The color of the reservation's water, for example, is no longer brown and rusty, the hues of poverty and disrepair. The Mille Lacs count the fruits of their profits in ways that would go unnoticed by a non-Indian. Although the net for the tribe is about a third of that and most of it goes toward debt reduction (it cost $20 million to build both casinos), it's a revenue stream unheard of a decade ago on most cash-strapped Indian reservations.
Together, they employ 2,300 people, twice the number of tribal members living on the reservation.
