The Chin’an Gaming Hall, operated by the Native Village of Eklutna in Alaska, is the target of legal action by state authorities contending the tribal nation does not have the authority to operate its gambling enterprise.
Jurisdictional Discord
In January of this year, the Native Village of Eklutna opened its modest gaming facility, consisting of only 85 bingo machines, to the public despite protests and lawsuits filed by the local Birchwood neighborhood residents and subsequently by the state.
“This case is about jurisdiction over lands,” said Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills in a statement. “We are asking a court to reaffirm what it has already said — the state maintains primary jurisdiction over Alaska Native allotments.”
The reaffirmation Mills is referring to is a 2021 ruling that ruled the tribe lacked jurisdiction over particular Native Allotments. This ruling harkens back to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 and a 1993 interpretation that denied Alaska tribes such jurisdiction, stipulating that the state has primary control over how the land is used and must grant authority before any gaming facility can be built and operated.
However, the Native Village of Eklutna is hanging their legal hat on a February 2024 Solicitor Opinion from the Biden administration’s Interior Department that stated Alaskan tribes are presumed to have territorial authority over Native Allotments owned by tribal members and not the state.
State Seeks Injunction Against Gaming Hall
According to the Department of the Interior’s website, the Trump administration is currently studying that opinion by the previous Solicitor and has yet to make a determination. Despite the precedent set by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act that gives jurisdictional authority to the state, Alaska’s officials are claiming the Native Village of Eklutna used that Biden Solicitor Opinion to rush to judgment and subsequently open the Chin’an Gaming Hall.
“The way in which former Solicitor [Robert] Anderson purported to overturn a decision of this Court … merits the ‘extraordinary remedy’ of a preliminary injunction,” the state’s request reads.
Tribe Disagrees
Naturally, the dual lawsuits by both the state and the Birchwood neighborhood residents have not sat well with the Eklutna, and their plans to expand the facility to up to 1000 machines replete with two restaurants are in jeopardy.
Eklutna Village President Aaron Leggett expressed outrage with the state’s injunction, stating, “On one hand, Governor [Mike] Dunleavy talks extensively about the need for new and more diverse economic opportunities in Alaska. Yet, at the same time, he instructs his administration to do everything it can to stop one of the most promising economic developments in Southcentral Alaska in some time — all in the name of asserting states’ rights over tribal sovereignty.”
Debbie Ossiander of the Birchwood Community Council disagrees and called for clarity on jurisdiction. “We need to know who’s in charge, what laws are being followed, and who do we go to,” she said at a recent meeting with the Anchorage Assembly and tribal representatives.
In the meantime, the gaming hall remains open, and oral arguments regarding the state’s injunction are set to be heard on April 28th by Judge Paul L. Friedman, who is presiding over the case.
