The Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma wants to meet with local officials in Arkansas to discuss plans for ancestral land there.
Chairman John Berrey has been willing to sign an agreement that bars gaming on 160 acres near Little Rock. But there haven't been any meetings since the July 8
letter was made in a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs on July 8, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
"Because there was no follow-up, I assumed that it wasn't a serious offer," Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde, who opposes the tribe's land-into-trust application, told the paper.
The land is located within the tribe's former reservation in Arkansas. As such, it could qualify for a casino under the Indian
Gaming Regulatory Act.
The tribe, however, plans to preserve the property for agricultural and cultural purposes.
Artifacts, burial grounds and even graves of former African
slaves have been discovered at the site.
Get the Story:
Despite offer to bar casino, no land pact
(The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 8/31)
$P Relevant Documents:
NIGC
Indian Land Opinion For Site in Kansas (November 2014)
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