Spirit Lake Tribe comes out in opposition to Turtle Mountain's plans for Grand Forks casino
Feb. 5—GRAND FORKS — The Spirit Lake Tribe has come out in opposition to legislation that proposes allowing the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa to have a casino in Grand Forks.
"We felt like a very important piece was missing, and that was consultation with people we call our relatives," Tribal Chairwoman Lonna Street said. "It is my responsibility as chairwoman of the tribe to look out for my nation."
The proposal,
Senate Bill 2376, would amend North Dakota Century Code to allow Turtle Mountain to expand gaming operations from Rolette County,
where Turtle Mountain tribal lands are, to Grand Forks County, where it claims historical ties and seeks to construct a $280 million to $300 million casino and resort. Both the
city and county of Grand Forks have come out in support of Turtle Mountain's project.
The bill
was discussed in a Senate committee hearing
on Wednesday and is making its way through the legislative process.
In a release sent to the media Wednesday, Spirit Lake representatives said that they were caught off guard by the casino announcement and feel they should have been consulted. They said the lack of communication was likely the result of a "misjudgment rather than an intentional oversight."
"The introduction of a new gaming facility in Grand Forks County threatens to divert critical revenue away from existing tribal casinos, including the Spirit Lake Casino and Resort, potentially jeopardizing the financial stability of tribal nations reliant on gaming for essential services," Street wrote in the release.
The release said Spirit Lake deeply values the leadership and kinship that exists between the Spirit Lake and Turtle Mountain bands. The release sent to the media says "the opposition to SB 2376 is in no way a reflection of division or disrespect toward TMBCI but rather a response to a legislative process that did not adequately include all affected tribal nations."
Additionally, in the view of Spirit Lake, the decision of the Legislature to take up this proposal also calls into question the state's past expansion of electronic pull tabs and charitable gaming, which Spirit Lake leaders believe have hurt tribal operations.
"(Gaming) is a huge economic boost for the Spirit Lake Tribe; in fact, it's forefront for us," Street told the Herald. "It's one of our main economic boosters in our community which provides a lot of social funding for our community as well as program funding."
The Spirit Lake Tribe is headquartered in Fort Totten, North Dakota, and its tribal lands are on the southern shore of Devils Lake, approximately 100 miles west of Grand Forks.
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