'We are thrilled': Spokane Tribe prevails in challenge to new casino

Monday, July 15, 2019

The Spokane Tribe and the Trump administration have prevailed in a lawsuit that challenged a new casino in Washington state.

The tribe opened the Spokane Tribe Casino in January 2018. The facility is located in Airway Heights, less than three miles from an existing Indian gaming property.

The Kalispel Tribe, the owner of the nearby Northern Quest Resort and Casino, sued the federal government in hopes of derailing the new development. But Judge Frem Nielsen dismissed the case on Friday, saying the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not violate its trust responsibility by approving it.

“We are thrilled,” Scott Wheat, the lead attorney for the Spokane Tribe, told The Spokesman-Review. “With the stakes so high … I felt on all sides, the case was well-argued. We are very pleased with the ruling.”

The Spokane Tribe opened the casino after competing both steps of the two-part determination process of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The law requires approval from the state governor, in addition to the BIA, for certain developments that are located on land acquired in trust after 1988.

The Kalispel Tribe, incidentally, opened Northern Quest after following the same process.

"The Federal Government owes a duty of trust to all tribes; however, the scope of that duty must be established by statute and that trust duty necessarily equally applies to all tribes so the Government may not favor one tribe over another," the decision stated.

The order to dismiss came about a month after a motion hearing in federal court on June 17.

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Kalispel Tribe of Indians v. Department. of Interior.