Land owned by Bim Stephen Bruner of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma was raided by tribal authorities on August 16 following warnings by the National Indian Gaming Commission that the land wasn’t eligible for gaming. Bruner was arrested in connection with having unlicensed gaming machines.
The NIGC sent a letter advising that land owned by Bim Stephen Bruner is not Indian land eligible for gaming. The letter was sent to the Kialegee Tribal Town (KTT.) According to the letter the land is part of the former reservation of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. So KTT cannot use it for gaming. “Accordingly, while the parcel may be Indian lands for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Bruner Parcel is not eligible for gaming by the Kialegee Tribal Town,” wrote the NIGC. An attorney for KTT, Penny Coleman, told Myskoke Media that in the opinion of KTT, the tribes share jurisdiction.
Coleman told Myskoke Media, “We believe that the Kialegee Tribal Town’s status as an independent sovereign nation with rights under the Creek treaties provides a strong argument that the Tribe shares jurisdiction and shares a reservation with the other three federally recognized Creek tribes.”
The letter claims that the NIGC’s letter was issued without a comprehensive analysis.
The Nation had sent Bruner a warning on June 6 that action would be taken if unlicensed gaming continued. Bruner and his associates claim that the property is used for a restaurant and bar and that no gaming is taking place, although he has talked about it.
The Nation issued this statement last week: “It recently came to the attention of officials at the Nation that actions related to the purchase/lease of Class II gaming machines as well as cash counting and surveillance equipment associated with the operation of a gaming facility had been taken.”
Later it issued this statement: “Mr. Bruner and others associated with the casino have continued to disregard the Nation’s laws and regulations by bringing unlicensed gaming machines and other gaming related equipment on to the site and moving forward with the facility, resulting in the actions taken by law enforcement this evening.”
Meanwhile KTT has sued the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Secretary of the Interior for “wrongfully” refusing to recognize KTT’s legal status.
