BIA allows another New Mexico gaming compact to go into effect

Monday, January 4, 2016

Former Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn speaks at the National Congress of American Indians annual convention in San Diego, California, on October 19, 2015. Photo by Indianz.Com

>
Kevin Washburn left his job as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs last week but not before allowing one more Class III gaming compact in New Mexico to go into effect

A notice published in the Federal Register on December 29 announced approval of the compact for Nambe Pueblo. The tribe is now the 13th in the state with a "deemed approved" agreement, the most of any state.

The agreements cover the overwhelming majority of tribes in the Land of Enchantment: the Navajo Nation, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the Mescalero Apache Nation, Acoma Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo, the Isleta Pueblo, Taos Pueblo, Ohkay Owingeh, Laguna Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, Santa Clara Pueblo, Zuni Pueblo and Nambe Pueblo. The compacts are considered to be legal to the extent their provisions are consistent with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Only three tribes -- Sandia Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo and Santa Ana Pueblo -- are operating under a prior agreement. A fourth tribe -- Pojoaque Pueblo -- remains in limbo after its compact expired at the end of June. The tribe has refused to agree to revenue-sharing provisions in the new deal.