- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Gaming
Alaska state officials filed a federal injunction seeking to shut down operations at the Chin’an Gaming Hall operated by the Native Village of Eklutna near Anchorage. The legal action comes amid multiple lawsuits questioning whether the tribe holds jurisdiction over the land used for its gaming operations.
Attorney General Treg Taylor’s injunction aims to enforce a 2021 ruling that determined the tribe lacked jurisdiction over certain Native Allotments. The state contends this ruling has governed tribal land use for decades following the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
The injunction request directly challenges a February 2024 Solicitor Opinion from the Biden administration's Interior Department that argued Alaska tribes are presumed to have territorial authority over Native Allotments owned by tribal members. That opinion is currently under review by the Trump administration, according to the Interior’s website.
State officials argued in their filing that Biden administration officials rushed to utilize the new opinion to open a gaming hall, despite longstanding precedent.
“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.
The legal maneuver is the latest development in an escalating conflict involving the Eklutna tribe, state officials and local property owners. In January, residents from the Birchwood Spur neighborhood filed a separate action challenging the gaming hall’s operations, citing concerns about increased traffic, potential environmental risks and changes that would “erode the rural character” of their community.
The Chin’an Gaming Hall opened in January after a protracted fight by the Eklutna to utilize a tribal member’s allotment for the operation. The hall currently features 85 bingo machines in what officials describe as a temporary arrangement while planning continues for a permanent facility with up to 700 machines alongside restaurants and other amenities.
Eklunta Village President Aaron Leggett condemned the state’s legal moves in a statement issued shortly after the injunction was announced.
“On one hand, Governor [Mike] Dunleavy talks extensively about the need for new and more diverse economic opportunities in Alaska,” Leggett said in a statement obtained by Alaska’s New Source. “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.”
For now, the Chin’an Gaming Hall remains open as the legal challenges proceed through the federal court system. Oral arguments will begin April 28.
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