NIGC Drops Another Decision

The National Indian Gaming Commission's decision that the so-called "Shriner Tract" in Kansas City, KS [once known, as the district court acknowledged, as "Wyandotte City"] did not qualify as Indian lands under the land settlement exception in IGRA Section 20 has been reversed.

The case, Wyandotte Nation v. National Indian Gaming Commission is a long-running case over a parcel of land that was a cemetery for the tribe during their "stay" in the area. The Wyandotte, or Huron, or Wendat [I believe, I could be wrong], came from the Great Lakes region. But they were removed west in numerous instances, eventually to arrive in Oklahoma. Though the Nation is located in Oklahoma, they wished to commence gaming on trust land in Kansas City, KS. Since the cemetery was held in trust in perpetuity as a cemetery, the Nation purchased adjoining land and persuaded the Secretary to take the land into trust (long, long ago, in the 1990s) for gaming purposes. There have been challenges from the Kansas government, the tribes located in Kansas, and later the NIGC -- but it appears the Nation is winning more often than not.

The case highights numerous (sometimes) ugly issues relating to gaming, especially Tribe vs. Tribe.