Nebraska Indian casino celebrates court victory

Jean Ortiz

Monday, March 8, 2004 | 9:20 a.m.

SANTEE, Neb. -- The atmosphere inside the Ohiya Casino one day last week didn't exactly reflect the big victory the modest Knox County casino claimed just a day earlier.

Casino patrons played the "pull-tab" gaming machines and the electronic "reel time" bingo games just as they had the day before, though this day was much different.

On March 1, a big win went to the casino itself when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from the federal government that sought to remove the pull-tab machines from the gambling hall run by the Santee Sioux tribe.

The sounds of bells and whistles filled the large open room Tuesday and a banner that read, "Happy 8th Anniversary Ohiya Casino" from February still hung on the wall. The casino, whose name means "opportunity to win," opened for business on Feb. 2, 1996, and unknowingly became the center of massive litigation brought on by the state.

Casino manager Thelma Thomas has seen the battle through its eight-year course and is one of many members of the tribe breathing a sigh of relief.

"It's a wonderful relief. A tremendous, major victory for us and all other tribes in the United States," Thomas said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office had argued the pull-tab machines are gambling devices that are in the same category as illegal slot machines.

U.S. Attorney Mike Heavican said Tuesday that the case the high court refused to hear was narrowly focused and will not open the door for Indian tribes in Nebraska to offer forms of gambling deemed illegal in the state.

Lower courts found that the machines allowed in the Santee Sioux tribal casino are similar to pull-tabs, and pull-tabs are allowed in Nebraska, Heavican said.

The pull-tab machines dispense pull-tabs when money is put into them. Portions of the small cards are torn away to reveal symbols that when lined up in a winning combination, are redeemed for cash prizes.

The Supreme Court's decision also rejected to hear the appeal of a similar 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that involved video gaming in Indian casinos in Oklahoma and Wyoming.

The decision clears the way for tribes to operate such machines without first getting approval from state government through gaming contracts, said Conly Schulte, the tribe's attorney.

"It does set a precedent," said Charles La Plante, chair of the Santee Sioux tribal gaming commission. "We've sort of been given the signal that other tribes can embark on a congressional directive that allows tribes to establish its own economic growth."

The tribe at first used slot machines in its casino, but Thomas said tribal officials replaced those machines with the pull-tab machines in May 2001, upon the advice of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

The tribe was fined for initially using the slot machines, but when the tribe switched to the pull-tab machines, a federal judge suspended the fines.

Heavican said officials in his office will sit down with representatives of the tribe to discuss how much in fines the tribe should get back. Heavican said he did not know how much money that might end up being.

Today, nearly 30 pull-tab machines, along with about 50 reel time bingo machines, attract patrons from nearby towns. The bingo machines, which look like slot machines, are connected to similar machines in the casino and allow patrons to play live games of bingo.

Though Thomas would not say how much revenue the casino brings in, she said it is now self-sufficient. Thomas said when the casino made the transition from slot machines, revenue fell.

Tribal chairman Roger Trudell said the court action isn't about making a profit from the casino, but about securing jobs for the tribal members, whose total enrollment nears 4,000.

The casino provides about 22 jobs for people who would not otherwise be employed, La Plante said.

Commission members say the casino is essential in providing employment to the tribe, which has a 75 percent unemployment rate.

"There are no other jobs," Don La Pointe, vice chairman of the tribe, said. "This is it."

It is also a victory for the tribe's young people, and hope for economic security in the future, gaming commissioners said.

The commissioners are eagerly looking forward to possible expansion, while other members of the tribe are looking at pursuing non-gaming business ventures now that the litigation is behind them.

"The true story is still to come," Robert Campbell, vice chairman for the gaming commission, said.