The three commissioners of Cherokee County, Kansas recently unanimously passed a resolution supporting the attorney general of the State of Kansas to take action to stop the Quapaw Tribe from expanding its Downstream Casino into Cherokee County. Commission Chairman Richard Hilderbrand said, “We support the attorney general fighting the proposed casino on Quapaw trust land in Cherokee County.” Hilderbrand said the county would enter into an agreement with Fisher, Patterson, Sayler, and Smith for any litigation on the matter.
The resolution was a response to the National Indian Gaming Commission’s November 21, 2014 ruling that the Quapaw Tribe’s recently acquired trust land in Cherokee County was eligible for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s “last reservation recognized” exception. The Quapaw Tribe was one of the few whose historic reservations were located within the boundaries of more than one state at the time of the Civil War. Its land in Kansas, known as the “Quapaw Strip,” covers an area of its original 1833 reservation.
In February 2012, the tribe filed a non-gaming land-trust application with the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. In March, the state of Kansas and Cherokee County Commissioners objected to the acquisition based on the concern that the property would be used to expand gaming operations, even though the application stated the land would not be used for gaming purposes. In April, objections were removed following the tribe’s assurance once again that the land was not and would never in the future be used for gaming. On June 8, 2012, the BIA approved the acquisition in a landmark decision making the Quapaw Tribe the first to have land in two states. Following the NIGC’s ruling November 21, 2014 ruling, the Quapaw Tribe announced it would start casino construction immediately and open for business in 2015. The casino would be a Class 3 operation, which is unconstitutional in Oklahoma, offering roulette and craps.
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma Chairman John Berrey commented, “It’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s anti-Indian and anti-people of Cherokee County. Commission Chairman Richard Hilderbrand and the commissioners are only interested in helping themselves out. They don’t care about helping out the citizens of the county.” Berrey also described the resolution as “corrupt and stupid.” He said, “I’m baffled why they would be doing this. We’re one of the largest landowners in Cherokee County. We have a lot of employees that live in the county. We’re helping them out with the waste water treatment plant, because we feel it’s the right thing to do for Cherokee County.” Continuing, Berrey stated, “We need county commissioners who actually care about the citizens and not just about themselves, who won’t do this cloak-and-dagger, behind closed doors sort of business. It’s sad, disgusting really, that they would try to stop what would be a huge economic impact for the county’s benefit.”
Hilderbrand denied Berrey’s anti-Indian claims. “That doesn’t have anything to do with it. The tribe stated on their original application that the land wouldn’t be used for gaming purposes and now they’re going against that and trying to put a casino there now that the land’s in trust.”
