Ponca Tribe opens Prairie Flower Casino in Iowa; lawsuit pending

In Iowa, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska celebrated the opening of this new Prairie Flower Casino on Thursday from the little town of Carter Lake, marking a landmark for its federally recognized tribe that maintains a membership of more than 4,200 members.

Commenting on the opening of this casino, which provides the tribe with an important new revenue source, tribal chairman Larry Wright Jr., said, “I’m excited, overwhelmed. This a great day for all our visitors,” said Larry Wright Jr., the tribal chairman.

“We’ve been able to develop, with eyes into the future. This is a sign of our resilience,” according to this Omaha World-Herald.

Replaces cigarette shop:

In June this year, the Nebraska tribe broke ground on the 9,500 square foot casino, which will be located on five acres of tribal land at 1031 Ave H. where a Ponca cigarette shop had allegedly been working on the site. The gambling venue features 200 Vegas-style slots along with a full size bar and a snack bar and will be open 24 hours a day. The casino employs 100 people and represents stage one of the Prairie Flower project.

“In less than a year, we’ve been able to try it,” said Wright. “& We ’re late to the process, but we expect to become among the very best in Indian state.

Strategies to expand:

While for today there aren’t any gaming tables, plans to enlarge the place ’s footprint to include around 2,000 gambling machines and 50 live table games are in-progress and will be introduced to the general public when finalized, according to the tribe’s August press release (pdf).

Carter Lake locale:

The gaming center is located in the little town of Carter Lake, which sits geographically on the Iowa side/west side of the Missouri River, adjacent to Omaha, where casinos are prohibited. The hope is that the casino will draw a lot of its future players from what is the state’s biggest city and only three miles from Carter Lake.

The opening comes after a decade of suits, appeals and legal reviews, such as a series of rulings in the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), which in November this past year, gave the tribe the green light for its casino.

Nearby contest :

In 2017, the three casinos located in Iowa’s Pottawattamie County took in $174 million, $73.7 million and $172 million respectively.

Together with the approximately 150 people who attended the ribbon-cutting service on Thursday, the chief of Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) in Minnesota, Charlie Vig, was also in attendance.

The Minnesota tribe, that has allegedly achieved financial wealth thanks to its Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino and related enterprises, underwrote the Prairie Flower project. The Ponca Tribe were allegedly given a $1 million award by the SMSC from 1999 to purchase the Carter Lake property, along with a $10 million loan to the construction of the new casino and other projects, according to the Omaha newspaper.

Annual donation agreement:

While the tribe has tax-exempt standing, it has agreed to an annual donation of $775,000, which will go to the town of Carter Lake for its police department, emergency services, and other services.  According to the news bureau, gains from the casino will finance those programs, in addition to youth programs and elder care, and towards the preservation of this Ponca language.

Wright said, “It means self-sufficiency, the sovereignty that we had for millennia,” Wright said. “Gaming will be a part of who we are, but it won’t define who we are. … Lifting our own, and our community, absolutely defines who we are.

Federal lawsuit:

The States of Iowa and Nebraska and the City of Council Bluffs have tried for 10 years to block construction of the Ponca’s casino.

Due to its place, the Prairie Flower Casino is regarded as a threat to cut into tax revenues generated by commercial (non-Indian) gambling enterprises that currently operate in the nation. Meanwhile, officials in Nebraska wish to maintain the slots and the tables away from the state where casino gambling is still illegal.

The match is named after former Chief Standing Bear’s kid who perished during the forced removal of the Ponca Tribe in their homeland in northeastern Nebraska into Indian Territory in Oklahoma, as declared in August this year.