Thank God for tribal land, Oklahomans say. I remember reading a few years ago that Oklahoma was the nation’s second-largest gambling market, with nearly four billion dollars in revenues. To the west are Tonkawa East and, right off I-35, the newer, larger Tonkawa West Casino. To the south are 7 Clans Paradise Casino and Two Rivers Casino. To the southeast is Osage Casino, which was once a small, smoky trailer. Fifteen miles to the north, just before the Kansas state line, two massive casinos sprawl on Indian land. Within half an hour, I can drive to at least seven of them. There are more than a hundred casinos in Oklahoma, more than there are in Germany, more than in Canada, the UK, or in all of Central America. Martin Hyers and William Mebane, Vegas, 2008, color photograph.
