South Carolina tribe wants a casino near Charlotte
The South Carolina Indian tribe wants to build a casino in federal land that is located in North Carolina.
US.- The Catawba Indian Nation has been trying to build a casino for quite some time, but for multiple reasons it never managed to obtain the necessary permissions. Now, the tribe wants to build a casino west of Charlotte, North Carolina, which would create problems with another tribe in the neighbouring state.
The Catawba are based in South Carolina, and the tribe’s reservation includes two small parcels, but they claim that the federal law extends their territory into some parts of North Carolina.
Senator Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina politician, is currently sponsoring a bill in Congress that would help the Catawba with the desired casino. However, 38 North Carolina senators sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee and urged them to reject the proposal. “This unprecedented legislation … is a last-ditch effort to game the system on a flawed application,” the letter reads.
The letter also details that the Catawba have failed to get approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the casino and are making whatever they can to get the casino. It also says that a casino near Charlotte would affect the Eastern Band of the Cherokees, the tribe that manages casinos in North Carolina.
”The Catawba bill is founded on horribly flawed policy that undermines the interests of state, county and Eastern Band governments,” Richard Sneed, principal chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, said in a statement. “Opposition from elected officials in North Carolina should come as no surprise.”
However, Catawba Chief Bill Harris said in a statement that the Senate’s involvement might be connected to campaign donations from North Carolina’s tribe. “The letter is one of several unfortunate manoeuvres by the Cherokees to obstruct and hurt our tribe,” he said.
“The Catawba Indian Nation does not seek preferential treatment. Instead, we only seek to be treated fairly and equitably by the U.S. government as our Cherokee brothers and sisters are treated,” he said.
