In two weeks, Brandy Vickery will load up his Bobcat with just the right mix of dirt that will lie beneath the foundations of nine homes in the Big Thicket. He has lived most of his life in this heavily forested area roughly 100 miles northeast of Houston.
As a dirt work contractor, Vickery has had an up-close and personal view of the steady growth of his Deep East Texas community. He started his business in Livingston more than 20 years ago, and now has 15 employees and a busy service schedule.
“So that’s 500 to 600 loads of dirt, or 70, 80 grand worth of materials?” Vickery said, estimating how much dirt he will need for nine house paths. “That’s awesome.”
Vickery, along with other local business owners, attribute much of the steady growth in their mostly rural community to the presence of the Naskila Casino on the reservation of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. Last year, the tribal casino was responsible for more than $209 million in annual spending in the local economy, according to a regional economic impact report made public in January.
Over the last two decades, a major transformation has taken place — not just in Deep East Texas — but on the reservations of three Native American tribes and their adjacent communities in Texas.
Tribal casinos have become a major economic driver in regions once considered to have limited opportunities, a Dallas Morning News examination has found. So much so that local officials said their community benefit far outweighs concerns that drive the state’s prohibition on Las Vegas-style gambling.
“There’s a common sense factor here,’’ said Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy, who has worked with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe since she was elected in 2014. “Here comes a source of entertainment that is not overly expensive in your area. It brings good jobs, good food, so revenue and jobs” for the local community.
“So it’s kind of like, what’s the question?”
Three tribal casinos operate in Texas: The Naskila Casino on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation near Livingston, north of Houston; the Speaking Rock Casino operated by the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, also known as the Tigua, in El Paso; and the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel in Eagle Pass. The last two are on the border with Mexico.
The casinos operate under the authority of the federal government, but they are not full-fledged Las Vegas-style casinos that would include blackjack, poker tables, randomized slot machines and certain other games of chance.
Nonetheless, they have become significant sources of income. It is estimated the three casinos combined raked in more than $300 million in 2024, just in gaming revenue. Between 2014 and 2024, tribal gaming revenue in Texas grew at a higher percentage than anywhere in the nation, except North Carolina.
The News’ examination reveals a number of findings that illustrate the myriad and often profound ways in which those casinos have made an impact on local communities:
- Tribes are now top employers in their regions. The Kickapoo tribe employs more than 1,000 people at its casino, adjacent hotel and restaurants. It is the second-largest employer in Maverick County, behind only the local school district, and 90% of those jobs are filled by non-tribal members.
- The casinos offer better pay and benefits — such as health insurance and 401(k) programs — than many other local employers. At Naskila, for example, the average annual salary is $41,357. When benefits and health insurance are included, the amount approaches $50,000.
- Local economic development leaders note an uptick in tax revenue and real estate development. In Maverick County, state and local sales tax revenue jumped $10 million to $15 million due to the casino’s impact on tourism.
- Besides plugging hundreds of millions of dollars into local economies, the casinos provide direct benefits to tribal members that lessen the burden on taxpayer-funded social services. Speaking Rock revenue supports housing, health insurance, medical checkups, free meals and help with rent and utility bills for the Tigua.
Paula Alec (right), a licensed vocational nurse, checked Terrah Langley’s blood pressure In the Chief Kina Health Clinic at the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Reservation in Livingston. Tribal members have access to more than 44 public services, including fire, police, a health clinic, sewer and water, and a courts building.
Visual by Brett Coomer | Houston Chronicle.
The three tribal reservations, which are recognized by the federal government as sovereign and independent, must provide basic public services to their members — much like a local municipality or state government.
Speaking Rock “is the economic engine that allows this tribe to not subsist but really to thrive,” said Brant Martin, attorney for the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo.
For the Alabama-Coushatta, tribal members have been grateful for access to health clinics, educational facilities and public services that in past years the tribe didn’t have enough money to build on the reservation, said Ricky Sylestine, the tribal chairman.
“It makes me proud to help make a better life for our people,” Sylestine said, “and to know that I am responsible for building what we have.”
Civic leaders and other officials say their communities would look vastly different without the casino establishments.
Before they existed, many people couldn’t find jobs that paid well enough to earn a living, said Vickery, the dirt work contractor who also owns Vickery Propane.
Prior to landing a job at Naskila, many people in Polk County didn’t have health care, said Murphy, the county judge.
