Tribal casino Conflict brewing in North Carolina

In a move which has stirred up controversy, Wednesday allegedly saw United States Senator Lindsey Graham (pictured) introduce national legislation that would allow the Catawba Indian Nation to take a plot of border property in North Carolina into trust for the purposes of constructing a $560 million casino hotel .

Legislator support:

Based on Thursday reports from local television broadcaster WBTV and Casino.org, the proposed step from the South Carolina Republican has been co-sponsored by his counterparts from neighboring North Carolina, United States Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, also would see the tribe authorized to purchase the land using some $50 million it was awarded at the same time as using its national recognition restored in 1993.

Kings Mountain suggestion:

The proposed site for the Catawba Indian Nation’s casino hotel is supposedly located in Cleveland County close to the North Carolina neighborhood of Kings Mountain and just some 30 miles out of the area ’s biggest city, Charlotte. The tribe supposedly wishes to construct a ‘major brand name’ centre offering gambling and is known to have held discussions with the operator supporting the Hard Rock chain of resorts and casinos, the federally-recognized Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Cherokee chagrin:

This latter group is supposedly perturbed by the activities of Graham and has since referred to this 63-year-old’s proposition ‘a modern day land grab by the national government of Cherokee aboriginal lands&rsquo.

‘Unprecedented’ move:

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians allegedly released an official statement where it also described the proposed legislation as ‘unprecedented in United States history’. The tribe also purportedly proclaimed the step ‘circumvents the existing process for the Catawba Indian Nation to acquire lands in South Carolina’ and is ‘a national government bully tactic which shouldn’t be a part of contemporary regulating ’.

Reluctantly read the statement from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians…

“The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ centuries-long North Carolina tradition has created an enduring partnership with the state to supply a strong future for generations through healthcare, education and business. We encourage the Catawba Indian Nation to go through the same process in its home state of South Carolina the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians did in North Carolina to build its business; to develop its on-reservation market as it should be, in its community. Doing it the right way will guarantee it can look after its members and support its regional community since we’ve done for years in North Carolina. ”

Fight bond:

In reaction, the Catawba Indian Nation reportedly asserted that it believes all of South Carolina as well as a number of counties in North Carolina to be part of its own ancestral lands. The tribe supposedly also cited its connection to the Battle of Kings Mountain where its members fought alongside Patriot militias throughout the American Revolutionary War against forces loyal to the British Crown. It allegedly proclaimed the website of the 1780 battle is located just a few miles south of this property it would like to take into trust.