Why Not the Wyandotte?

The National Indian Gaming Commission and the Justice Department have filed a notice of appeal from a district court decision regarding the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma's efforts to open a casino in Kansas City, Kansas.

The NIGC had ruled that the trust land, known as the "Shriner Tract" and located across from the city hall, did not meet the exceptions for gaming on newly acquired lands under IGRA. The district court held that the NIGC ruling was arbitrary and capricious, in that it construed too narrowly the "settlement of a land claim" exception under IGRA.

In brief, the NIGC reasoned that the "settlement of a land claim" exception would apply only where lands actually were returned to the tribe as a result of the land claim. The Wyandottes had been party to a land claim, but had received a monetary settlement, which it was required by Congress to use to purchase land. The district court held that the Wyandottes' purchase of the Shriner Tract with those funds could qualify the tract as within the "settlement of a land claim" exception.

The district court's decision is Wyandotte Nation v. NIGC, 437 F.Supp.2d 1193 (D. Kan., July 6, 2006).