Seneca-Cayuga Tribe's casino site not in trust

Monday, July 2, 2007  

The Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma plans to open a casino on land that is not held in trust.

The tribe doesn't plan to go through the land-into-trust process before building a casino in Grove. Officials claim the site is within the boundaries of the tribe's former reservation.

But Shawn Pensoneau, a spokesperson for the National Indian Gaming Commission, said that isn't enough. “In order to operate a casino under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, it must fit the definition of Indian land as defined by the act,” Pensoneau told The Joplin Globe.

Previously, the NIGC determined the Osage Nation could open a casino on land that wasn't held in trust. But in that case, the agency said the tribe's reservation in Osage County still exists [NIGC Letter].

Get the Story:
Ordinance may be stumbling block for proposed casino (The Joplin Globe 7/2)