Tlingit and Haida constructing casino-like gaming corridor in Juneau

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent

A casino-like playing corridor is being constructed on tribal land close to Juneau’s Eaglecrest Ski Area.

Workers on Aug. 26 had been performing roof work on the largely accomplished exterior of a wood-frame constructing on a 20-acre Douglas Island parcel owned by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

In an electronic mail final month to Juneau public radio station KTOO, Tlingit and Haida spokesperson Dixie Hutchinson confirmed that the tribe is growing a gaming facility. According to Hutchinson, the plan “aligns with Tlingit and Haida’s broader mission to expand revenue-generating opportunities that support essential programs and services for tribal citizens.”

Hutchinson didn’t supply a timeline for when it’ll open to the general public.

Reports present the tribe plans to function what’s often known as a Class II gaming institution. Such places can supply bingo, non-house-banked card video games, pull-tabs, and slot-like machines the place payouts come from a pool of competing gamers (very similar to a bingo pool). Games like poker, blackjack and conventional slot machines will not be allowed.

It could be just like the Southeast Winds Casino, a gaming operation in Metlakatla, on Alaska’s solely Indian Reservation, which has operated for years with slot-machine-like video games, bingo and pull-tabs.

The Douglas Island parcel is a part of a 220-acre web site owned by the heirs of an Angoon man who obtained the property in a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service in 2002. Tlingit and Haida has leased 20 of these acres since 2015.

Tlingit and Haida started clearing bushes from the land in 2018 however by no means disclosed the aim of the work.

The gaming facility took a giant step ahead in January of this yr when the National Indian Gaming Commission licensed an amended gaming ordinance adopted by the Southeast Alaska tribe in October 2024. A key consideration of the fee was Tlingit and Haida demonstrating it workouts vital authorities authority, with the tribe submitting proof of its schooling, legislation enforcement, emergency administration and different operations to satisfy that commonplace.

The Jan. 17, 2025, authorization letter by the fee additionally notes potential facilities on the property primarily based on the tribal council’s actions.

“The leased premises shall be used by the (tribe) for governmental administration, programs, services, regulatory functions, the promotion of tribal cultural heritage and economic development, including but not limited to the construction and operation of a Native-style lodge with a restaurant and gift shop, bingo, dining and entertainment that includes cultural performances and music, and the operation of governmental facilities and business enterprises under the governmental authority of the (tribe),” the fee’s letter states.

Tlingit and Haida has accomplished quite a few growth initiatives in Juneau and is proposing extra main initiatives corresponding to a extremely touted schooling campus. But plans for the gaming facility remained largely out of public view till the fee’s letter and development work attracted discover through the previous few weeks.

The same playing corridor licensed by the fee for the Native Village of Eklutna is experiencing difficulties after opening in January. The state of Alaska in February filed a lawsuit to close down the on line casino and Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration is asking President Donald Trump to overturn the federal fee’s ruling authorizing the ability.

The Dunleavy administration additionally beforehand legally challenged an effort by Tlingit and Haida to acquire “Indian country” sovereignty rights to a parcel of tribal land in downtown Juneau.

Tlingit and Haida’s deliberate playing facility might be a part of different main tourism amenities on north Douglas Island within the growth stage. Goldbelt Inc., the city Native company for Juneau, is planning to construct a two-berth cruise ship dock — full with customer amenities — on land it owns on the west coast of the island by the 2028 cruise ship season.