IGRA’s “Indian Lands” Requirement

Thread: Off-Reservation Gaming

The legal requirements for off-reservation gaming take some explanation. We’ll break it down into digestible bits.

To begin, the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) allows “Indian gaming,” a legal term of art that is defined as gaming (either “Class II” bingo-type games or “Class III” casino-style games) conducted by an “Indian tribe” on “Indian lands.” (What is an Indian tribe deserves its own thread; we’ll save that topic for later.)

“Indian lands” have a specific legal definition under IGRA. They include reservation lands, as well as trust and restricted lands over which a tribe exercises government authority. Not all land owned by a tribe will qualify as “Indian lands” under IGRA. (We explain this point, along with case law, in our second book, Indian Gaming Law and Policy.)

In other words, just because a tribe buys land doesn’t mean the tribe can open a casino on that land.

In fact, there are only a handful of circumstances in which a tribe can open a casino on land it acquires. We’ll walk through those exceptions next.