The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe recently signed short-term extensions to their Class III gaming compacts with the state of South Dakota. The compact extension allows Crow Creek’s Lode Star Casino and Hotel to operate until June 28 and Rosebud’s Rosebud Casino until June 31.
The tribes and the state had battled over the number of slots allowable in non-tribal casinos, with tribal casinos collectively limited to 250 and commercial casinos collectively permitted to offer up to 3,200. The tribes also opposed the South Dakota’s oil pipeline projects.
Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council Chairman Brandon Sazue said, “South Dakota, now, has knowingly entered into that and condones the pepper spray, the shooting down of a drone, the felony charges of our young men and women, the actions of using batons and using military tactics on our people, which, who by the way, are not armed. We can’t be a part of that.”
Rosebud Sioux tribal member Alex Romero-Frederick said the tribe is likely to offer space to oppose the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, due to “the unity and support it received while opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. We want to bring our voice out, you know, for everybody to hear us. We thought a national platform would bring more attention to what’s going on.”
