Alaska official criticizes closure of Kansas casino

Libby Quaid

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 | 9:11 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A powerful ally of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma spoke out Tuesday against the closure of its Kansas casino by state authorities.

"I think they've been screwed over by the United States government," Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, said during a hearing where the tribe's chief testified.

Young, a 16-term lawmaker with considerable clout in Washington, is supporting legislation by Kansas Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore that would allow the Wyandotte casino.

Even with Young's clout, however, the bill is opposed by Kansas Republicans in Congress, giving it little chance of moving forward. Meanwhile, the tribe is waging a legal battle to reopen its casino.

The state of Kansas shut down the casino in April, seven months after it opened for business across from Kansas City, Kan., City Hall in several mobile homes parked by a Masonic temple that adjoins the tribe's cemetery.

Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline had sued the National Indian Gaming Commission and its parent agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior, after the casino opened.

The commission ruled in March that the casino was operating illegally and gave the Wyandottes a week to respond, after which Kline had police and Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents close the casino and haul off its gambling machines.

At issue is whether the tribe's land can be used for gambling under federal law. Wyandotte Chief Leaford Bearskin told the House Resources Committee that Congress intended, in a 1984 law, for the land to be considered sovereign and classified in a way that would allow gambling.

"The law that the Wyandotte Nation is following was passed by Congress, not an attorney at the NIGC who arbitrarily decided she had the power to harm my nation," Bearskin said.

Young, a senior member of the Resources Committee, chided Interior officials for failing to respond to his complaints and questions about the matter. He argued that the gaming commission's ruling was a preliminary finding and that action should have come after a final determination.

"Somebody down there had better get their act together and respond," he said.

Interior officials responded to Young in general terms, saying the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs had determined earlier that the agency could take the land into trust for the tribe but not that the tribe could operate casinos on the land.

A spokesman for Kline said the state's actions were based on Kansas law, not federal law, because Kline contends the lands are not classified as Indian lands on which gambling would be allowed.

"We went in based on what we feel was a violation of state law; we believed the Wyandotte tribe of Oklahoma was violating Kansas law by operating the gambling facility there in Kansas City, Kan.," Whitney Watson, a spokesman for Kline, said.

Many state officials favor expanding gambling, but not with the Wyandotte Nation, which would send revenue out-of-state. Instead, they are discussing either a state-owned "destination" casino or one operated by the Kickapoo and the Sac and Fox tribes under a separate compact with the state.

Another hearing among several lawsuits in the case is set for Monday in U.S. District Court in Topeka.