You are frivolous weak and trivial. We will defeat you, and possess your women and lands.

This time though Indians are not fighting to resist the encroachment of the white man, rather they are fighting with other Indians for control of the whites. The tribes in Wisconsin are in conflict over market share of the gambling casino concession. All the five tribes in the state benefit from Indian gaming to one extent or another. The two smallest bands, the Ho Chunk (AKA Winnebago) and the Forest County Pottawatomi, are the most prosperous and hold the biggest share of gambling. And they ain’t giving it up for nobody. The Potawatomi, with about 1400 members, earns some 360 million dollars in profit from its casino in Milwaukee, even after paying some 64 million to the state coffers as per the compact.

In the 1830’s the U.S. Government moved the Ho Chunk and Potawatomi to reservations in Kansas and Nebraska. Some bands of Ho Chunk and Potawatomi left the reservation and returned to Wisconsin where they hid out in the woods for some 40 years. Then white Christian missionaries helped those bands apply for land grants under the Homestead Act to get title to the lands they lived on. The Ho Chunk and Potawatomi were the first in the state to get into the casino business; they were able to game the system and build casinos “off site” in or near major cities or attractions in the state, like Milwaukee, Madison and the Wisconsin Dells resort area. Naturally that maneuver paid off big time for those two tribes.

“Ho-Chunk leaders responded to the Stockbridge lawsuit by calling their arguments frivolous, weak and trivial.”

"The only issue here is dealing with competition," Ho-Chunk spokesman Collin Price said in a telephone interview. "The tribes own businesses. These businesses provide resources and programs for tribal members. That's why it's so important to protect them and try to offer more."

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Wisconsin tribes clash in casino expansion fight

Fighting Smart: Boxing, Agonistics & Survival