Tribes object to proposal for non-Indian casino in South Dakota

Wednesday, January 31, 2018  

Tribes are joining forces to oppose a new non-Indian casino in South Dakota.

Backers of the Port Yankton casino are seeking voter approval for the project. But a coalition of tribes hopes to stop it, The Associated Press reported.

"The Port Yankton project threatens the livelihood of South Dakota's tribes and the state's economy," Chairman Robert Flying Hawk of the Yankton Sioux Tribe said in a statement to the AP.

The casino would be located along the Missouri River in the city of Yankton, near South Dakota's border with Nebraska. According to the AP, tribes in both states are against the project.

The Yankton Sioux Tribe operates the Fort Randall Casino and Hotel in Lake Andes, about an hour's drive from Yankton.

On the Nebraska side, the Santee Sioux Tribe operates the Ohiya Casino and Resort in Niobrara. That facility is less than 40 minutes from Yankton.

Non-Indian gaming is already legal in Deadwood in South Dakota. Facilities there offer slot machines, card games and dice games.

Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, tribes are entitled to offer the same types of games that are legal in a state. But the state has limited most tribes to just 250 slot machines as part of their Class III gaming compacts.

In total, the Deadwood casinos offer more than 3,200 slot machines, according to the South Dakota Commission on Gaming's most recent annual report. That's far more than the nine tribes with gaming compacts.

Read More on the Story:
Yankton casino push starts at South Dakota Legislature (The Associated Press January 31, 2018)