Extract
A Guide to Indian Law in Washington.
Over the past decade, the 29 federally-recognized Indian tribes in the State of Washington have become major players in the State's economy. Tribes are aggressively creating and operating new businesses in the areas of real estate development, banking and finance, media, telecommunications, wholesale and retail trade, tourism, and gaming. Consider these facts:
Washington tribes occupy more than 3.2 million acres of reservation lands. Washington tribes currently employ nearly 15,000 Indian and non-Indian employees. By comparison, Microsoft employs 20,000 Washingtonians. Washington tribes paid over $5.3 million dollars to the State in employment taxes, in 1997 alone. By 2002, Washington's twenty-one gaming tribes generated $648 million in revenue, up from $620 million in 2001. 2 A corollary to the dramatic increase in tribal economic development is the increased interaction of tribes and non-Indian citizens who seek business, employment, or recreation on Indian reservations. In turn, legal matters between Indian tribes and non-Indians continue to increase. As Indian law issues now intersect both litigation and transactional practices, and virtually every niche of law, 3 every attorney in Washington must be cognizant of general Indian law principles and stand prepared to answer common Indian law questions. Likewise, all tribal and county decisionmakers should understand the contour...See the full content of this document
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