Casinos' openings called a return
Casinos' openings called a return
By Tony Thornton
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Published: January 11, 2008
One Oklahoma tribe opened a casino in Kansas on Thursday night, while another tribe is planning to do the same in New Mexico.
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Returning to New Mexico
Houser's tribe, formerly known as the Chiricahua Apaches, owns one of the saddest histories in federal-tribal relations.
All 400 members were taken prisoner in 1886 when they resisted the government's efforts to take their land in southwest New Mexico.
Those who survived, including Houser's grandfather, spent 27 years in prisoner-of-war camps — including the last two decades at Fort Sill.
The tribe had shrunk to 260 upon the survivors' release in 1913.
"My grandfather wanted to go back to New Mexico all his life. ... So for us, it (the return) has deep meaning, because we've been exiled from our homeland like no other tribe has ever experienced,” Houser said.
The outcome of a federal lawsuit left Houser's tribe with little chance of finding economic success in Oklahoma.
Its 350-machine casino was built on a half-acre of land the federal government placed in trust for unspecified economic development. Last year's settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Comanche Nation effectively prohibits the Fort Sill Apaches from expanding that operation or building another casino in Oklahoma.
The tribe has placed eight modular trailers along rural Interstate 10, roughly 150 miles from the nearest Indian casino. The site is on 30 acres the federal government put into trust for the tribe in 2001.
It will house 120 Class II machines and one nonhouse-banked poker table at first while the tribe tries to obtain a state gaming compact for Class III, or Las Vegas-style, gambling. Houser said New Mexico compact authorities didn't return his calls until Thursday, after a story about the casino appeared in an Albuquerque newspaper.
Seeking a happier return
The Wyandotte casino in downtown Kansas City, Kan., also is limited to Class II machines. Tribe attorney David McCullough said the tribe has applied for a state compact for the kind of gambling available on nearby riverboat casinos.
The casino is an old Scottish Rite Temple built in the 1920s. Gambling machines are on three floors, while the fourth floor features a bar and restaurant, McCullough said.
The tribe bought the building with money provided in 1984 congressional legislation that reimbursed the tribe for removing it from Ohio and Michigan, McCullough said.
He said the legislation required the U.S. Interior secretary to place into trust any land the tribe bought with that money.
Skibine, the BIA official, said that's why the Wyandottes are among the few known tribes nationwide conducting gambling outside their home state.
"In our opinion, it (the Kansas City land) was a mandatory acquisition under a statute,” Skibine said.
State and federal officials raided the tribe's smaller casino next door in April 2004 and seized its 152 machines. Federal courts ruled in the tribe's favor.
In September, federal Indian gaming regulators approved the tribe's request to conduct gambling at that site. McCullough said the tribe's $9 million investment appears to be safe.
"Right now, as it stands, there is no lawsuit out there regarding this property. That case is closed,” he said.
Related Topics:
Special Interest Groups, Native American Issues
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