Catawbas break ground on Kings Mountain casino, despite lawsuit from Cherokees
The Catawba Indians broke ground on a new casino in Kings Mountain Wednesday morning, despite continued legal resistance from the Eastern Band of the Cherokees.
The Catawbas also began the process of winning a compact from the state of North Carolina that would allow them to bring the full slate of Vegas-style gaming within 35 miles of Charlotte. The tribe says the $273 million project could open next year.
To the sound of tribal drums, about two-dozen people in face masks gathered under a white tent, with dozens more standing outside.
“Today is truly about righting a historical wrong, and creating a brighter future for us all,” Chief Bill Harris said shortly before leading the ground-breaking.
The ground-breaking came four months after the federal Department of the Interior agreed to take the 16 acres in Cleveland County into trust, a designation that would allow the Catawbas to build a casino in North Carolina. The tribe is based in Rock Hill, S.C. That state does not allow gambling.
The Catawbas have tried for years to get the N.C. land for a casino. Their efforts have been opposed by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, who operate two casinos on their reservation in western North Carolina. They’ve called the Catawbas’ efforts “a modern-day land grab.” At stake is a piece of the $32 billion Indian gaming industry.
Earlier this month the Cherokees amended their federal lawsuit against the Interior department in the District of Columbia. They claimed that political pressure from the project’s developer, Wallace Cheves, prompted the government to green-light the casino and bypass Congress in the process.
“Rushing ahead of the courts with a ground breaking ceremony is just another political ploy by Wallace Cheves to try to force this casino on North Carolina,” Cherokee Chief Richard Sneed said in a statement. “This case will ultimately be settled in the U.S. Courts . . . No ribbon cutting ceremony will change those facts or stop the courts from putting an end to this charade.”
The Catawbas say their next step is pursuing the compact with the state of North Carolina.
Under the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the Catawbas would be allowed only what’s known as Class II gaming without a compact agreement with the state. That would allow bingo and bingo-related games.
With a compact they could have Class III games. Those include slot machines and table games like blackjack, roulette and baccarat.
“Generally speaking Class III gaming is considered to the more lucrative, more profitable but . . . it depends a little bit on the market,” said Kathryn Rand, a professor at the University of North Dakota law school and an expert on Indian gaming.
Rand said the exact types of games that would be allowed are subject to the compact negotiation with the state. Harris, the Catawba chief, said the tribe “looks forward to negotiating a compact with the Governor so that the great State of North Carolina fully benefits from this important economic development project.”
Ford Porter, a spokesman for Gov. Roy Cooper, said the tribe is expected to send the governor a draft compact this week.
Critics still contend that the casino project violates the Catawba’s 1993 Settlement Agreement, in which they agreed to drop claims to surrounding land in exchange for $50 million and federal recognition.
The agreement also gave the tribe a “service area” to help tribal members in six N.C. counties, including Mecklenburg and Cleveland. It’s that provision on which the Catawbas made their claim to the Kings Mountain site.
“We still believe that the casino project is illegitimate,” said John Rustin, president of the North Carolina Family Policy Council, a socially conservative group that follows gambling issues. The federal government’s approval of the Catawba’s land and trust application, he added, “is really a violation of the settlement agreement.”
The Cherokees also formed a group called “Defend NC” which has sent mailers and run ads opposing the casino. Its website includes a long list of N.C. lawmakers and other elected officials who have opposed it. Sneed, the Cherokee chief, said in a statement that the tribe plans “a robust effort across all available mediums to ensure that North Carolinians are informed about the true details and consequences of this shady deal.”
“The more people learn the truth about this casino, the more they reject it,” he said.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 1:53 PM.
