Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indian tribes deem the answer lies in a 650 million dollar gambling casino funded by owner of lavish Vas Vegas casino the Bellagio. This fall Mainers will vote on whether to allow the Indians to open the casino. .
Do you want to allow a casino to be run by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot nation if part of the revenue is used for state education and municipal revenue sharing? This is the question going on Maine voting ballots this November. Under the blanket of humanitarianism is a simple question; do the people of Maine want a casino? The supporters of the casino boast that it would bring good things to this great state. However, passing this bill would break existing agreements, be deceitful to the people of Maine, create crime, and hurt local businesses.
The history of the Passamaquoddy and the Penobscot people is not cheerful one. Not filled with great triumphs and victories, rather with hate and oppression. When the white people came to settle in America, these people were maltreated and pushed around. In present times, the state of Maine give money, supplies, and land to compensate for the injustices of the past. It seems odd though, a culture paying for mistakes that are hundreds of years old. I have never heard of someone being punished for the sins of their grandfather, this is what is happening. Mainers give millions of dollars to the Passamaquoddy and the Penobscot tribes of Maine.
It was after years of conflict, and months of negotiation, that the state of Maine gave 82 million dollars to the tribes to buy hundreds of thousands of acres of land to expand their territory.