- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Gaming
The Chin’an Gaming Hall operated by the Native Village of Eklutna has opened its doors following a contentious path to its launch.
The facility will initially accommodate eight visitors at a time, with a planned expansion during “soft” opening in the coming weeks. The village is moving quickly toward those expansions after waiting “decades for this opportunity,” Village President Aaron Leggett said.
“Our tribe has struggled for many years to develop a strong tribal economy that will allow us to take the best care of our people and to be a positive partner to all our neighbors. Our now-opened gaming hall presents an incredible opportunity to reach these goals,” Leggett said in a statement. “We want to begin generating economic benefits as soon as possible.”
According to Leggett, the facility will generate more than $67 million in economic impact around Anchorage and create more than 400 jobs when the permanent venue is complete. The tribe also agreed to pay for public services at the gaming hall site.
The village, however, still has a fight ahead as it launches the first tribal gaming operation in South-Central Alaska. In late December, nearby Birchwood property owners filed a lawsuit to halt the hall’s development. Additionally, Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked President Donald Trump to revoke the National Indian Gaming Commission decision that approved the hall, per prior Tribal Business News reporting.
The gaming hall emerged from an expansion of tribal authority over Alaska Native Village lands. In 2024, Department of Interior Solicitor Robert Anderson issued an opinion that allotted lands to Native villages fell broadly under the villages’ jurisdiction, not state jurisdiction, reversing a previous Interior decision. The decision allowed the Native Village of Eklutna to secure NIGC and Bureau of Indian Affairs approval for their gaming hall on land the tribe held for decades.
While the project has drawn complaints from its neighbors, Anchorage officials have backed the project. Mayor Suzanne LaFrance expressed that support in early January, pointing to potential economic benefits for the entire municipality.
Anchorage Assembly Chair Christopher Constant also supported the gaming operation in a statement shared by the Village with Tribal Business News.
“(The Chin’an Gaming Hall) has the potential to improve historic environmental justice harms by bringing much-needed revenue to the Tribe and generating significant economic opportunities for its members and the Municipality of Anchorage,” Constant wrote. “For NVE, this proposed gaming hall represents more than an economic opportunity — it is a chance to revitalize the community and ensure the long-term survival of the Eklutna Dena’ina people.”
