Indian Gaming

Maine Public Broadcasting Network reports on the first meeting of the Commission to Develop a Competitive Bidding Process for the Operation of Additional Casinos or Slot Machines, where tribal leaders pushed for involvement in the gaming industry:

Currently, there is a moratorium on applications for gambling facilities in Maine. The one exception is for the Passamaquoddy Tribe, which worked out a compromise with the Legislature to revisit its 20-year-old effort to bring slot machines to Washington County.

But Brenda Commander, chief of the Houlton Band of Maliseets and a member of the panel, says the possibility of new gaming revenues interests all of Maine's tribes - even though Maine officials point out that the federally-recognized tribes ceded gambling rights when they signed the Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act in 1980.

"We're looking for those opportunities also, not just the Maliseet Tribe but all of the Wabanaki," Commander said. "And over the years, I think, it's been a little frustrating because it has initially been the Indian tribes who came out many years ago to do this."

And Commander wasn't the only representative from northern Maine to speak out on the issue. "It's safe to say that how many in this room have been past Bangor?" asked Chief Richard Getchell, of the Aroostook Bankd of Micmacs.

Getchell emphasized that too many studies on gaming tend to focus on the southern areas of the state, and that those opportunities should also be available residents of northern Maine - Indian and non-Indian alike.

Get the Story:
Maine Tribe Makes Another Attempt at Gambling Facility (Maine Public Broadcasting Network 7/26)

Also Today:
Maine tribe pushes for new casino (AP 7/27)