The Catawba Nation of North Carolina expects its proposed casino to create up to 5,000 jobs, something Chief Bill Harris calls a “game changer.”
Harris, interviewed by the Kings Mountain Herald, said, “The economic impact of this project will be huge for the Catawba Indian Nation; it will be a game changer for us.” He added, “That same economic impact will be felt by Kings Mountain and Cleveland County.”
The land is in the town of Kings Mountain, 30 miles from Charlotte. It would be an off-reservation casino since the tribe’s reservation is 45 miles away in South Carolina.
The question is, when will it begin? Five years ago the tribe requested that the Bureau of Indian Affairs put land for the casino into trust. But questions about the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act have prevented the BIA from taking action, according to the Cherokee One Feather.
U.S. Senator Richard Burr’s spokesman told the paper, “Congress always intended for the Catawba Tribe to be able to make mandatory land acquisitions in North Carolina in a service area they have historically occupied. But, because of unclear language in the law itself, the Catawba’s claim is still being disputed 25 years later.”
The Senator introduced S.790, which would make clear that the BIA can approve of the tribe’s application and put the land into trust. It would also clarify that the tribe can operate a casino there.
The original Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act identified land in both North and South Carolina the tribe could use. Complicating this process is a claim by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians that the land is part of its “aboriginal lands.”
The Eastern Band operates the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel in the western part of North Carolina.
Eastern Band Chief Richard Sneed criticizes Burr’s legislation. He said in a statement, “This action circumvents the existing process for the Catawba Indian Nation to acquire lands in South Carolina, is unprecedented in US history, and a federal government bully-tactic that should not be part of modern governing.”
His tribe wants Congress to grant permission to acquire some of what it also considers its aboriginal lands in Tennessee. Sneed claims Senator Burr has threatened to block that legislation: H.R. 453 the Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act, which has passed in the House but is currently dead in the Senate.
