Indian Gaming

The Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit in federal court today aimed at preventing the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama from operating a casino on a sacred site.

The Muscogee Nation is upset over the $246 million expansion of the Wind Creek Wetumpka, owned by the Poarch Band. The casino is located at the Hickory Ground, a burial ground and historic Creek site.

The casino is part of the Poarch Creek Reservation but the lawsuit claims it was taken into trust illegally. The complaint cites the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.

The decision restricts the land-into-trust process to tribes that were "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934. The Poarch Band gained federal recognition in 1984.

"Accordingly, the current casino gambling facility operated by the PBCI at Hickory Ground is illegal and improper as the PBCI was not recognized as a tribe in 1934 but only some 50 years later, the complaint states.

As defendants, the lawsuit names the Poarch Band, several tribal officials and employees, plus Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn, the new leader of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It was filed in federal court in Alabama.

"The ceremonial ground is sacred, so it is not a proper place for a casino," Mekko George Thompson, who serves as the traditional chief for the Hickory Ground Tribal Town, said in a press release.

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