Indian Gaming > Skibine recommended approval of Mohawk casino

January 14, 2008

Skibine recommended approval of Mohawk casino

The Bureau of Indian Affairs official in charge of gaming recommended approval of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's off-reservation casino, Indian Country Today reports.

George Skibine, the director of the Office of Indian Gaming Management, told the tribe and its attorneys that he supported the land-into-trust application for a casino in the Catskills. But he was overridden by associate deputy secretary Jim Cason, who said the gaming site was too far from the reservation to benefit tribal members [PDF: Letter].

Cason's decision contradicted an earlier one he issued back in 2000. "The proposed project will create hundreds of jobs for the Tribe and local communities,'' he wrote in a Finding of No Significant Impact for the casino.

The tribe last week filed a lawsuit in federal court to challenge the rejection of its land-into-trust application. The lawsuit says the Bush administration created a new off-reservation gaming policy without consulting tribes.

The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe and the United Keetoowah Band, both of Oklahoma, are also considering appeals. The The St. Croix Band of Lake Superior Chippewa from Wisconsin has amended a previously filed lawsuit to challenge the new policy.

Get the Story:
St. Regis Mohawks to appeal denied land into trust application (Indian Country Today 1/14)
Tribes may fight BIA over land decision (The Tulsa World 1/14)