As part of a 2012 settlement between the UKB and the state of Oklahoma, the land must be in trust by July 31 or the  UKB's casino operating on that land will be shut down.

 

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The Cherokee Nation filed a request for an injunction Tuesday against the Department of the Interior and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn in an effort to block another tribe’s attempt to place land into trust.

Like the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians is headquartered in Tahlequah, Okla., and operates a casino within the city limits. Earlier this month, Cherokee Nation was notified the BIA would proceed with the UKB’s application to place the casino’s 2.03-acre parcel of land into trust, prompting the Cherokee Nation to file the injunction request in the Northern District of Oklahoma.

“The attempt by the BIA to place land into trust for another tribe or band of Indians in our jurisdiction is contrary to law, and we intend to prove that in court,” Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree said. “The Cherokee Nation will do everything in its power to preserve the integrity of our sovereignty.”

As part of a 2012 settlement between the UKB and the state of Oklahoma, the land must be in trust by July 31 or the casino will be shut down. According to a release from the Cherokee Nation, the UKB’s application will be expedited in order to accommodate that deadline.

Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, tribes can only conduct gaming on trust property within its jurisdictional area. In a July 2012 decision to allow the UKB’s trust application, then-acting Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Michael Black wrote that the UKB had met the federal requirements for acquiring land into trust. Previously, the Cherokee Nation had been recognized as the primary tribe within the tribes’ shared 14-county area, thus requiring the UKB to get Cherokee Nation approval for land into trust applications.

“Now that we have determined that the former reservation of the Cherokee Nation is also the former reservation of the UKB…the regulatory consent of the Cherokee Nation is no longer applicable,” Black wrote last year. “By receiving and considering the comments of the Cherokee Nation on the instant acquisition…the department has satisfied any requirements to consult with the Cherokee Nation.”

Opened in 1986 as Keetoowah Bingo, the casino directly employs 124 people and funds the paychecks of more than 70 tribal government employees.  Through its attorney, the UKB released the following statement Tuesday afternoon:

“In its never-ending quest to destroy its Cherokee brothers and sisters, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has this day filed a request that the United States’ District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma enter an order to prohibit the Department of Interior from taking land, presently owned by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, into trust,” UKB legal counsel Jim McMillin said. “The effect of this injunction, if granted, would immediately throw some 300 Keetoowahs out of work. We trust that the federal court, upon hearing all of the evidence, will decline to issue an injunction and permit the Department of Interior provisionally to take the land into trust.”

Late Tuesday, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker announced two potential compromises that would allow the casino to stay open. The first proposal suggests that the Department of the Interior take the casino’s current site into trust for the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Nation would then sign a 99-year renewable lease with the UKB to allow gaming to continue at the facility.

Another option would be for the UKB to relocate the casino to land the Cherokee Nation has in trust south of Tahlequah, Okla., near the intersection of state highways 82 and 62, which is already held in trust for gaming, and a sign a 99-year lease.

As of Wednesday morning, the UKB had not responded publicly to the offer.

Opened in 1986 as Keetoowah Bingo, the casino directly employs 124 people and funds the paychecks of more than 70 tribal government employees.

FILE PHOTO