Recent efforts by American Indian nations to add to their property holdings represent evidence of the growing ability of formerly destitute communities to chart their own futures based in large part on the profits generated from casinos.
This is to be applauded.
The ancestors of the present-day Indians never asked the Europeans to come to these shores, and surely did not request to be sequestered on small, agriculturally poor and isolated "reservations" where they were generally unable to grow enough to feed their families.
And so the news that many tribes are taking their casino earnings and investing them in purchasing land adjacent to their federally defined reservations seems to us entirely reasonable. When places and features with sacred or historical meaning to these communities were not included in their reservations, or their historical community reach was far larger than the parcel handed them by the federal government, it created a tear in those communities.
That many of these tribes now have the ability to go out and purchase these properties on the open market can only be seen as progress.
At the same time, we would caution federal officials against being too quick to add these properties to the official reservation holdings ---- which removes those new acquisitions from state tax rolls.
If the tribes want to expand, more power to them. But letting them build commercial enterprises that compete with off-reservation businesses ---- and not pay any of the cost of local infrastructure ---- does more harm than good.
The tribes in Southern California have been for the most part responsible, generous neighbors. They've certainly behaved better than the invading Europeans and Americans did in years past.
And while we understand their desire to regain control over a destiny that was unjustly taken from them, the reality is that reservations and the surrounding communities are inextricably linked.
The fairest solution, it seems to us, is the one suggested above: The Indians can, of course, buy and sell all the non-reservation real estate their budgets can absorb.
But it should stay on the tax rolls to help support the police, fire, water, schools and other services that support the entire community.