The other shoe soon may drop for the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe’s Naskila Gaming entertainment center in Livingston, Texas. A hearing was held last week in federal court in Beaumont to determine if the tribe should be held in contempt and the popular, one-year-old electronic bingo center shut down.
State attorneys contend the operation is illegal and that the electronic bingo machines violate a 2002 injunction that closed the tribe’s previous casino shortly after it opened at the same site near Houston, on land the tribe received through Texas hero Sam Houston. State Assistant Attorney General Anne Marie Mackin said, “The machines operated at Naskila are not a permissible form of ‘bingo’ and as a result, still cannot be operated without state oversight.”
Attorneys for the tribe claim Naskila is legal under the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The center’s 365 electronic bingo machines were not covered in the 2002 injunction that disallowed slot machines, blackjack and poker games in the state.
However, the Alabama-Coushatta and another Texas tribe, the El Paso-based Tiguas, were federally recognized through the Restoration Act passed by Congress in 1987, and agreed to a prohibition on gambling. The only other federally recognized tribe in Texas, the Kickapoo, was recognized in 1983 without any gambling provision. The tribe operates the only legal gambling center in Texas in Eagle Pass.
Over the years, although the state constitution prohibits most forms of gambling, horse and dog racetrack betting and a state lottery have been allowed. Legislative efforts to let Texas voters weigh in on the issue repeatedly have failed. However, a 2013 study for the Texas Association of Business indicated Texans spent $3 billion annually on gambling in neighboring states with casinos.
Former Tribal Council Chairman Carlos Bullock said, “We are in the fight for our future. This is something, a revenue stream, that can help the tribe immensely. When we closed in 2002, we lost 300 jobs. That was a difficult time for the tribe and tribal members, people who had begun relying on that income. That’s what makes it so important we do everything legally and correctly because we can’t afford to lose those jobs again.” Naskila employs 400 people, half of whom belong to the 1,200-member tribe, and has added $5 million to the local economy, Bullock said.
