The Sovereign Hooters Nation Opens Casino

By Rick Koster

One of the regional all-sports radio stations played an advertisement the other day for the Hooters Casino Hotel in Las Vegas.

I wasn't aware that there was a Hooters Casino. But it's good news because there was a dearth of casinos in Las Vegas — and there certainly aren't any that are famous for their Buffalo wings. I believe the logic and wisdom of advertising the facility in Providence was impeccable, too, because, if there's a sure-thing romantic getaway proposition, it's when a guy says to his wife, "Hey, honey, I've been thinking we deserve a long weekend. I booked us rooms at the Hooters Casino in Vegas."

On the other hand, I understand that perhaps the target audience for a Hooters Casino might be single guys, who will of course head to Vegas at top speed because the 250-plus Hooters girls who work at the casino should be easy to pick up and are desperate to meet the sort of guy who would fly across the country to go to a Hooters.

One thing you might not be aware of: the Hooters Casino is an American Indian gaming facility. The Hooters Tribal Nation was recognized two years ago by the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and for this I congratulate them.

I wish them long success, sovereignty, and an endless supply of T-shirts with owls on them that are torn halfway down from the top at the collar bone — presumably by the sheer force of undulating breasts therein, in a fashion we associate with transforming werewolves ripping through their clothing on a full moon.

I'm not sure what the men of the tribe wear — or if there are even men in the tribe — but hopefully not those torn owl t-shirts the squaws wear. By the way, I'm hesitant to call the female employees of the Hooters Casino "squaws" because that might be demeaning, which is something the Hooters folks avoid like poison. In fact, Hooters casino women wear pumpkin orange hot pants as a sort of visual warning reminding people: neon orange hot pants equals do NOT objectify sexually.

In any event, it's good to see the Hooters Nation has a successful venture going out there in the golden west. Before gambling and a chain of formal gourmet dining establishments, the tribe was historically best known for originating, in the 17th century, the first known pinup calendar. It was constructed of loose-leaf pages of bark, strung together with leather thongs, featured wood-carved images of Hooters nymphs of yore, and was mentioned in James Fennimore Cooper's famed Leatherstocking stories.

And now, today, this proud tribe makes money hand over fist through gambling. The Hooters Babes — as they are properly referred to within the tribal structure — can be found in the casino dealing blackjack or tending bar and waiting tables in such restaurants as Nippers.

As for why one of the casino restaurants is called Nippers, I have no idea. I'm sure it's some ancestral allusion of great dignity.

Rick Koster's column appears online every Wednesday.