Paskenta chair asks Obama about gaming policy

Monday, November 9, 2009  

Leslie Lohse, the chairwoman of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians of California, asked President Barack Obama about off-reservation gaming at the White House Tribal Nations Conference last week.

Lohse said the Interior Department needs to clarify its land-into-trust policy. She said landless tribes that are seeking to open casinos are "causing issues" in northern California.

"We do have gaming out there, and I would ask that you ask the Secretary of Interior to make some policies that are much more clarifying in getting our lands into trust, because it's causing some issues out there between the gaming tribes -- maybe nine gaming tribes -- and with the local communities and our state itself," Lohse told Obama. "So we ask that you ask them to make these things more clearly for all of us to abide by."

Lohse did not mention any tribes by name but she told The Sacramento Bee that a landless tribe was working with a gaming developer to open a casino near her tribe's gaming facility.

Get the Story:
Northern California tribal leader airs concerns with Obama (The Sacramento Bee 11/9)
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White House Tribal Nations Conference:
President Obama questions and answers with tribes (11/9)