BIA to take land into trust for Catskills casino

Tuesday, May 4, 2004  

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has recommended approval of an off-reservation casino for the Cayuga Nation of New York.

The tribe and partner Empire Resorts plan to open the casino on 30 acres in the Catskills. The area is 90 minutes north of New York City.

The BIA's eastern office in Nashville approved the off-reservation land acquisition, according to The New York Times. The BIA's central office in Washington, D.C., has not yet published notice in the Federal Register.

State law authorized three casinos in the Catskills. The BIA has given approval for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and partner Caesars Entertainment for one of them. The Oneida Nation of New York, the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans from Wisconsin, and the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, are also want a shot at a casino.

The Cayuga Nation has not yet signed a compact with the state. The tribe won court approval to build a Class II facility on ancestral territory in western New York.

Get the Story:
Cayuga Tribe Moves Closer To a Casino In the Catskills (The New York Times 5/4)
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