John Berrey, chairman of the Oklahoma-based Quapaw Indian Tribe, recently met with Arkansas’s legislative Black Caucus to discuss the tribe’s plans to place in federal trust 160 acres near downtown Little Rock. The tract, which the tribe purchased in its ancestral homeland in 2013, contains Quapaw and slave burial sites. The federal designation would allow the land to be exempt from local and state control.
Berrey said the caucus was supportive of the tribe’s plan to preserve the land but some local leaders have a misguided suspicion that the land will be developed into a casino—although the tribe hasn’t flatly stated that’s not the case.
“I just want to protect that land. My ancestors are buried there and so are the ancestors of the African-American community down there. We think their lives have meaning and we think it’s our responsibility to do everything that we can,” said Berrey.
He added, “First of all, it’s odd that we have to come back and purchase land that we were kicked off of. And second, there’s a lot of fear mongering put into this process that’s unnecessary. We think it’s motivated by people who don’t really care who we are and what we’re trying to do. They’re just trying to protect their own monopolies.” The Quapaws settled in the area along the Arkansas River in the mid-1600s, but were forcibly removed from there by the United States government in 1834. Today about one-third of the tribe’s 3,200-plus members live in Oklahoma.
The Little Rock Port Authority had been concerned that the tribe’s plans could interfere with its long-term industrial development plans. But Berrey said the tribe and port officials have a new understanding. “All the discussions we’ve had with the Port Authority have been very positive. They’re just dedicated to the citizens and we respect that. With the Port Authority we’ve sort of overcome the negative,” Berrey said. Port Authority Executive Director Bryan Day said, “We take Chairman Berrey at his word. The Quapaw are already our neighbors. They already own the land.”
However, Berrey noted Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola and Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde “have this negative fear.” Hyde signed off on 31 pages of documents opposing the Quapaw’s land-trust application that were sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Hyde stated Little Rock values Quapaws and their history but also want them to become part of the community. He said, “The land would no longer be subject to local or state jurisdiction. That’s being ‘apart’ from us instead of being ‘a part’ of us. That’s how we see it.” If the BIA approves taking the land into trust, the Quapaw would have the right to self-govern the land and businesses there would be exempt from property taxes and some local regulation.
Some Little Rock officials are wary of a federal lawsuit filed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt over the Quapaws’ plans to expand their Downstream Casino Resort, located in Oklahoma, to the parking lot located just across the Kansas state line. Schmidt has accused the Quapaw of misleading Kansas officials about plans for the land, which was placed in trust by the BIA. Berrey said the tribe never made a secret of its intentions to expand Downstream into Kansas.
In Arkansas, however, Quapaw officials bought their land by posing as the owners of a dog food company. Tribal spokesman Sean Harrison explained, “We did that in order to negotiate the best price. Had the seller known it was the tribe purchasing former tribal land—and a tribe with a casino perceived to be flush in cash—they would have inflated the price and held too much leverage.”