The News attempted to track down economic impact studies of the casino properties in various regions of Texas. In some cases, studies were based on outdated information or none existed. Tribal governments are not required to disclose economic data to the public.
What The NewsThe News was able to obtain included annual economic impact studies by the Texas Forest Country Partnership, a nonprofit organization that monitors economic activity in the 12-county region that is Deep East Texas. The News received some economic data directly from the tribes.
The News also spoke with business owners, local leaders, elected officials, state lawmakers and Alabama-Coushatta tribal leaders about the impact of the casinos.
Tribal members from the Tigua and the Kickapoo declined to speak but provided written statements and responses to some questions.
Tribes are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution as independent states that are sovereign and only answer to the federal government, said Jonodev O. Chaudhuri, former chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, which oversees the tribal gaming industry across the U.S.
“It’s important to understand that tribes have inherent sovereignty that can only be limited by explicit actions of Congress,’’ Chaudhuri said. “That’s a simplification but it’s also generally the fundamental basis of Indian law.”
In the relationship tribes have with the federal government, they are prohibited from collecting property taxes, so tribes – generally speaking – have no way to pay for basic services, such as road repair, libraries, education and trash pickup. That opened the door for the establishment of the casinos, said Jeremy A. Rovinsky, an appellate justice for Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals who is based in Arizona.
This is one of the oldest frame houses on the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Reservation. In years past, multi-generations of tribal members often lived in one home, but now the tribe has been able to expand housing. There are more than a dozen homes on portions of the reservation.
Visual by Brett Coomer | Houston Chronicle.
Decades before Speaking Rock Entertainment Center opened in El Paso, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo members earned about $400 a year from picking cotton. They lived in dwellings with dirt foundations and one or two overcrowded rooms. They could not afford couches or mattresses. Alcoholism and substance abuse were common. The average tribal member had a fifth-grade education, tribal officials wrote in a prepared statement.
With revenue from the casino, few tribal members depend on public assistance. Tribal officials say more than 80% have a high school diploma or the equivalent, and about 15% have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
In addition to the social services it provides, the tribe operates multiple public service departments, including a police department, fire and emergency units, while some are volunteer.
The Alabama-Coushatta Tribal Cultural Center is on the tribes reservation near Livingston, north of Houston. Tribal casinos have become a major economic driver in regions once considered to have limited opportunities, a Dallas Morning News examination has found. Local officials said their community benefit far outweighs concerns that drive the state’s prohibition on Las Vegas-style gambling.
Visual by Brett Coomer | Houston Chronicle.
El Paso also has benefited, said state Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso, who has worked with the tribe. More than $823 million of direct and indirect economic impact is the result of the casino. Estimates provided by tribal leaders show the casino has injected more than $150 million to the local economy, in addition to over $50 million in payroll.
More so, Gonzalez said, the Tigua are part of the culture and character of the community. The tribe has a radio station, a ranch with a lodge, swimming pool and areas reserved for seasonal hunting, as well as a cultural center that features weekend social dancing, bread baking and poetry. Its Fiesta de San Antonio is an annual community event.
“What’s special and unique about the Tigua and the El Paso region,” she said, “is that it’s so seamless.”
In Eagle Pass, the casino revenues have similarly reshaped the lives of the Kickapoo, said state Rep. Eddie Morales, D-Eagle Pass.
As a boy, Morales remembers seeing members living in squalor under the Eagle Pass International Bridge when he would cross the border to Mexico with his parents.
“It was a travesty to see that.”
The casino was a game changer, said Morales, who operates a family taco business that is a vendor for one of the restaurants that operate inside the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino Hotel.
From 2000 to 2023, the Lucky Eagle had 540,000 first-time visits and 4.3 million recurring visits, said Adislada Mendoza, interim economic development director for the city of Eagle Pass. Mendoza said the casino has also led to increases in hotel occupancy rates — now as high as 75% — and retail sales, which have jumped by 10% to 15% since 2000.
From 2000 to 2023, the Lucky Eagle (shown in 2002) had 540,000 first-time visits and 4.3 million recurring visits, said Adislada Mendoza, interim economic development director for the city of Eagle Pass.
Visual by File Photo Alicia Wagner Calzada | Special Contributor, Dallas Morning News.
