Sho-Bans lash out at northern tribes as tensions heighten over gambling

Bob Fick

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 5:44 a.m.

BOISE, Idaho - The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes lashed out at the northern Idaho tribes on Wednesday, accusing them of unconscionable interference in the Shoshone-Bannock effort to secure a reservation gambling compact with the state.

"The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes warn Idaho's northern tribes to butt out of our government affairs," Tribal Chairman Duane Thompson said.

David Matheson, head of gambling operations for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, said Thompson's outburst was based on misinformation and the misconception that the Coeur d'Alenes and the other two tribes oppose the proposed Shoshone-Bannock compact that goes before a House committee Thursday morning.

"We support their compact 100 percent," Matheson said.

But he conceded that the three northern tribes, which all have gambling compacts with the state, are not backing the Shoshone-Bannock compact provision that leaves determination of the legality of electronic pull-tab machines up to a judge.

State officials have consistently argued that the electronic machines are the equivalent of slot machines and illegal under Idaho law while the tribes have contended that the machines are no different than the games offered by the state Lottery on its scratch tickets.

The northern tribes have asked state lawmakers to approve the Shoshone-Bannock compact but delay triggering the federal court provision for a year to give more time for negotiations with the Kempthorne administration on the machines.

The Shoshone-Bannocks have been operating their casino without the required compact for years. Pressure to rectify that situation prompted inclusion of the federal court test that while directed at the Shoshone-Bannock operation would eventually affect all tribal casinos.

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has been running television advertisements in the Boise area touting the value of casinos to depressed reservation economies. It also took out a third-of-a-page advertisement last weekend laying out its problems with federal court intervention and prospects for cutting a deal with Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to maintain the status quo, create a revenue sharing scheme and provide for some regulated growth.

Former Gov. Phil Batt spent much of his four years in office ambivalent about the machines, claiming on one hand they are illegal under state law but admitting on the other that they have been a financial boon to the reservations. Within six months of leaving office, he said he had decided that a deal maintaining the status quo was the best solution since there has been no evidence of gambling moving off the reservations - something he had originally feared would occur.

Thompson labeled as false the claims of the other tribes that a federal court test jeopardizes their operations, arguing that if the Shoshone-Bannock compact fails all the tribes are jeopardized.

"The northern tribes are vulnerable to a direct attack from Attorney General Al Lance that could subject them to closure," he said.

But while Deputy Attorney General David High said the state would move to enforce its view of the law if the Shoshone-Bannock compact fails, he acknowledged that without some luck in the federal courts the enforcement issue would fall to U.S. Attorney Betty Richardson, who has declined to act against the casinos despite repeated requests from state officials dating back six years.

Some tribal allies believe the most direct threat to the electronic machines - and the biggest reason to negotiate a resolution - is the presidential election. They believe that if Republicans win in November, their new U.S. Attorney for Idaho will take a more aggressive stance against the tribes.