Wampumgate (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Wampumgate is the name for the controversy around the July 14, 1995 rejection of an Indian gambling project by three impoverished Chippewa Indian tribes who hoped to establish a casino in Hudson, Wisconsin, located just outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Documents uncovered by Congressional investigators, lawsuits and an Independent Counsel showed evidence that political contributions and pressure from lobbyists from rival tribes caused Bruce Babbitt to overrule staff recommendations and deny the casino application. The opposing tribes included the Ho-Chunk, Mdewankaton Sioux and six other tribes, mostly from neighboring Minnesota, who felt the Hudson casino would interfere with their own highly lucrative gambling operations.