Two Native American tribes in South Carolina have teamed up to convert a grocery store into a bingo hall—as well as support one another in dealing with state and federal authorities over casino gambling. The Catawba Indian Nation hired Metcon, a Lumbee Indian Nation-owned contractor located in North Carolina, to build the 1,300-seat bingo operation in Rock Hill as it awaits the U.S. Department of Interior’s decision regarding a proposed multi-million dollar Catawba casino in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
“It is an honor to work with another tribe on a project that contributes to economic growth,” said Aaron Thomas, a Lumbee and Metcon’s president and chief executive officer. The project represents the first time Metcon has contracted with another tribe. The company has overseen several projects for the Lumbee, including its tribal headquarters, known as the Turtle. The 55,000-member tribe was federally recognized in 1956 but has been petitioning the government since 1888 for full federal recognition.
Thomas said Lumbee officials have been talking with their contacts in the North Carolina legislature on behalf of the Catawbas. Catawba Chief Bill Harris said the proposed casino site is on the Catawba’s former homeland.
Federally recognized in 1943, the 2,000-member Catawba tribe terminated that status in 1961 and reestablished it in 1993 based on a land settlement agreement stating the tribe could offer gambling “to the same extent” that it’s is offered elsewhere in South Carolina. The tribe has argued they can offer gambling on their reservation under the Gambling Cruise Act, which authorized gambling on cruise ships off the coast of South Carolina. However, the state Supreme Court recently ruled, for the second time, that law does not authorize video poker anywhere within South Carolina, “be it on land or within the state’s territorial waters.”
The Lumbees also want to pursue gambling once the tribe receives full federal recognition. But gaming operators and other tribes in eastern North Carolina are concerned that a Lumbee casino would impact their gaming operations. In 2010 the Lumbees hired a Nevada-based gambling consultant to help lobby Congress for federal recognition, but that effort was unsuccessful.
Thomas said being federally recognized is about fairness and history, not just gambling. The tribe traces its roots to the Cheraw Indians, who have lived near the Pee Dee River, the border between the Carolinas, since the early 1700s.
