The Kialegee
Tribal Town said it will meet soon to discuss plans for a disputed gaming site in Oklahoma.
The tribe started building the Red Clay Casino on an Indian allotment near Tulsa. But work stopped when a federal judge put a halt to the project in response to a lawsuit from the state.
The 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals, however, lifted the injunction on Monday. The decision protects the tribe and its leaders from the lawsuit due to sovereign immunity.
“It’s a big win for law and tribal sovereignty,” Jeremiah Hobia, the tribe's leader, said in a press release, according to news reports. “I’m looking forward to getting back to business and helping our people, and working with state and local officials in a constructive, more respectful way.”
The court victory, however, doesn't mean the tribe can open the casino.
The National Indian Gaming
Commission has said the allotment does not qualify for gaming under the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act.
The tribe can always challenge the NIGC's determinations. Or the tribe could use the land for other projects, such as a sports bar that was under consideration.
Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Oklahoma
v. Hobia.
Get the Story:
Kialegee tribe happy with federal court ruling
(The Broken Arrow Leader 11/12)
Tribe hails court ruling on Broken Arrow casino as victory
(The Tulsa World 11/12)
$P 10th Circuit Decision:
Oklahoma
v. Hobia (November 10, 2014)
NIGC Indian Land Opinions
May
25, 2012 | June
8, 2012
Related Stories:
Supreme Court ruling bodes well for
tribes in gaming cases (11/11)
10th Circuit rules
for Kialegee Tribal Town in casino dispute (11/10)