The opening of the first "smoke shop" (offering discount, tax free tobacco products) in 1977 gave the Seminoles a stable enterprise which continues, even today, to bring substantial revenue into Tribal coffers. The opening of the Tribe's first high-stake bingo hall in Hollywood, shortly after community activist James Billie's first election as Tribal Council Chairman, was a national first. The success of Seminole gaming against legal challenges opened the door for dozens of other American Indian tribes to follow suit. Today, gaming is, by far, the number one economic enterprise in all of Indian Country.…