Indian Gaming in California
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA)

In 1988, a bipartisan congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in order to set new federal guidelines for Indian gaming that was occurring on reservations across the nation. Court decisions from all over were at conflict regarding Indian bingo and many states were questioning their authority to regulate and supervise the bingo operations on reservations that were then free from civil regulatory powers of local and state governments.

In December 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for California vs. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, et al., and issued its ruling on February 25, 1987, stating that since the state allowed other forms of bingo and gaming (i.e., a state lottery, card rooms and track facilities) it could not forbid the California Indian Nations from pursuing the same businesses.

Congress and President Ronald Reagan, working with the Department of Justice and the Department of Interior, wrote and approved legislation that set forth the purpose of Indian economic self-reliance through gaming and the federal regulations necessary for its operation.
IGRA reorganized the levels of jurisdiction and regulation by dividing the types of gaming into three different classes:

Class I is designated as the social or traditional gaming played in ceremonies and remains under tribal jurisdiction.

Class II includes bingo and similar games using pull tabs or punchboards, regardless of their technology mechanisms, and any non-banking card games that are not explicitly banned by state constitution. These games falling under tribal jurisdiction are further regulated through the National Indian Gaming Commission, a regulatory agency created by IGRA.

Class III includes all other forms of gaming that do not fall into the first two categories. These electronic games of chance call for a tribal-state compact or agreement, approval by tribal ordinance, and the approval of the chairpersons from the National Indian Gaming Commission.
IGRA establishes the guidelines used by Native Americans to operate entertainment centers on their tribal lands. Over the years, the revenues earned from tribal gaming have provided economic self-sufficiency for many of the tribes.