The approval in fact represents a dramatic change in course from Washington. This decision cannot and will not stand.” “This decision creates a dangerous precedent for all federally recognized tribes that empowers corrupt developers and their lobbyists to use politicians to determine what laws and precedents are followed and which ones are ignored. “The federal government has no right or authority to create a new reservation for the Catawba Nation across state lines, into Cherokee historical territory, just to build a casino,” Chief Richard Sneed said in a news release on Friday. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, whose ancestral territory extends to the same region in North Carolina, blasted the determination as an affront to its sovereignty. Image: Catawbaīut as Harris and supporters at the local level were cheering the Trump administration at a city hall press conference the following day, another tribe was simmering. Proposed Catawba Nation casino in North Carolina. “The land is located in close proximity to our current landholdings and is our ancestral land, in an area that the Catawba people have used and occupied since time immemorial,' said Harris. The land falls within the service area that was defined by Congress through a land claim settlement act and Harris said his people have strong connections to the site.

The decision, signed by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney, means the tribe can open a gaming facility on about 17 acres near the city of Kings Mountain in Cleveland County. “The Nation is very thankful for the department’s decision to take this land into trust, enabling us to achieve the promise of self-determination though economic development,” Chief Bill Harris said in a news release. A call from Department of the Interior headquarters in Washington, D.C., came shortly before 4pm, a tribal official told Indianz.Com. The Catawbas celebrated after learning of the long awaited decision last Thursday. It took nearly seven years but the Catawba Nation has finally won approval to build a casino on ancestral territory in North Carolina, a move that drew a strong condemnation from another tribe with an existing enterprise in the state.

Kings mountain casino news 2018