In Livingston, which is home to the Alabama-Coushatta, a total of 1,000 permanent jobs, collectively paying $34.5 million in annual wages — more than 15% of the private sector wages in Polk County — were attributable to the operational impact at Naskila, according to a recent economic impact study.
The tribe tried for more than a decade to apply for federal grants and tap other resources in order to raise funds to build an education center for tribal members. The goal was to build a facility, tribal vice-chairwoman Nita Battise said, that could serve as a place where tribal members could expand their knowledge.
It wasn’t until the tribe was able to draw revenues from its casino that it could afford to build the 54,000-square-foot facility that now sits in a corner of the reservation.
The facility, known as the “House of Teachings,” includes a Head Start with four classrooms, a shared cafeteria with a commercial kitchen and a gymnasium, conference rooms, an outdoor playground, sewing lab, art room, sensory studio, training rooms, a computer lab and a full-service library with a children’s section.
“The revenues that have been generated to the tribe (from the casino) have been very generous,’’ Sylestine, the tribal chairman, said.
“It was a dream from a lot of the tribal leaders that came before us. That was their dream to educate our people — one of their dreams — and it came to fruition.”
In 2011, Battise said, the tribe had 11 tribal departments across its 11,000-acre reservation. Today, it has over 44, including fire, police, a health clinic, sewer and water, and a courts building.
In years past, multi-generations of tribal members often lived in one home, but now the tribe has been able to expand housing to support tribal members who qualify for mortgages.
More than a dozen modest homes now line portions of the reservation.
Last August, Ceanna Whitethunder-Bullock and Dustin Battise moved into their new home on the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas Reservation in Livingston. Whitethunder-Bullock teaches Head Start on the reservation and said it’s a convenient drive to and from work.
Visual by Brett Coomer | Houston Chronicle.
One of them belongs to Ceanna Whitethunder-Bullock and Dustin Battise. Whitethunder-Bullock, who is 26, teaches Head Start on the reservation and Battise, 32, works in construction, also on the reservation.
The couple moved in last August.
“It was new for me because I’ve never been, really, on my own,’’ Whitethunder-Bullock said. “I’ve always lived with my mom.”
She particularly enjoys sharing a home with her partner, especially when his four children visit their father, she said. Over the last several months, she has been busy buying furniture and trying to figure out how to decorate the living room and kitchen. She still can’t decide what type of wall hangings will best reflect her sense of decor. She has been careful not to punch holes in the walls until she decides what she feels belongs there. “So I’ve been using the sticky stuff to put up anything.”
Because she works on the reservation, it is a convenient drive to and from the facility where she teaches young children, she said.
“It’s been a lot,” she said, “but I love it.”
Tribal vice-chairwoman Nita Battise said the Alabama-Coushatta wanted to build a facility that could serve as a place where tribal members could expand their knowledge. The facility, known as the “House of Teachings,” includes a full-service library with a children’s section.
Visual by Brett Coomer | Houston Chronicle.
On a cool day in early February, Nita Battise drove through a thickly wooded area that has belonged to her ancestors since before the days when Sam Houston arrived in Deep East Texas to establish the Republic of Texas.
This flat land with flowing creeks known as the Big Thicket — about 40 miles long and 20 miles across at its widest — encompasses the reservation of the Alabama-Coushatta.
Moments later, she passed the remains of a cluster of empty old structures, a schoolhouse, a gym, a cemetery.
Her next stop was a subdivision of new homes, including one that belongs to Whitethunder-Bullock and her partner.
In two more weeks, Brandy Vickery’s Bobcat will drop hundreds of loads of foundation dirt on land here that will become homes for more tribal members.
And over the next two years, he will likely be in Leggett, 20 miles northwest of the reservation.
“Leggett is now where we’re going to build our new casino,” said Battise, the vice-chairwoman of the Alabama-Coushatta. “A beautiful casino resort will be there.”
The expanded resort will include a larger gaming room, a hotel, restaurants, retail shops and other amenities that are not currently available at Naskila, she said.
It will also bring more jobs to the community.
The new gaming facility will bring jobs and economic development to the 12-county region, she said, promoting the tribe’s mission to improve quality of life for not only tribal members but also for the more than 375,000 inhabitants of the region.
“We’re mindful of what we need to do, not as leadership but as a people,” Battise said. “Anything that tries to deter us on the side or tries to discourage us, that just gives us more reason to move forward because our ancestors, those who came before us, didn’t stop and they suffered more.”
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