YAKIMA, Wash. (MCT) – Yakama tribal members who are full-time students will get some financial help from the tribe’s Legends Casino.

A plan approved by the federal government in February allows 7.5 percent of all gaming profits generated at the casino to be paid quarterly to all Yakamas who are full-time students.

Under the plan, a full-time student is defined as any Yakama enrolled in preschool through college or technical school.

The amount of money each student in the 10,000-member tribe will receive has not yet been determined, and tribal leaders are reluctant to release the amount of revenue the Toppenish casino generates, said Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Ralph Sampson Jr.

“We’re not comfortable releasing those numbers yet because we’ve got a lot of work to do still,” he said.
On Dec. 31, the tribe was working to gather information to determine the total number of students in the 10,000-member tribe.

Tribal leaders are asking members to provide information about their school enrollment so payments can begin, Sampson said.

The payments to students are part of an allocation plan giving tribal members a share in casino profits.

Hopefully, these new payments will help financially strapped students get the supplies, clothes and other things they need to continue their education, Sampson said.

Like many people in impoverished communities, young people in the tribe don’t have much incentive to go to college – or even stay in high school – when their families are struggling.

“That’s always a problem,” Sampson said. “I think that’s a problem everywhere across the board, not just tribal. It could be anywhere.”

In Washington, the high school dropout rate among American Indian students is nearly 12 percent, which is higher than any other group and twice the statewide average, according to a 2008 report compiled by the Clearinghouse on Native Teaching and Learning at Washington State University.

The rate of tribal members getting to college is very low, according to a March 2009 story in High Country News, a magazine and Web site that covers issues in the American West. Nationwide, only about half of Indian students finish high school and fewer than 4 percent earn a bachelor’s degree.

The Yakama plan to give students a share in casino profits was approved by voting tribal members in October 2008.

“It’s a pretty good effort on the part of the people,” Sampson said. “The people are the ones that voted this in. That in itself is the most important part of this thing. This is what the people wanted.”

Situated west of town, off Fort Road, the casino boasts more than 1,000 slot machines, a poker room and roulette, blackjack and craps tables.

Based on revenue reports, the casino in 2005 netted more than $69.4 million from table games and 671 slot machines. That doesn’t include another 375 slot machines that fall under a different gaming classification that isn’t regulated by the state gambling commission.


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