The Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma probably won't be getting a casino in Ohio, University of Dayton law professor Blake Watson says.
Watson, who specializes in property and Indian law, says the Bush administration has essentially blocked all off-reservation casinos. Gaming sites hundreds of miles from existing reservations are too far for tribal members to commute for jobs, according to a new policy issued this month.
"The federal government's Bush administration basically has taken the position — and it appears to be across the board — that when the land is far away from the homeland, which, of course, would be the case for the Eastern Shawnee, that they will not agree to place the land into trust," Watson told The Dayton Daily News.
The tribe filed a land claim in Ohio and says it will settle for gaming rights.
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