A federal judge has upheld a ruling by the National Indian Gaming Commission that the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma may not operate a casino in New Mexico.
The Fort Sill tribe is based in Oklahoma, but owns land in Akela Flags, near Deming, New Mexico, where it would like to build a casino. The land was donated to the tribe in the 1990s and it tried to operate a casino in 2008, only to have the site barricaded by then Governor Bill Richardson.
The NIGC ruled that the land doesn’t quality for any of the exceptions to the rule that land acquired after 1988 may not be used for gaming. The tribe sued to try to overturn that ruling and last week the federal judge upheld that ruling.
The Fort Sill tribe is expected to appeal.
