- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Gaming
The state of Alaska has filed a lawsuit against the Native Village of Eklutna, the Department of the Interior, and the National Indian Gaming Commission over an alleged violation of longstanding Alaskan land law.
The complaint was filed one day after Eklutna opened the Chin’an Gaming Hall on an allotment leased from a Native American owner. The tribe launched the gaming operation based on an opinion by Interior Solicitor Robert Anderson that determined Native-owned lands in Alaska fall under tribal — not state — jurisdiction.
Anderson’s opinion reversed a prior 2021 federal court decision that rejected Eklutna’s gaming hall proposal. That court ruled tribal titles to Native lands were abolished under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971, placing jurisdiction over tribally-owned lands with the state.
Anderson’s opinion, and NIGC’s subsequent approval of Chin’an, upended longstanding interpretations of the law and ignored a recent federal court decision, according to a statement from Alaska’s Department of Law.
“This challenge isn’t about gaming. This is about jurisdiction over lands. We are asking a court to reaffirm what it has already said—the State maintains primary jurisdiction over Alaska Native Allotments,” Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor said in the statement.
Eklutna president Aaron Leggett said the lawsuit could be disastrous for the tribe and a burden for Alaskan taxpayers.
“The Native Village of Eklutna (NVE) is saddened and disappointed by Governor Mike Dunleavy and Attorney General Treg Taylor choosing to haul our tribe into federal court and ask for a court order that would cause enormous financial damage to the tribe and the community,” Leggett said in a statement reported by Alaska News Source.
The state lawsuit insists that Solicitor Anderson’s opinion should be reversed, and the allotment brought back under state jurisdiction. That lines up with a wishlist sent to President Donald Trump by Dunleavy in late 2024 following Trump’s election victory. Alaska’s litigation also follows an initial lawsuit by nearby property holders to revoke the gaming hall’s approval, citing potential changes to traffic and environmental concerns.
It’s not all complaints: the tribe has received local support from Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and the city’s leadership, as previously reported by Tribal Business News. LaFrance pointed to an oft-recorded spillover effect of Native gaming on nearby businesses, bolstering the whole of the local economy alongside tribal fortunes.
The current facility is a temporary fixture ahead of a planned expansion into a permanent building down the line. A tribal statement provided to Tribal Business News states the gaming hall will generate more than $67 million per year in economic activity, and support more than 410 jobs in the Anchorage municipality once the permanent venue is complete.
“We are humbled by this opportunity to introduce a new gaming experience to Southcentral Alaska,” said Chin’an Gaming Hall General Manager Ryan Walker in that statement. “We will strive to be good neighbors to Birchwood and the surrounding communities and will work to share in any success we have.”
In his statement, Leggett promised that the tribe would fight attempts to shut down a gaming hall he characterized as an economic core for the Eklutna.
“I am especially saddened as I had hoped the Governor and Attorney General would share in our excitement for the future, both for our Tribe and the community we share.We had hoped we might go forward together with optimism and a future where we are finally able to provide resources for education, housing and healthcare, and so much more,” Leggett said. “We will stand up to this challenge as we always have, knowing our case is strong and our resilience and resolve as a people are even stronger.”
