Legal Showdown: Eklutna Tribe’s Ambitious Gaming Hall Project Faces Major Hurdle Near Anchorage

A collective of residents in Birchwood has initiated a legal action against the Native Village of Eklutna regarding a proposed small-scale casino close to Anchorage. The tribal gaming facility is intended to be established on roughly eight acres of land, situated a few miles beyond the Birchwood exit along the Glenn Highway.

Sharon Avery, the interim leader of the federal National Indian Gaming Commission, was also included in the legal filing. Earlier this year, Avery endorsed the tribe’s proposal to construct the project on a Native allotment leased from the Ondola family.

“This area sees a lot of horses and dog mushing, and similar activities,” remarked Debbie Ossiander, who resides about a mile from the proposed site.

Ossiander, co-chair of the Birchwood Community Council, supports the legal action. She states that the council is concerned that the Eklutna Tribe’s initiative may disrupt the rural essence of the location.

“Residents are anxious about the traffic burden that such a facility would create. It would certainly attract visitors,” Ossiander noted. “Individuals would travel from Anchorage and various places in the valley to reach this locale.”

Ossiander highlighted additional significant uncertainties, such as the effect of drainage from the casino’s parking facility on nearby Peter’s Creek, which serves as a salmon spawning habitat. She also expressed exasperation over the insufficient information provided regarding the project.

The legal action was lodged on behalf of eight individuals residing in the Birchwood Spur Road vicinity, adjacent to the intended gaming facility. They are represented by attorney Don Mitchell, a veteran opponent of tribal sovereignty in Alaska.

Mitchell declined to comment for this report, but his lawsuit challenges the Eklutna Tribe’s tribal status and the legitimacy of tribes in Alaska.

Aaron Leggett, the president of the Native Village of Eklutna, expressed disappointment regarding the litigation in a statement.

He noted that Mitchell’s assertion claiming the nonexistence of tribes in Alaska has consistently been dismissed by the judiciary.

Regarding the concerns raised by nearby property owners about potential effects on the Birchwood community, Leggett stated that the public would have an opportunity to offer feedback on the project after a federal environmental evaluation is concluded.

The area under discussion is federally regulated, situated on a Native allotment granted to Olga Ondola in 1963. It also falls within the traditional territory of the Eklutna Tribe.

In 2016, the Eklutna Tribe requested the U.S. Department of Interior to designate the land as eligible for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. They also sought validation for the Tribe’s lease of the property from the Ondola family; however, in 2018, the Department ruled against the Tribe, concluding that the land did not qualify as “Indian lands.”

This ruling was overturned earlier this year following a revised interpretation of the law by Bob Anderson, the solicitor for the U.S. Interior Department.

Anderson, the agency’s chief legal advisor, determined that the Eklutna Tribe possesses authority over the Ondola Native Allotment, thus paving the way for the Tribe to gain approval from the National Indian Gaming Commission in July. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has yet to issue the final license, pending an environmental evaluation.

The litigation aimed at the Eklutna Tribe references a lengthy legal precedent dating back to 1884. It invokes past rulings from Congress and earlier Interior Departments that were unfavorable to tribes in Alaska.

Proponents of tribal sovereignty assert that the courts have long settled those disputes. They refer to a Federal Register listing 574 tribes and Alaska Native entities, including the Native Village of Eklutna.

Tribal leaders such as Richard Peterson, president of the Tlingit and Haida—Alaska’s largest tribe—deem the lawsuit’s assertions regarding the absence of tribal status in Alaska as absurd.

“When you challenge tribes, you are challenging Alaska,” Peterson remarked, condemning the lawsuit as shortsighted.

He is convinced that the local community will reap long-term benefits from the gaming facility, pointing to the Eklutna Tribe’s history of environmental stewardship and its rehabilitation of abandoned military sites and other initiatives.

“They’re accomplishing significant work for their community,” he stated. “This affects all tribes. All 229 should rally behind Eklutna,” Peterson asserted.

Nevertheless, the Eklutna Tribe may encounter opposition from another source. Governor Mike Dunleavy recently released a list of priorities in anticipation of the incoming Trump administration. Among these is a proposal to reverse Anderson’s recent decision to approve the Eklutna Tribe’s intended gaming facility.

Critics of the initiative argue that Native allotments are exempt from state and local taxation and express concerns about potentially having to absorb the costs of the gaming hall’s impacts, including the demand for enhanced public safety services and roadway improvements. In contrast, supporters contend that the Tribe could collaborate to provide additional services and infrastructural enhancements to the region.

The Eklutna Tribe has announced that the project will proceed in two stages, termed the Chin’an Gaming Hall. “Chin’an” translates to “thank you” in the Dena’ina Athabascan dialect.

On its website, the Tribe confirms plans to inaugurate a modest 50,000 square-foot facility spanning roughly six acres. Initial offerings will not include card or table games, beginning instead with 350 to 550 electronic gaming machines, with a potential expansion to 700 machines. Additionally, a full-service restaurant is planned, along with an eventual application for a liquor license.

Marnell Companies, a Las Vegas-based firm led by the Marnell family, will oversee the design, development, and management of the gaming hall.

Advocates of the project assert that it will complement existing developments in the area, which encompass an airport, railroad operations, a convenience store, a bar, and a small wood panel manufacturing facility managed by Spenard Builders Supply.

The Tribe declares that gains from the gaming hall will be utilized for scholarships, housing, healthcare, and cultural initiatives.

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