The Oneida Nation and the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation recently expressed support for a Menominee Nation casino in Kenosha, Wisconsin. However, the Potawatomi Tribe strongly opposes a Menominee casino.
A statement from the Oneida Nation Business Committee said, “The Oneida Nation has a successful history of working with other sovereign nations to build and support Indian gaming and other enterprises across the nation. Oneida can be proud of supporting the common goals of self-sufficiency, economic expansion and diversification and advocation for tribal sovereignty.”
Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation President Shannon Holsey said, “The Menominee are our neighbors and share many ties and many of the same needs as our community. We fully support their efforts to find the resources to address those needs, which can only help the larger tribal, regional and state communities.” The Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation’s reservation is adjacent to the Menominee Reservation.
Officials from the two supportive tribes pointed out the Menominee Nation is one of the poorest tribes in Wisconsin. They said revenue from a Kenosha casino would allow the tribe to invest in health and education and reduce the high levels of poverty, hunger and unemployment on the Menominee Reservation.
Oneida and Mohican officials supported the Menominee’s previous bid to open a casino in Kenosha, which then-Governor Scott Walker rejected in 2015.
The Menominee Nation is partnering in the Kenosha casino project with Hard Rock International, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The casino would be built on about 60 acres of land purchased by Hard Rock last month for $15 million.
George Ermert, spokesman for the Potawatomi tribe, which owns a casino in Milwaukee, said, “Potawatomi is opposed to this casino. We’re opposed to a tribe from Florida with no connection to Wisconsin coming into our state and taking millions of dollars and bringing it back to Florida.” He noted Kenosha is located in a region the Potawatomi claim as ancestral land.
However, Potawatomi officials do support a bid by the Ho-Chunk Nation to open a casino in Beloit, even though that could compete with the Milwaukee casino, Ermert said. He stated the Beloit casino would be owned and operated by the Ho-Chunk Nation and Beloit is within Ho-Chunk ancestral land. “The Ho-Chunk have every right to open a casino there,” he said.
