Federal officials open door to a Catawba Indian casino 35 miles west of Charlotte
The Catawba Indians have won federal approval to open a $273 million casino complex in Cleveland County, a move that would bring Vegas-style gambling within 35 miles of Charlotte.
On Thursday the U.S. Department of the Interior told officials of the South Carolina-based tribe that they’ve agreed to put 16 acres near Interstate 85 in Kings Mountain in trust, a designation that gives it the right to develop a casino and resort.
“It’s a righting of a wrong,” Catawba Chief William Harris told a Friday news conference in Kings Mountain. “We have now regained what once belonged to us.”
But the Eastern Band of the Cherokees, which has operated its own casino in western North Carolina since 1997, promised to fight the decision in court.
“The federal government has no right or authority to create a new reservation for the Catawba Nation across state lines, into Cherokee historical territory, just to build a casino,” Chief Richard Sneed said in a statement. “This decision creates a dangerous precedent for all federally recognized tribes . . .”
The issue had reignited a feud between the tribes over centuries-old land claims and big money. At stake is a piece of the $32 billion Indian gaming industry.
Harris said the Cherokees “don’t have a legal right to stand on.”
“I wish they would spend their energy on (saying), ‘Let’s partner with the Catawbas.’ Why not work together to make the economics work for both?”
Political opposition
Harris said the Catawbas could break ground as early as this year for the 17-acre complex described as a “destination” resort that would include a casino, hotel and restaurant.
In its authorizing letter, the Interior Department cited a study that showed a $273 million investment would generate an annual economic impact of $428 million for Cleveland County, with more than 2,600 new jobs and $5 million in new local tax revenue.
A year ago U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced a bill to authorize the Interior department to allow the S.C.-based Catawba Nation to acquire the 16-acre Kings Mountain site. But a number of North Carolina elected officials opposed the legislation.
A bipartisan group of 38 N.C. senators, including Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, called the bill “a last-ditch effort to game the system” in a letter to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs committee. Over 100 lawmakers signed a similar letter in 2013, when the Catawbas first attempted to build a Kings Mountain casino.
Gov. Roy Cooper said at the time that he was concerned the Senate bill would limit the state’s ability to negotiate a final agreement on any casino deal. That’s because the bill would exempt the Catawbas from Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, a provision that some say gives the governor a strong say in any new Indian gaming in the state.
Cooper’s office could not be reached Friday.
But U.S. Sen. Richard Burr called the federal approval “the right call.”
“Congress always intended for the Catawba Tribe to be able to take land into trust in North Carolina, where they have deep, historic ties,” he said in a statement. “I hope this decision will finally allow the Catawbas to move closer toward their goal of creating jobs and economic development in Kings Mountain with state and local support.”
Lucrative business
Both Cherokees and Catawbas claim the Piedmont as their ancestral homeland.
Historians say the Catawbas roamed what would become the Carolinas for 10,000 years. They even helped the Patriots secure a victory at the Revolutionary War Battle of Kings Mountain. The Cherokees also have called the land home for centuries.
A succession of wars and treaties sharply contracted those lands. The Catawbas now have a 700-acre reservation in York County. The Cherokees live on a 56,000-acre reservation known as The Qualla Boundary near Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
The Cherokees have two casinos on their 56,000-acre reservation known as The Qualla Boundary near Great Smoky Mountain National Park. In 2018 they broke ground on a $250 million expansion of their casino development. Each adult Cherokee gets up to $14,000 a year from casino revenues.
The Catawbas can’t put a casino on their 700-acre reservation in York County. In 1993, they agreed to drop their claims to surrounding land around York County in exchange for $50 million and federal recognition. And South Carolina outlaws gambling.
But the Catawbas say it’s a provision of the 1993 agreement that gives them the right to own a casino in Cleveland County. That provision gave the tribe a “service area” in six N.C. counties, including Mecklenburg and Cleveland. Tribe members who live in those counties are eligible for the same federal benefits and services as those living on the reservation.
This week the Interior department agreed.
Federal officials said the Catawbas meet the requirements to build a casino off their S.C. reservation. They said it has “both a governmental presence and a tribal population.” It said the tribe provides health care, employment and other services to the 253 tribe members living in North Carolina.
Testifying to a congressional subcommittee in 2015, Harris cited his tribe’s per capita income of $11,096. Its poverty rate, he said, was more than double that in the rest of South Carolina. He also cited the federal government’s pledge in the 1993 settlement to ensure his tribe’s “economic self-sufficiency.”
The Kings Mountain casino would be paid for by unidentified investors, Harris said Friday. It would be run by Delaware North, a firm that manages sports and entertainment venues in addition to casinos.
There’s little doubt that gaming has been a boon to the Cherokees.
They own two casinos, in Cherokee and in Murphy. In 2018 they broke ground on a $250 million expansion of their casino development to include a convention center and hotel. Last year the tribe, hit hard by drugs, opened a $16 million residential treatment center and in 2015 an $80 million hospital.
Each adult Cherokee gets up to $14,000 a year from casino revenues.
Harris said the Catawbas would not be the only beneficiary of the Kings Mountain casino.
“This is an economic development project for Kings Mountain, Cleveland County and the state of North Carolina,” he said.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 12:11 PM.
