The New Mexico Senate recently voted 31-10 against the Navajo Nation’s gaming compact that would have allowed the tribe to build additional casinos over the next 15 years. Negotiations with Governor Susana Martinez’ staff took more than two years—but it took less than an hour for the Senate to reject the bill which was passed the previous day by the House in a 36-30 vote. The current compact will expire in 2016. Lawmakers and other tribal officials said allowing more casinos could affect the state’s gambling industry.
Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said, “It just puts everything on hold. Very uncomfortable feeling at this point in time. We need to improve some of our casino to attract more players to come to our casino and so on. It’s a big, big problem. These are people’s casinos, and it hurts.”
Shelly states the tribe is weighing its options, including suing the state of New Mexico and waiving sovereign immunity. Meanwhile, Shelly said, existing casinos will to have to wait on renovations, expansions and investments.
Also in New Mexico, the state Supreme Court will hear arguments on March 10 concerning whether the state government should recognize the Fort Sill Apaches as a New Mexico tribe. The tribe considers the 30 acres it owns in New Mexico, the site of a small smoke shop, a reservation.
Governor Martinez said the Fort Sill Apaches are an Oklahoma tribe seeking a way to open a casino in Luna County, New Mexico. In a brief, Martinez’ lawyers wrote, “The federal government recognizes Fort Sill as being located in the state of Oklahoma. Fort Sill does not maintain communities, government facilities or a population base in New Mexico.”
However, Fort Sill Chairman Jeff Haozous said, “While the tribe may later seek to commence gaming operations on its reservation, the case is about recognition by the state of the tribe.
Although both the National Indian Gaming Commission and the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department said the land did not qualify as a site for gambling, the tribe has pursued a New Mexico casino. It commissioned a survey in 2011 that said the public supported an Apache Homelands Casino that would “deliver much needed economic growth in Southwest New Mexico.”
Tribal lawyers cite the example of the Navajo Nation, whose seat of government is in Window Rock Arizona, but it is recognized by New Mexico. In a brief, the lawyers stated, “That the majority of the population of the tribe has not yet returned to its aboriginal territory is not surprising, given respondents hostility and the relatively recent recognition of the tribe’s reservation in the area of its ancestral homeland.”
