Bill Harris, chief of the South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation, recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, explaining why the tribe should be allowed to develop a casino on a 16-acre tract near Kings Mountain, North Carolina, land the tribe considers part of its ancestral home. The hearing was meant to clarify language in the Settlement Act of 1993 and allow the tribe to bypass some of the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs policies, under a bill introduced by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The measure would allow Congress to place the land in federal trust for the tribe’s proposed $300-$600 million casino.
Harris said, ““This committee has a chance to right a historical wrong. This project will spark extraordinary economic development, providing critically needed employment in a hard hit area of North Carolina and South Carolina, since the project is only a mile from the state border, in addition to allowing the Catawba to become economically self-sufficient.” Harris added the casino resort would include hotels and restaurants and provide 4,000 jobs.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, owners of North Carolina’s only two casinos–Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino—oppose the Catawba proposal. Officials said the Catawba casino would cannibalize operations at their two casinos and set a precedent allowing tribes to bypass Indian gaming law by finding a lawmaker to write a bill.
In a statement, the tribe wrote, “The Department of the Interior–under both Obama and Trump administrations–rejected the Catawba Nation’s claims that the Department must take North Carolina lands into trust for the South Carolina Tribe. The proposed casino off of I-85 in Cleveland County would encroach upon Cherokee aboriginal territory–territory ceded by the Cherokee by treaty, and territory recognized as Cherokee territory by the U.S. Indian Claims Commission. The Catawba have no valid aboriginal or historical claim to Cleveland County.”
U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada asked why the Catawbas should be allowed to bypass already established regulations. John Tahsuda III, principal deputy assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, said, “The bill is intended to correct some provisions of the Settlement Act and if Congress was going to act, I would think they would want to make it as easy as possible.”
Other Senators asked Harris why the tribe wants to place the casino in North Carolina rather than South Carolina where their 1,000-acre reservation is located. Harris responded “We are staying in our heartland.” He explained the tribe considers the Kings Mountain area of North Carolina part of its aboriginal land hunting grounds.
U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr are North Carolina are co-sponsors of Graham’s bill.
