Published on: December 20, 2024, 09:39h.
Last updated on: December 20, 2024, 09:39h.
A group of local residents near Anchorage, Alaska is disputing the legal right of the Native Village of Eklutna (NVE) to construct a casino in the region.
The legal action claims that the NVE is not a federally recognized tribe with self-governing powers, rendering the recent approval of the casino by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) invalid.
The plaintiffs raise concerns that the casino proposal could lead to increased crime, traffic congestion, and environmental harm in the area.
NVE has been attempting to establish an electronic bingo hall on its land situated 20 miles outside of Anchorage for a while, but was previously hindered by laws that treat Alaska tribes differently than tribes in the rest of the US.
This is due to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) which classified tribes as private corporations rather than sovereign nations with sovereign authority, predating the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) by 17 years.
‘Indian Land’
According to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), most Native American tribes are allowed to operate class II gaming facilities, like electronic bingo halls, on their sovereign land without state authorization, as long as similar activities are legal elsewhere in the state.
Under IGRA, tribal gaming rights are contingent upon having governmental control over the land. However, the NVE’s land is not classified as “Indian land” under IGRA, but rather as an “allotment” as defined by ANSCA, as stated in the lawsuit.
There are only three small Alaska Native bingo halls, all located in the far southwest of the state. These are either owned by tribes that opted out of ANSCA, such as the Metlakatla Indian Community, or like the Organized Village of Kake, whose approval was controversially granted during the Clinton administration.
However, on November 22, 2013, the US Interior Department issued a legal opinion stating that ANSCA did not prohibit the federal government from taking land into trust for Alaska Natives. This paved the way for the NIGC to greenlight the casino project.
The NVE is awaiting final approval from the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and is hopeful for a positive outcome soon. In October, the tribe began land clearing activities in preparation for the casino.
Federal Status Dispute
While the NVE has been recognized as a “federally recognized tribe,” the recent lawsuit contests the legitimacy of this designation. The lawsuit argues that the status was granted “unilaterally” in 1993 by Ada Deer, then Assistant Secretary of the Bureau for Indian Affairs, through a publication in the Federal Register, rather than by Congress. Alongside 200 other Alaska Native tribes, the NVE was included in the list.
“[…T]he members of defendant Native Village of Eklutna are not a federally recognized tribe whose governing body possesses powers of self-government. And because the governing body does not, members of defendant NVE are not an IGRA Section 4(5) “Indian tribe” that is eligible to conduct gaming pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,” states the lawsuit.
In response, NVE president Aaron Leggett expressed disappointment at the lawsuit in a statement.
“To be clear, the basis of this lawsuit is that there are no Tribes in Alaska, and that concept has already been repeatedly rejected by the courts,” said Leggett.