Life on the Rez

As I have briefly mentioned before, there is a casino here in Cherokee, NC. The casino, a Harrah’s, was built by the tribal government as a way to bring in tribal revenue. Because the casino is a tribal investment the profits go back into the tribe. A portion of those profits are set aside each year to be divided equally between all of the enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This sum is then given to the individual members of the tribe to be used as they desire. This process takes place two times each year, once in June and once in December. Only enrolled members who are over the age of 18 are eligible to receive this money. Here in Cherokee the days that members receive this check are referred to as Per Cap day.

Yesterday was Per Cap day and for the past two weeks I have been hearing stories from lots of people about the way that this large influx of money affects life here. I heard story after story about people wasting their money on drugs and the string of overdoses that often follows Per Cap checks. I heard stories about people drinking and gambling their check away at the casino in the first week. I heard stories about the tribal police parking outside of the banks in town and waiting to pick up all of the people who have warrants when they come in and cash their checks. I heard stories about teenagers getting their first Per Cap and quitting their jobs because of a false sense of security. At the same time, however, I heard story after story about people using their Per Cap to take their kids across the mountain into Gatlinburg for their first family vacation. I heard stories about people using their Per Cap to pay up several months’ rent in advance or paying off big chunks of their home loans. I heard stories about all the different people who had saved their Per Cap money and invested it into purchasing rental properties. There were stories about teenagers who take their first Per Cap and buy themselves a car to take to college in the fall. Essentially what I was hearing was something that rang true for everyone I had ever known: there are many different levels of fiscal responsibility among people and large influxes of cash just bring that fact into the light a little more.

It was suggested to me that, after all the stories I had heard, I should spend a little bit of Per Cap day just hanging around in town and observing the different things that people are doing.  Here are a few of the different things that I saw while I was out and about:

The Food Lion: Food Lion is the only large grocery store actually located in Cherokee. It is located in a little plaza with a bank, dentist office, some type of dollar store, a restaurant, and several fast food places. There are usually 2 registers open and not much of a wait when you are trying to check out. There were six registers open when I went into the store around mid-morning yesterday to pick up some bread. The store was really crowded as well with lots of people pushing two buggies. Buggies at the checkout counters were stuffed full. Kids in the aisles were all smiles as their parents handed them the things that they asked for off of the shelves. The meat coolers were crowded by people staring at the different packages while sending Facebook invites for the cookouts they were planning. . I wasn’t particularly surprised to see that people had first flocked to the grocery since that is the first place I go whenever I have any extra money.

The bank: The bank parking lot in the plaza was packed the entire time that I was around it. Most people were in and out pretty quickly and all of the bank employees looked tired. There really was a tribal police car parked right outside of the parking and the officers were obviously observing the bank and the people who were coming in and out. I also heard about several road blocks that were out last night in order to catch anyone driving drunk or buying drugs.

Elsewhere in the plaza: There were people packed into each of the restaurants and fast food places in the plaza during the entire time that I was there. All of the food service employees that I was able to speak to said that this is often their highest grossing day of the year. They will be busier than normal for the next two weeks, as well. And while the influx of business is great for these restaurants and fast food places the number of employees that they lose during this time is not so great. They agreed that many people really do quit their jobs after Per Cap while many more call in sick or are unable to come in because of some sort of family “emergency”. Most of the people who quit are trying to get their job back within a month, however. This has led many of the local businesses to adopt very strict rules about not rehiring people while others say that they often have no choice but to let people come back because of the difficulty of finding and training new people who are qualified for whatever the position is.

Going places: Despite being a tourist area with a large casino and resort, the roads in and around town do not support a lot of traffic at one time. It took a lot longer than it ever has today to get everywhere. The Cherokee Transit Vans, which I see around town often, were out in force today. I conversed with one of the drivers while she waited for a couple of elderly ladies to finish up their shopping. She told me that she only sees some of these men and women during Per Cap. She says that health problems coupled with poverty often keeps them shut in during other parts of the year. Many of them have children and other family members who go out to the store for them and make sure that they have what they need. When she isn’t working she volunteers with a program that tries to meet the needs of those elderly people who do not have any friends and family left to provide them with that kind of help. In addition she often drops by on her own from time to time just to listen to their stories.

What I saw the most today was the effect that a little bit of extra money can have for people. A large portion of the people who live here on the Qualla Boundary are considered poor by US poverty scales. Many of these people need the little bit of money that they receive on the Per Cap checks in order to simply make ends meet for their families over the long term. As someone who grew up living below those same federal poverty guidelines it is easy for me to identify with that need and to recognize how helpful it really is. At the same time, as someone who grew up in a small town with in rural West Virginia, I can also see the problems that can be created. Sadly, many of the horror stories of drug overdoses and drunken debauchery that I heard about will probably start adding up over the next week or so.

The tribe does provide classes about the different ways that this money can be used responsibly and they are provided to tribe members for free. Before receiving their first Per Cap young people must take this class. You can’t stop everyone from making bad decisions simply by providing them with information but you certainly have to try and I think it is important that the tribe continues to provide support for good decision making. Everyone won’t choose responsibility but, from what I have seen and heard so far during my experience, most people are deeply connected to their families and are trying to make those responsible choices.