S’Klallam Tribe to get gaming compact amended

The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe could have its gaming compact amended as a proposal to allow a new casino and slot machines to share jackpots moves forward.

US.- People could be seeing a new Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe casino somewhere in the future as the state Gambling Commission aproved an amendment to the gaming compact last Thursday that would allow a new venue and slot machines to share jackpots with others across the country. The document is now waiting to be signed by Tribal Chair Ron Allen, Gov. Jay Inslee and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

However, the tribe “has no plans to add another casino and instead wants to focus on 7 Cedars Casino,” according to an Allen quote at the Peninsula Daily News. A new venue is “not anywhere in the near future” as their focus is “on the resort, to dress up [their] current property in Blyn,” he said.

However, the tribe pushed the initiative as it was already offered to many other ones in the state and they want to keep their options open: “We never know; 20 years down the road and things might change, we just wanted to have that option open,” Allen commented.

In regards to the slot machines’ change, the tribe would be the first to have such offering. According to Allen, “it allows the tribe to solicit machines that are progressive and tied to machines all over Indian Country.”

The new compact amendment is “intended to reflect modernized regulatory practices, reduce duplication between Tribal and State regulators and clarify the roles of each party,” as many of the provisions in the current one are no longer needed. “We cleaned a lot of those provisions and provided clarity that the tribe is the primary regulator and the state is the second regulator,” Allen said.

The tribe’s chairman explained that the new compact reflects a “long process” which shows a “change in the cultural relationship between the tribal and state governments and also reflect an increase of trust in the tribe.”