Watch: Film Documents Rohnert Park's Historic Struggle Against Vegas-Style Casino

Editor's note: While researching the long-contested Vegas-style casino proposed for the city's northwest side, I ran across this documentary produced by two former graduate students from U.C. Berkeley's journalism program. We're in the middle of a story that looks at the economics of the proposed casino, at widely stated probelms such as traffic and crime and what elected officials have to say.

Several elected officials and local business people have told me that casino divided Rohenrt Park — this film illustrates the mood in the city at the time. Reporters document Tribal Chaiman Greg Sarris' comments to the city at the historic City Council vote in 2004 — which ended 4-1 in favor. Jake Mackenzie, who is mayor today, was the sole dissenting vote. We're bringing you an update next week, but meanwhile, check out this film and tell me what you think. Got questions about the casino, or concerns? Tell me in the comments below — I'll do my best to answer you in my reporting.

The producers of the documentary are still living and working in the Bay Area. The segment attached is a shortened version of the original documentary. View the whole 30-minute thing here. Here's a message from teh National Film Institute on the movie:

"The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria in California are about to realize a long-held dream. After centuries of being labeled simply “homeless Indians,” a group of Coast Miwok and Pomo Indians win federal recognition as a tribe in 2000. With this comes the right to establish a reservation within their former homelands – land that today is covered by strip malls, schools and houses. When the tribe finds a few hundred acres of land in Rohnert Park for sale, they hope to establish a new reservation and build a casino on it. They promise the city a share of casino profits and offer to donate money to local charities.

For the tribal chairman, the casino is the only sure way to provide his 1,000 tribal members with health insurance and college educations after generations of deprivation. And as some tribal members see it, it’s high time Native Americans participate in the American dream of capitalism.

But the residents of Rohnert Park are horrified that their new neighbor is bringing a Las Vegas style casino to their town. Angry citizens start flooding city council meetings, giving impassioned speeches and staging protests. Some even write threatening letters to the tribe. There are other players in this game, too: a [former] mayor who hopes the casino will attract new business to town, and a Las Vegas-based corporation that’s lending the tribe millions of dollars to put up 2,000 slot machines, a hotel complex and a super-sized parking lot.

The Rules of the Game follows the controversy of Rohnert Park, where small town values clash with Native American rights. Like many states around the country, California law gives Indian tribes the exclusive right to build casinos within reservation boundaries. As more and more tribes find that casino development is indeed very lucrative, local communities wonder if there is a higher price to pay. Will casinos pave the way to a better future for Native Americans? Can cities and towns make room for neighbors they once pushed out? This film explores the dilemmas that unfold as communities try to address historic injustice."