The Court ruled that a state has no authority to regulate or prohibit gaming on Indian lands if the State otherwise allows gaming. The era of reservation gaming was ushered in by the Supreme Court's decision in the 1987 case Californiav.
Tribes, in turn, see such attempts to limit their ability to run gaming as infringements on their sovereignty. States, however, have perceived this growth in Indian gaming as a challenge to their sovereignty and have, along with the non-Indian gaming industry, sought to restrict Indian operations. For the first time some tribes now have, through gaming profits, the economic means to exercise their 'inherent sovereign powers,' among many, the ability to provide essential services themselves rather than having to depend on the government. The development of gaming operations on Indian reservations, and the phenomenal success some tribes have had with these operations, has brought a new dimension to the debate over Indian sovereignty.
