by Don A. Cozzetto and Brent W. LaRocque

About the authors: Don A. Cozzetto is an associate professor and director of graduate programs in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Dakota. Brent W. LaRocque is a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe and a criminal investigator with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Law Enforcement Services in Albuquerque.

The theme of this viewpoint is that greater tribal self-rule, though favored by tribal populations and a goal of federal Indian policy, comes with a social price. Exercising tribal sovereignty, North Dakota tribal governments, along with other tribal governments across the country, initiated reservation "high-stakes gambling." These tribal "high-stakes" gambling enterprises have been praised as examples of successful tribal self-rule and reservation economic development, but that...