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Posted by White Earth Nation on Monday, October 1, 2018

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White Earth Nation blames poor financial situation on gaming projects

Thursday, October 4, 2018

The White Earth Nation is experiencing financial hardships and some tribal leaders are blaming the situation on prior leadership.

According to Secretary-Treasurer Alan Roy, a prior council spent nearly $18 million on a second Shooting Star Casino on the reservation in Minnesota. But that project was only supposed to cost $6 million, he said at a press conference on Monday.

Additionally, Roy said prior leaders spent $7 million looking into a new casino at a site away from the main reservation. The current council has since canceled the project.

"Instead of thinking about youth, elders, and families, the past tribal council focused on building casinos and buying properties," Roy said at the press conference.

Although the gaming portion of the proposed casino at Star Lake would have been located on trust land, the tribe had acquired an additional 225 acres surrounding the property. One tribal citizen previously said the cost of those acquisitions came to $3.7 million.

Following the press conference, Roy told The Detroit Lakes Tribune that the tribal council has ordered an audit into several programs, including the police department. Eight police officers resigned after hearing of budget cuts, the paper reported, though two have since come back to work.

"While there have been budgetary cuts made to this government sector, it will have minimal impact on the public," Chief of Police Michael J. LaRoque said in a statement on Tuesday.

The new Shooting Star, which opened in August 2016, is located near Bagley, on the northeastern side of the reservation. The original is in Mahnomen, near the western edge of the reservation.