'We have never experienced anything like this,' Batton said. Those revenues also pay for law enforcement and higher education programs outside the tribe. 'We give to 87 public school districts, which are not just Choctaw,' said Chief Gary Batton of Choctaw Nation. Tribune News Service via Getty Images, FILE

But, unexpectedly, Indian gaming operations were left out of the first round of PPP. Initially, payroll deficits suffered by tribal casinos were expected to be repaid by the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program, a loan for small businesses to help cover payroll and utilities that could be forgiven after eight weeks. Now, many tribes are cutting into their own reserves to keep casinos, often their economic lifeblood, above water, while also keeping thousands employed and with health care. More than half of those are on Native American land, where the facilities supplement chronically underfunded health and education programs. Nearly 1,000 casinos across the country have closed since coronavirus hit the U.S., according to the American Gaming Association. It's a tremendous hit,' said Jason Salsman, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and the tribe's communications director. When Muscogee Creek Nation, the nation's fourth-largest tribe, closed its casinos six weeks ago, that suddenly halted a revenue stream that provided school clothes for children, support for the elderly and health care for thousands.

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