Bill Harris, chief of the Catawba Indian Nation in York County, South Carolina, will testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on S.790 on May 1. The bill would authorize the Bureau of Indian Affairs to approve the tribe’s land-trust application, filed five years ago, for a 32-acre site within Catawba homelands in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sponsored the bill and U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis of North Carolina co-sponsored it.
The Catawbas said the 1993 settlement naming them as the only federally recognized tribe in South Carolina included an agreement on future land use and development. A debate over the details, however, required the agreement to be made clearer. The Cleveland County site would need to be put in a federal trust in order for the tribe to develop it—that is the essence of the bill. The tribe considers the land part of its ancestral home.
One study indicated a proposed $300-$600 million casino would provide more than 4,000 jobs. Catawba Assistant Chief Jason Harris said the tribe faces high unemployment and receives poor health care. He said the $1.5 million it receives annually from Washington does not cover the needs of the 3,000 tribal members. “We don’t want to rely on the government. This would be a real shot in the arm for us and our community. It will put people to work,” he said.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who operate two Harrah’s Cherokee casinos in North Carolina, oppose the Catawbas’ proposal.
