Tribe may want casino near Paxton

Monday, July 24, 2000 | 1:29 a.m.

A consultant for the Oklahoma-based tribe has talked with county officials and searched for land for a golf course, hotel and American Indian museum. Tom Julian, of Native American Consulting Services in Minnesota, said county leaders are "looking at it objectively."

The Miami sued 15 landowners last month in U.S. District Court, seeking to recover land in 15 counties that the tribe contends rightfully belongs to them. State officials said the lawsuit is not about the land, but instead meant to pressure Illinois into letting the Miami open a land-based casino.

Talks between the Miami tribe and state government date to 1996. Govs. Jim Edgar and George Ryan have opposed the Indians' desire for a land-based casino, which would require changing state law.

"They've never made any secret that the ultimate goal for them is to get a casino in Illinois," said Dave Urbanek, a spokesman for Ryan.

If that is the tribe's goal, there is precedent. In 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Oneida tribe's claim to land in New York. A deal reached later let the tribe set up a casino, but the legal bickering between the tribe and government officials continues.

Ford County officials have not dismissed the idea.

"From an economic development point of view, it would be a good thing," said John Goldrick of the Ford County Economic Development Commission. "I would think that something like that, with the jobs that it would generate, would be great economic benefit to Ford County."

Julian said the project could generate 3,000 jobs. The Miami are eyeing Ford County because it is at the northern tip of the 15-county area the tribe wants back. Paxton is close to a huge pool of potential customers in Chicago, along a major interstate and needs the jobs, Julian said.

Ford County Board Chairman J.R. Herriott said he has heard about a proposal similar to what Julian discussed, but did not know how far it has progressed.

"I think there would obviously be considerable public debate regarding the moral issues of a gambling casino," he said.

Tribal spokesman George Tiger said the lawsuit, pending in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis, is not about casinos. The tribe is suing to get back its land, Tiger said.

Last week, Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan said he would intervene on behalf of landowners and seek to have the lawsuit dismissed.