It took a lot of work but the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians officially entered the Class III gaming industry on January 25, 1994.
Since that day, the North Carolina-based tribe has debuted major expansions of the flagship Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort. More recently, the tribe opened a second facility, the Harrah's Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel. Patrick Lambert, a former principal chief of the tribe, details the events leading up to the gaming milestone in commentary for The Cherokee One Feather:On Jan. 25, 1994, twenty-five years ago… our Tribe opened for play our very first “fully compacted and legal” slot machines! There had been some games played prior to that date but not legally; however on that date, 1-25-94, after thousands of hours of work and planning we got our first machines opened that were lawful under an approved NIGC Compact between our Tribe and the State of North Carolina! There are so many stories leading up to that date that should be told and so many stories after that date that also need to be told and preserved. Stories that involve political intrigue, legal battles, personal sacrifice, professional efforts and successes, and above all the impacts that date has had on our community and Cherokee Families. There are many who had a role in that first day, some of whom… are gone now. I can’t help but wonder… where would we be now without that first day. Remember the stories of our Tribe borrowing money just to make payroll for the month? Or even asking our business owners to pay their tribal Levy early for the month so we could pay our bills. I was fortunate enough to have been on the front lines of this pivotal date in our history and have had a front row seat for the past 25 years seeing our advancements and accomplishments. Since that date 25 years ago we have had many enrolled members to step up and give it their all for our Tribe to make us a success and, unfortunately, there have been many who have succumbed to greed and excess and caused major problems for many. I think back about the times we were arguing over who the management company for our new casino should be and the companies called, “Casino Magic” and “Grand Casinos” along with “Harrah’s” each paid $150,000 for the right to bid on the casino project. There was much political strife and the Tribal Council was split between all three for several months. There are many stories that each of us can remember from those days and how those stories impacted our Casino operations to this day.