The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) has announced it will sue the federal government over a March 12 decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to let a South Carolina-based tribe, the Catawba Indian Nation, build a casino resort in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
Nearly 30 percent of visitors to the EBCI’s Harrah’s casinos, in Cherokee and Murphy, North Carolina, live closer to Kings Mountain than to either of the EBCI establishments.
“The federal government has no right or authority to create a new reservation for the Catawba Nation across state lines, into Cherokee historical territory, just to build a casino,” said EBCI Principal Chief Richard Sneed. “This decision creates a dangerous precedent for all federally recognized tribes that empowers corrupt developers and their lobbyists to use politicians to determine what laws and precedents are followed and which ones are ignored. This decision cannot and will not stand.”
The federally recognized Catawba tribe’s reservation is in Rock Hill, South Carolina, located 34 miles southeast of the 16.57-acre casino site that will be taken into federal trust. Catawba Chief Bill Harris said, “It is unfortunate that the EBCI continues to perpetuate this narrative of tribe versus tribe. The Catawba Nation has reached out many times to the leadership of EBCI to try to work together. In Catawba’s decision letter from the Department of Interior, it clearly outlines that Catawba followed the process from beginning to end, and the decision also demonstrates our cultural and historical ties to this area. Eastern Band has the right to react however they want to the decision from DOI, but we have done and will continue to do all we can for the betterment of our nation as well as extend the hand of friendship and cooperation to other Native nations.”
The BIA has estimated the proposed casino would generate $208 million in direct economic activity once it became operational, create 2,600 new jobs and have a total annual economic impact to Cleveland County of $428 million.
The Catawba applied for federal trust status on September 17, 2018, the second time it submitted a BIA application. The first time was 2013, when the tribe unsuccessfully sought to have the property transferred into federal trust under the mandatory acquisition provisions of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993. On March 23, 2018 the Deputy Secretary of the Interior rejected the Catawba’s application.
The tribe submitted a different application on September 17, 2018. It had to demonstrate the land in question meets the definition of “restored lands,” meaning the land must be within the state where the tribe is currently located; the tribe must demonstrate a significant historical connection to the land; and the tribe must show that the land was included in its first request for territory after federal recognition was restored. The BIA found the Catawba met all three requirements.
Sneed has continually disputed the Catawba’s claims, stating the casino site is in the Cherokee’s historical territory. However, in its ruling, the BIA wrote, “Though the site falls within an area where another tribe may assert aboriginal ties, that fact does not detract from the nation’s ties to the land.”
Sneed also objected to the BIA’s findings in the Environmental Assessment, which analyzed the potential physical, environmental, cultural and socioeconomic impacts of using the site for use as a gaming facility. The assessment identified some potential impacts said with mitigation, any environmental effects could be reduced to acceptable levels.
Sneed said the BIA did not consult the Cherokee regarding potential cultural protection measures, even though it acknowledged archeological artifacts could be discovered during site preparation. He said developing a casino on historic Cherokee land without consulting the EBCI violates the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Protection Act.
