The Crow Reservation in Crow Agency, Montana, has prohibited alcohol for 150 years. But recently Chairman A. J. Not Afraid introduced a bill that would issue a special-use permit for casinos on the Crow Reservation to serve alcohol–including tribally owned Apsaalooke Nights, which has been closed for two years for gambling regulation violations. Not Afraid said the bill is part of a plan to revitalize the Crow economy. It’s currently being reviewed by the Tribal Gaming Committee. No vote has been scheduled.
The Crow measure would require any alcohol served to be consumed at the casinos. At the shuttered Apsaalooke Nights, General Manager Aaron Bad Bear said he’s working on bringing the venue back up to code so it can reopen. He noted the tribe wants to bring back poker, among other games and amenities. Bad Bear said offering alcohol would just be the first step, followed by a hotel. The revenue would go back to the tribe in per-capita distributions and student scholarships, Bad Bear said.
Some tribe members have expressed concern about alcoholism, but Bad Bear said he would manage the casino under strict rules. He said serving alcohol is something customers demand. “We’d get people coming in asking if we serve drinks. They’d be like, ‘Oh, you guys don’t serve alcohol.’ They kind of expected that, just from the casino experience itself,” Bad Bear said.
He noted that serving alcohol would help attract customers from the nearby communities of Billings and Sheridan. In the past, nine out of 10 top gamblers came from out of town. “There’s only so much of our own money we can make off our own people coming in,” Bad Bear said.
