One of the best ever in nonfiction

books:


	• Without Reservation : How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World's Largest Casino Jeff Benedict Harper Paperbacks, 2001 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

At what costs?

I read this book on the suggestion of a friend. It definately is a pager turner and I couldn't put it down until I finished.

As an enrolled member of a 'casino' tribe I see why such a book would be written about a tribe rising to power through gaming. Afterall, Indians are not entitled to this type of wealth. We're supposed to reside on our little enclaves of land and be alcoholics and live close to nature and I ask why can't Indians have wealth? We didn't make the laws and neither did the Pequots. The Pequots just used the laws to their advantage and made it big. Why shouldn't the Pequots be entitled to justices of the land?

However, I can see the otherside of the fence as well. At what costs did this wealth and power come to a tribe that is suspicious of being a true Indian tribe? I'm not naive. It was all done for good purposes in the beginning, but once instant wealth came their way, all sense of what makes a tribe a tribe was lost to the bigger financial picture. The first thing that is cut when an audit happens is to cut the museum budget. The one thing that can disproove the skepticism of them being a real tribe is cut so that members can keep their pockets lined. No sense of community is in the hearts of this tribe because they'd be looking out for the welfare of the future generations.

But when reading this book, if you choose to, is to attempt to put all biases aside and see what this book (and the others written on the same topic) show...that this book does an incredible job of describing the legal and political forces in opposition to each other that led to the creation, and then to the interpretation and application of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. No other book has done a better job of illustrating the distinction between federal Indian law on the books and federal Indian law in practice than this one. It's a fascinating blueprint for how Indian tribes can leverage law, policy, and politics--if they are shrewd--to achieve an almost unimagineable degree of contemporary political and material power. The brilliance of the Pequots is that they figured out how to use white law and institutions to their particular advantage, and this book describes just how they did it. It is fascinating!! But also to Indian tribes reading this book, let this be a lesson in what NOT to do when instant wealth comes one's way.

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One of the best ever in nonfiction

This is one of the best nonfiction historical books I have ever read. Jeff Benedict is able to convey to the reader the most important details regarding the birth of Foxwoods in a manner which holds the reader's attention as if you were reading a murder mystery. The role of the federal government in creating this multibillion dollar industry is clearly spelled out and incredibly well documented. Kudos to Jeff Benedict for his outstanding research and thorough investigation of the Pequots.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

With compelling detail, Without Reservation tells the stunning story of the rise of the richest Indian tribe in history.

In 1973, an old American Indian woman dies with nothing left of her tribe but a 214-acre tract of abandoned forest. It seems to be the end of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe. But it is just the beginning. Over the next three decades, the reservation grows to nearly 2,000 acres, home to more than 600 people claiming to be tribal members. It has also become home to Foxwoods, the largest casino in the world, grossing more than $1 billion a year.

Without Reservation reveals the mysterious roots of today's Pequot tribe, the racial tension that divides its members, and the Machiavellian internal power struggle over who will control the tribe's funds. Author Jeff Benedict brings to us the deal makers, the courtroom machinations, the trusts and betrayals.

Now, with remarkable new information, the paperback brings us up-to-date on these revelations, which lead to state and federal investigations and calls for congressional hearings.

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