Oklahoma Attorney General Rejects United Keetoowah Band Gaming Compact

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond states that the Class III gaming compact submitted by the United Keetoowah Band (UKB) of Cherokee Indians to the US Department of the Interior (DOI) for federal approval is not legally valid.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond Deems Gaming Compact Invalid

In April, the United Keetoowah Band finalized and signed Oklahoma’s Model Tribal Gaming Compact. This is a revenue-sharing and regulatory agreement that allows federally recognized tribes to operate slot machines and live dealer table games on their sovereign lands. Approved by state voters through a 2024 referendum, the compact is available to all federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma seeking to conduct Class III gaming.

Part 15 of the Model Tribal Gaming Compact, titled Duration and Negotiation, stipulates that tribes must have executed the agreement with both the state and federal government prior to January 1, 2020. However, according to Drummond, the original model compact expired on January 1, 2020, rendering the UKB’s signature invalid. The opinion also asserts that the UKB should have obtained approval from the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations before submitting the compact to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Drummond also argues that federally recognized tribes that did not accept the offer to enter into the Model Compact before 2020 are now required to negotiate separate, individual agreements with the state of Oklahoma. This is a process that starts with the Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations.

Cherokee Legal Status Complicated the Case

The UKB did not sign the Model Tribal Gaming Compact before 2020 due to its federal status being uncertain for many years. It wasn’t until January that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) within the US DOI determined that the United Keetoowah Band is an equal successor to the Old Cherokee Nation, alongside the current Cherokee Nation.

For years, the Cherokee Nation has maintained that it is the sole legal successor to the Old Cherokee, which once occupied most of what is now Oklahoma before the tribe was dissolved when the state joined the Union in 1907. The UKB previously operated a Class II bingo hall, the Keetoowah Cherokee Casino, in Tahlequah from 1986 until the Cherokee Nation contested the status of the land, arguing that it owned the approximately two-acre parcel, which was not recognized as federal trust land.

Despite the ongoing administrative issues that the UKB is going through currently, Oklahoma tribal nations in general are making a big economic impact in the state, thanks in large part to the exclusive gaming rights they possess. According to a recent study, Oklahoma collected $208 million in exclusivity fees, marking a 36% increase over the past five years.