{"id":136562,"date":"2020-05-21T17:28:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T00:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=136562"},"modified":"2020-05-21T18:13:16","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T01:13:16","slug":"ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) has filed a federal lawsuit in an attempt to reverse a US Department of the Interior decision. In that prior ruling, a request by the Catawba Indian Nation to place land in North Carolina in trust<\/a> for the purposes of building a casino was put in place.<\/p>\n

\"Catawba
A sign welcomes visitors to the Catawba Indian Nation\u2019s reservation in South Carolina. (Image: Jeffery Collins\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lawsuit continues a long battle between the two tribes over whether the Catawba \u2013 based in South Carolina \u2013 should be allowed to build a casino in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Catawba Have Pursued Casino For Years<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The EBCI is the only federally recognized tribe in North Carolina, and already operates two casinos in the state in partnership with Caesars Entertainment. According to a report by the Smoky Mountain News<\/em>, the EBCI filed its lawsuit on March 17, just days after the Department of the Interior approved the Catawba application.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of abiding their trust duties and obligations under federal law to consult with the EBCI concerning the issues and concerns the EBCI raised with regards to Defendants\u2019 proposed final agency action, Defendants ran roughshod over the Administrative Procedures Act, National Environmental Protection Act and the National Historic Preservation Act\u2026without issuing a Final Environmental Assessment or Finding of No Significant Impact, in direct violation of the APA and NEPA,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Catawba have been attempting to gain approval for a casino in Kings Mountain, North Carolina for years. Under the Settlement Act of 1993, the tribe must abide by South Carolina gaming laws. State law allows only for a lottery, meaning the tribe cannot build a casino on its reservation in Rock Hill.<\/p>\n

That led the Catawba to apply to take the land in North Carolina \u2013 just 34 miles away from the tribe\u2019s current reservation \u2013 in 2013. That first application was denied in 2018. However, the tribe applied against under a different process in 2018, gaining approval this March.<\/p>\n

The EBCI responded with its lawsuit, calling the decision to approve the application \u201crushed\u201d and \u201cflawed.\u201d<\/p>\n

ECBI Sees Infringement on Historic Cherokee Land<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Much of the dispute comes down to where both tribes believe they have historical ties. The EBCI cited the Cherokee Treaty of 1777 and the 1884 Royce Map of Cherokee Land Sessions in its complaint. They claimed it as showing that the Cherokee\u2019s historical territory included what is now Cleveland County in North Carolina. However, the Catawba have claimed that members of its tribe have historically lived in both South and North Carolina as well.<\/p>\n

The EBCI also argues that the discovery of historic human-made tools on the Kings Mountain site in 2005 should have triggered a broader archeological survey to find religious or cultural items.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Kings Mountain site is taken into trust for the Catawba Nation, the land will fall under the sovereign governance of the Catawba Nation, and the EBCI THPO [Tribal Historic Preservation Officers] will lose the right to consultation on and protection of Cherokee religious and cultural sites,\u201d EBCI Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Russell Townsend wrote in a declaration attached to the lawsuit.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a statement, Catawba Nation Chief Bill Harris said the issue shouldn\u2019t be one that pits tribe vs. tribe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Catawba Nation has reached out many times to the leadership of EBCI to try to work together,\u201d Harris said in a statement on March 13, after the EBCI had signaled an intent to take legal action. \u201cEastern Band has the right to react however they want to the decision from DOI. But we have done and will continue to do all we can for the betterment of our nation, as well as extend the hand of friendship and cooperation to other native nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Casino Would Create Competition<\/h2>\n

Regardless of intent, the EBCI sees a Catawba casino as an economic threat.<\/a> Cherokee Principal Chief Richard Sneed told the Smoky Mountain News <\/em>that a new casino in Kings Mountain could siphon off the one-third of customers at their casinos that come from the Charlotte area, creating an impact on both the EBCI and the region as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will definitely have a negative economic impact, but it\u2019s not just the Eastern Band it\u2019s going to impact,\u201d Sneed told the Smoky Mountain News <\/em>in April. \u201cWe employ 4,000 North Carolinians; $179 million goes into the surrounding counties.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) has filed a federal lawsuit in an attempt to reverse a US Department of the Interior decision. In that prior ruling, a request by the Catawba Indian Nation to place land in North Carolina in trust for the purposes of building a casino was put in place. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":136563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEBCI Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Catawba casino in North Carolina will have to survive legal action from the EBCI, which has filed a lawsuit to overturn an Interior Department decision.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EBCI Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Catawba casino in North Carolina will have to survive legal action from the EBCI, which has filed a lawsuit to overturn an Interior Department decision.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-22T00:28:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-22T01:13:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2987\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/\",\"name\":\"EBCI Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-22T00:28:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-22T01:13:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"A Catawba casino in North Carolina will have to survive legal action from the EBCI, which has filed a lawsuit to overturn an Interior Department decision.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2987,\"height\":1680,\"caption\":\"A sign welcomes visitors to the Catawba Indian Nation\u2019s reservation in South Carolina. (Image: Jeffery Collins\/AP)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tribal Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\",\"name\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EBCI Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina","description":"A Catawba casino in North Carolina will have to survive legal action from the EBCI, which has filed a lawsuit to overturn an Interior Department decision.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"EBCI Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina","og_description":"A Catawba casino in North Carolina will have to survive legal action from the EBCI, which has filed a lawsuit to overturn an Interior Department decision.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-05-22T00:28:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-22T01:13:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2987,"height":1680,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Casino.org Staff Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Casino.org Staff Writer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/","name":"EBCI Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-22T00:28:43+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-22T01:13:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77"},"description":"A Catawba casino in North Carolina will have to survive legal action from the EBCI, which has filed a lawsuit to overturn an Interior Department decision.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Catawba-Casino-scaled.jpg","width":2987,"height":1680,"caption":"A sign welcomes visitors to the Catawba Indian Nation\u2019s reservation in South Carolina. (Image: Jeffery Collins\/AP)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ebci-files-federal-lawsuit-to-stop-catawba-casino-in-north-carolina\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tribal Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tribal-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Catawba Casino in North Carolina"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77","name":"Casino.org Staff Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Casino.org Staff Writer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}