LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- A federal commission that regulates tribal gambling has subpoenaed the Oklahoma-based Fort Sill Apache Tribe, seeking details of a poker tournament the tribe held at its New Mexico casino — which has not been approved for gaming.
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The National Indian Gaming Commission sent a letter Tuesday demanding a description of the tournament, the number and names of participants and the names of employees.
Failure to heed the subpoena could lead to court action, the commission said.
Fort Sill Apache Chairman Jeff Houser, in his own letter Tuesday, said the tribe hesitates to provide information for fear the federal government might pass it along to state gaming officials, who also are investigating the invitation-only June 22 tournament at the casino east of Deming.
The tribe wants written assurance that the commission and the Department of Justice won't use the information "to prosecute our employees or customers or that the information will not be provided to the state of New Mexico," Houser wrote.
Commission spokesman Sean Pensoneau declined to comment.
Tribal officials have said they held the poker tournament to force the commission to take formal action against the tribe, which in turn would give the tribe a basis to sue the government.
An advisory opinion from a commission attorney in May said there's no basis under federal law for the tribe to be able to operate a casino on the land it owns at the Akela exit off Interstate 10 near Deming, about 500 miles away from the tribe's main governmental offices in Oklahoma.
Before the opinion could become final, the tribe withdrew its gaming application before the commission.
The Fort Sill Apache Tribe contends a 2007 settlement agreement in Oklahoma involving the federal government provides legal grounds for it to open the casino.
The tribe purchased the New Mexico land in 1998, and the property was taken into trust by the Interior Department for the tribe in 2002. Federal law prohibits gambling on Indian lands taken into trust after October 1988, except under certain conditions.
The state Gaming Control Board also is looking into the tournament.
Gov. Bill Richardson has opposed the casino, and during a visit to Las Cruces Tuesday, he said the state will keep the tribe from further gambling.
"We'll react, and we're not going to let them open," he said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
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How about the government pay the native americans for all the stolen land, then the casino's would not be necessary. I believe they protect their own interest
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