Wisconsin tribes clash in casino expansion fight

BOWLER, Wis. -- At 85, Betty Putnam-Schiel has trouble standing, but she gets along well enough in her home on the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans' northern Wisconsin reservation thanks to tribal assistants who do everything from shovel her snow to change her lightbulbs.

But maybe not for much longer. Another tribe, the Ho-Chunk Nation, is expanding its nearby casino into a full-fledged resort that would rival the Stockbridge-Munsee's own casino, threatening the gambling revenue that supports services like Putnam-Schiel's helpers.

The Ho-Chunk say they're simply trying to provide for their own people. The increasingly bitter quarrel illustrates how tribes across the country are clashing as they battle for gambling revenue in an ever-tightening market.

"It's unfair," Putnam-Schiel said of the Ho-Chunk expansion. "I count on the help from the casino money. It's survival for a lot of us."

Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/news/nation-and-world/2017/04/24/wisconsin-tribes-clash-casino-expansion-fight