The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians broke ground and released the initial designs for the first phase of its 200-acre, mixed-use “experiential destination” near Sevierville, Tennessee. The tribe purchased the acreage last year for $13.5 million, leading to speculation that it would build a casino, even though casino gambling isn’t legal in Tennessee.
Tribal officials said the project will be a gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains for the millions of tourists who visit annually. Phase one, tentatively called the Roadside District, will feature entertainment attractions, dining, shopping and a “road trip” theme along the lines of Route 66.
Principal Chief Richard Sneed said, “The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is proud to partner with the elected officials and residents of Tennessee on this exciting new opportunity. Working together, we are uniquely poised to bring an experience not currently seen in Eastern Tennessee, providing an additional source for employment and tourism to the region. I look forward to continuing our work to build upon this relationship through this venture and future opportunities.”
Sevierville Mayor Ronnie Fox added, “The city has long recognized the potential of this property. This will be a landmark project for Sevierville and Sevier County.”
Meanwhile, the Eastern Band of Cherokees and other tribes have expressed dismay at the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent unanimous approval of the Lumbee Recognition Act, which moves the Lumbee Tribe closer to federal recognition. The tribes said the origins and authenticity of the Lumbee are unclear, since they have claimed descent from four other tribes over the years.
Sneed said, “The use of congressional authority to ignore and avoid investigation of such serious questions about the Lumbees’ authenticity is an outrageous injustice to all federally recognized tribes. History and facts must guide the process, not politics. We call on the Senate to reject this legislation and allow the Lumbee claims to be examined through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement in the Department of the Interior.” He added, “We didn’t invent these rules and this process. But we have played by the rules, we have respected the process. We expect other tribes to as well.”
Federal recognition offers tribes hundreds of millions in federal aid for housing, health care and education, as well as the opportunity for casino gambling on tribal land.
Lumbee member Lawrence Locklear, associate professor of American Indian Studies at UNC-Pembroke, said, “The federal government doesn’t provide a lot of funding for Indian communities and there are strings attached to it. We’re told how to spend that money. But with unrestricted casino monies, you can spend that ever how you want to. If you want to start businesses you can. If you want to give per capita checks to tribal members, you can.”
Locklear said it’s not certain his tribe will pursue gaming, but if it does open one in Robeson County, it absolutely would compete with the Eastern Band casinos. “We are located in an even more optimal location than Cherokee is. Imagine the millions of folks who drive North to South along Interstate 95 and soon-to-be Interstate 74. That goes through Robeson County and they’re right here, as opposed to four or five hours from I-95 in Cherokee,” he said.
The Eastern Band owns two Harrah’s casinos in North Carolina, the only legal casinos in the state. The South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation recently crossed the state line to build a new casino resort in Cleveland County, North Carolina, which the tribe considers ancestral land. The tribe bypassed the painstaking federal process for getting approval for the casino. The Eastern Band has filed a lawsuit to stop the Catawba casino.
The Eastern Band’s video poker venue, opened in Cherokee in 1997 after a years-long struggle to get the state to approve casino gambling, has grown into a huge resort with hotels, entertainment facilities and high-end restaurants. Last year it welcomed 4 million visitors, generating around $400 million. The tribe opened its second casino in 2015, the Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel in Murphy, which attracted more than 1.4 million visitors last year.
The success of gambling has lifted the nearly 16,000 members of the tribe out of poverty. Today adult Cherokees receive to $14,000 a year in per capita distributions from casino revenue, which also has allowed the tribe to open a $124 million pre-K through 12th grade school and the $80 million first phase of a comprehensive medical center; phase two will be a $16 million residential center for treating addiction and mental health problems. The Eastern Band also attracts thousands of visitors to its Museum of the Cherokee which annually produces the historical drama “Unto These Hills”
Sneed commented, “There is no denying we’ve had a very successful operation with both the resort and the Valley River property. We’re right in the middle of a very expensive expansion of another hotel tower and a convention center. And those decisions to expand are based on projections of business we anticipate we can do based on the market share that we have, based on the rules and regulations that exist.”
The decisions to move forward on the expansions, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, were based on the assumptions that the Catawba were restricted to gaming within their home state of South Carolina and that the Lumbee tribe was not federally recognized. Those understandings held true for decades, reinforced by federal policy and Department of the Interior decisions.
The proposed Catawba casino, is even more ideally located, just 40 minutes from Charlotte. Kings Mountain Mayor Scott Neisler, whose family owns land around the proposed casino site, said, “The Cherokee have built this amazing, wonderful school, they’ve given their people jobs, they have this new hospital, they’ve been able to preserve their culture and their language, all because of their success with the casino. Do not the Catawba have the right to do the same thing? Don’t other tribes?”
Sneed said the issue isn’t “tribe versus tribe.” The Cherokee’s fight isn’t against the Catawba or the Lumbee. Sneed said, “It’s with the Department of the Interior. They have a responsibility to all federally recognized tribes. They need to live up to that responsibility.”
