People often imagine Indians as they appear in movies or literature, such as the characters in books of Karl Maya. Books such as the novels by author Fenimore Cooper or Thomas Mayne Reid create an image of vast free prairies, millions of bison, giant bear grizzly, ingenious footprints of Indians, and no less unique white hunters. Another layer of information was laid by western movies. In the beginning, the Indians were shown as savages, defeated by great cowboys, industrious settlers, and the federal army after heroic battles. Later, the mass media press was talking about Indians how they were locked into reserves, as a result, this nation was forced to disappear. Such a myth was born of the European dream of a free, close to nature life. But the reality was different, and life forced Indians to adapt to the current conditions.
Early Ages
The reality is that the Indians were nomads too. Thousands of years ago, they came to America across the Bering Strait to chase the wild animals for food. There was no firearm then, and it was not easy to shoot a large animal with an arrow, so it was necessary to look for the new options. According to gene studies, only 4 women crossed the ice of the Bering Strait with the first Indian migrants. Group after group more Indians were settling in America.
After the voyage of Columbus, the Spanish, the British and other Europeans were coming to the New World. The settlers interacted with the Indians, but only when there were few of newcomers. As the society of the newcomers were growing, they drove the Indians out of their lands and killed them. The colonists sought to seize as much fertile prairie land as possible to grow grain and cattle there. In the fight against the Indians, all measures were permissible. Millions of bison were killed just to make the tribes of Indians to starve.
Reserves and Gambling
When America became rich, the government understood how important is to protect the population of the Indians, as a result, the reserves were established. This is not a concentration camp but the areas of land, forest, or lakes that no one has the right to take away or buy, but an Indian can leave the place whenever he wants. The reserves have their own hunting and fishing laws. For those who cannot find work, the state pays pensions because the reserves are located in inappropriate lands where no work can be found. Paradoxically, for the North American Indians, it became a lucky card as they had an autonomy in these lands and won the case in the national court to be able to organize the legal gambling.
Currently, 241 Indian tribes have more than 500 casinos and gambling bars in 28 states. And they are not established in wigwams but in the most modern buildings in America. One of them is the Resort and Spa Palm Springs in California. It is a 16-storey building with 340 rooms, a swimming pool, and a spa. It contains 1000 sparkling slot machines. One machine produces $145 thousand in profits, as a result, it is more than $150 million a year.