Investing in the Future

Supplement for Hands on Banking Instructor Guides

Middle School: Unit 5, Section 1 – Introduction to Investing (p. 82)
High School/College: Topic 4, Lesson 3 – Investing Basics (p. 26)

Lesson Narrative

With the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 legalizing gaming operations on reservations in many states, many Native American tribal communities started to become more economically independent than ever before. Not all tribes have benefited from this growth. There are still tribes with very small gaming operations or none at all. Today, there were over 501 gaming operations run by more than 246 of the nations’ 573 federally-recognized tribes (National Indian Gaming Commission).

In the last U.S. Census of 2018, the real median household income for Native Americans was approximately $42,000, while the general population had an average of $64,000 (U.S. Census). Despite the income gains, poverty among all Native Americans was virtually unchanged between 2015 and 2016 (from 26.6 to 26.2 percent) and 33.8 percent of Native American children lived in poverty in 2016-the same as in 2015 (Economic Policy Institute).

A “casino payout” or as some call it, “per capita,” occurs when tribes disburse profits from Indian gaming to individual tribal members for their personal use. However, simply operating a casino does not guarantee tribal riches or mean that tribal members receive such payouts. Contrary to popular belief, fewer than 15% of Indian tribes operate prosperous casinos. In addition, only the 573 federally recognized tribes are eligible to operate casinos with more than 400 tribes additional in the U.S. that are not federally recognized. Likewise, some tribes can be state-recognized and not federally recognized.

Many young people can start receiving their share of the profits from their tribe’s casino when they are born. The funds are put into a minor’s trust fund until they reach the legal age of 18. Some tribes give the entire amount of the trust to these newly made adults, while others give it out in increments. At that moment in the young adult’s life, they have choices…get a new truck, go on a vacation, have a big party, pay off family debts, go to college…the list goes on. These young people are not in the position, nor have the skill set to know about investments and planning for their future.

REFERENCES

Anderson, T. (1995, November 22) How the Government Keeps Indians in Poverty. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://Perc.org

Economic News Release. U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics and https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

The State of the Native Nations. (2008) Harvard. New York: Oxford UP.

Russell, C. (2009) Demo Snapshots: Native Americans. Findarticles.com Media Central Inc.

Preliminary Work:

  1. Research the economic history of the tribe you are working with.
  2. Survey the students:
    1. Have they heard of the term “per capita” or “per cap?”
    2. Do they know what and/or how to invest money?
    3. Who feels it is important to invest money for the future?

Discussion:

Discuss with the students their understanding on traditional ways of investing for the future.

  1. Was there a system of taking what their ancestors had and increasing the value of it? What was that?
  2. Why do they think investing is a good idea for their future?
  3. How would they handle per capita money if they received it?

Research:

Students should research:

  1. How does their own tribe handle the income from Native gaming?
  2. Does their tribe keep the funds for tribal needs (hospitals, education, etc.)?
  3. How much is the average per cap given to individuals in their tribe?
  4. Do individual tribal members receive a per capita check? How do they use it?

Presentations:

Have students report out to the class their findings from their research.

Wrap-up Journaling

This journal entry will give the students a chance to reflect on what they have learned in this lesson.

  1. How do they see the information they have just learned fitting into their lives?
  2. How do they feel about investing their income for the future?
  3. What did they learn from their families on this topic?
  4. How do they see use of per capita in their own community?
  5. Ask students what additional information they would like on the subject.

Sample Narrative Activities: