Fight Continues Over Broken Arrow Casino

The fight continues over a casino being built in Broken Arrow. The Kialegee Tribal Town is building the Red Clay Casino just north of the Creek Turnpike on 129th East Avenue.

The state has sued to stop it but the tribe is pushing back. Court documents show both the state and developers are putting up quite the fight over the casino.

The latest volley came this week as Attorney General Scott Pruitt made the case for why the Kialegee's have no claim to the land where the casino is being built.

The work carries on in Broken Arrow at the site of the Red Clay Casino. The Kialegee Tribal Town boasts it'll be home to state of the art gaming equipment as well as a restaurant that will seat 150 people.

But the development has been the focus of neighbors who don't want it close to their families and the state who says the tribe is preparing to act in violation of federal law.

02/08/2012 Related Story: Oklahoma Governor Joins AG's Effort To Stop Broken Arrow Casino

Attorney General Scott Pruitt has filed suit against the developers saying the tribe has no jurisdiction to build on the land.

Two women who are members of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation own the land and the state says that even though the Kialegees and Creeks are historically connected, the Kialegee's don't have governmental control and are violating federal law by building the casino.

The Kialegee's have told the court they can't be sued because they are a sovereign power and the state hasn't showed how the casino would do harm to Oklahoma if construction moves forward.

According to a letter written by Chief Tiger Hobia to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 65 percent of the members of the Kialegee Tribal Town are unemployed and more than 90 percent of those who work are only making minimum wage.

He tells the BIA that the casino will help tribe members get off social welfare programs and become self-sufficient.

He says efforts by residents and elected officials to stop the casino are politically motivated and do not represent the facts of the case.

A hearing is scheduled for early next month to decide whether construction should be stopped while the state's lawsuit moves forward.

The chief of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation recently vetoed a resolution from his tribe that opposed the casino.

George Tiger said he made the veto because the Creeks and Kialegee's had meetings scheduled to talk about a number of issues.