Interior reversal casts doubt on Alaska tribal gaming tasks

A federal reversal on tribal jurisdiction over Alaska Native allotments has forged uncertainty over two high-profile tribal gaming tasks, together with a deliberate playing corridor on Douglas Island and an working facility close to Anchorage.

The U.S. Department of the Interior on Sept. 25 withdrew Solicitor’s Opinion M-37079, a 2024 authorized interpretation that had established a presumption of tribal jurisdiction over Alaska Native allotments. The opinion had upended a 1993 interpretation that restricted tribal authority on such lands.

The withdrawal means the National Indian Gaming Commission should reevaluate its January approval of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s gaming ordinance. That approval approved the tribe to function a playing facility on the Jimmie George Allotment, a 20-acre parcel on Douglas Island close to Juneau.

Tlingit and Haida spokesperson Dixie Hutchinson stated in an announcement the tribe anticipated the withdrawal and plans to press on. 

“[We’re] committed to exercising our tribal sovereignty to preserve sovereignty, enhance economic and cultural resources and promote self-sufficiency and self-governance for tribal citizens,” Hutchinson wrote.

The state of Alaska welcomed the choice. In an announcement provided to native information station KTOO, Attorney General Stephen Cox stated the withdrawal “restores the jurisdictional balance Congress intended” beneath the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which in 1971 revoked most reservations within the state and transferred lands to Native firms.

The Douglas Island mission was one of many first to maneuver ahead beneath the 2024 solicitor’s opinion. Another was the Chin’an Gaming Hall, opened in February by the Native Village of Eklutna on a tribal member’s allotment close to Anchorage.

The Eklutna facility started operations with 85 digital bingo machines in a short lived modular constructing, with plans for a everlasting corridor that includes as much as 700 machines and eating places. Tribal leaders promoted the mission as a possible financial engine that would generate tons of of jobs and tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in annual exercise.

The state rapidly challenged the mission. In February, Alaska filed go well with in federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., arguing that federal businesses misused their authority in approving the gaming corridor. The state later sought a preliminary injunction to halt operations, citing a 2021 ruling that discovered the tribe lacked jurisdiction over sure allotments.

Local property homeowners additionally filed a separate lawsuit, citing considerations about visitors, environmental impacts and the lack of the world’s rural character.

Eklutna leaders have defended the mission. Village President Aaron Leggett stated the tribe would stand as much as the authorized challenges, noting that the corridor represents a long-sought alternative for financial growth, per prior Tribal Business News reporting.

The Interior Department’s reversal strengthens the state’s place within the ongoing litigation. By withdrawing the 2024 opinion, the division successfully reinstated the 1993 interpretation that restricted tribal jurisdiction over allotments in Alaska.

The NIGC has not but introduced the way it will tackle the reversal in relation to the Tlingit and Haida ordinance or the Eklutna facility.