"We have other tribes out there doing what we call reservation shopping," said Brenda Adams, the treasurer of United Auburn.
Meanwhile, Abramoff lobbyist Todd Boulanger drafted a stiff letter to Norton warning, "we hold you accountable" to shoot down "reservation shopping" by the Jenas.
Why, he asked, "would urban customers continue to make the effort to visit on-reservation casinos of tribes like mine which are located far from urban areas?" Tom Gedes, an adjunct professor of federal Indian law at the University of the Pacific, called the Guidivilles' proposal a blatant example of "reservation shopping," where non-Indian developers seek out Indians to front for a project.
More painfully, says Joe Flies-Away, the chief judge, some have engaged in a kind of reservation shopping, disenrolling from the tribe and using family connections to join others that run casinos and pay monthly dividends.The success of a few gambling tribes has also changed public attitudes to Indians in general.
New York State officials, facing a $9.2 billion budget deficit, decided in June to begin collecting sales and excise taxes on cigarettes sold on reservation shops to non-Indian customers, abandoning a policy by a string of governors who declined to enforce state laws requiring the taxation of sales to the general public.
On a single page, users can get snapshot summaries of all their Internet accounts from the sites where they bank, pay bills, make travel reservations, shop and manage their reward and mileage programs, to name a few.
"We told him this off-reservation shopping had to stop," Mr. Rogich said.
The practice, known as "off-reservation shopping," stemmed from the 1988 Indian gambling law, which included exceptions allowing some casinos to be built outside tribal lands.
Also coming soon is support for additional topic domains, including restaurant reservations, shopping and sports updates.
"I've lost so many relatives on this road," said Joe Hulligan, who sells bowls, mugs and vases at the Ute Mountain Reservation pottery shop, in Towoac, Colo., 28 miles north of the New Mexico line.
