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| Volume XXV, Number 4 | March 19, 2004 |
By Iretta Tiger
MIAMI, FL — On Feb. 20, at the Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center, the final day of the 10th Annual United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) Gaming Conference and Expo had begun. At first, the expo seemed like any other gaming exhibition, with slot machine and video pull-tab displays, but take the time to look around and you will notice something has changed. There is an increase in Native owned businesses and they are aiming at different areas of the gaming market.
Sister Sky is a bath and body care company created and owned by sisters Marina Turning Robe and Monica Simeon, of the Spokane Tribe.
“ We started about five years ago; our target market is Indian casinos and hotels,” said Robe. “We can create custom blends for scents that represent nature that is indigenous to an area.”
Sister Sky is available online with bath gels and lotions in beautiful scents such as Moon and Rain. Look for Sister Sky the next time you stay at a tribally owned hotel.
Cranberry juice, cigarettes and water; it may sound like an odd combination but these are the products the Native Wholesale Supply Company offers. Created by Arthur Montour of the Seneca Nation, Native Wholesale Supply carries products owned and manufactured by Natives.
Seneca brand cigarettes are manufactured on the Six Nations Indian Reservation in Canada. Iroquois Cranberry Growers, owned and operated by the Wahta Mohawk band, offers a variety of cranberry products, such as cran-maple syrup and cran-strawberry jam. Also from the Wahta Mohawk territory is Wahta Springs bottled water. Mike DeCaire, of the Wahta Mohawk tribe, is part owner and Plant Manager of Wahta Springs.
From the Oneida Nation comes Oneida Textile Designs, specializing in state-of-the-art custom embroidery, screen printing, printing and engraving. Products vary from T-shirts and golf towels to water bottles and key chains. Also from Oneida is Standing Stone Gaming, which has introduced cashless gaming. This system works much like using an ATM card. Cashless gaming has been used in the Oneida Bingo & Casino for the past five years.
At a separate booth, but from the same tribe was Indian Country Today, the renowned newspaper that reports Native news from around North America.
Though not Native owned, Perini Building Company and Elness Swenson Graham Architects, Inc. were also present. The Perini Building Company has built several tribal resorts, most notably the Mohegan Sun. They are presently working on the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos in both Tampa and Hollywood. Elness Swenson Graham Architects Inc. is the builder of the Miccosukee Resort and Conference Center.
GamingTables4U.com is a Native owned company that supplies custom made poker, blackjack and other gaming tables. They also supply chip trays and other various table accessories. Created and owned by The Seminole Tribe of Florida, Inc., GamingTables4U.com made its debut at the Rez 2004 show in Las Vegas, NV in January.
“ Though we’re still a new company there has been a lot of interest,” said Yolanda Ponce De Leon, Operations Manager. “We are one of two Indian owned gaming supply companies.”
Seminole 4H had a booth run by Polly Hayes and Lawanna Niles, both were ready to educate everyone about the tribe.
“ It started when the officials asked us to create an exhibit about the whole tribe,” explained Hayes.
The exhibit travels to different conferences and there is always a lot of interest in the tribe. At the USET Gaming Conference, the Seminole 4H booth was the only one that provided information only about a tribe.
“ Visitors ask a lot of questions about the tribe,” said Niles. “Most people think the tribe is just about the casino.”
The booth, sponsored by the Board and Council, received a lot of compliments and recently most of the questions have been about both soon-to-be-completed Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos.
Rick Hill, former Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, was excited by the amount of Native businesses.
“ It is great to see such a turn out,” he said. “I hope we [Great Plains Gaming Association] have just as good a showing at our conference.”
The conference Hill is referring to is the Great Plains/Midwest Gaming Conference and Trade Show held in Minneapolis, MN, May 17–19.
With more Natives creating businesses in so many markets, he shouldn’t have much to worry about.
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