Bureau Of Indian Affairs Demands To See Lease For Broken Arrow Casino Property

Editor's Note: The BIA letter link has been fixed.

BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs has sent a letter to the women who own the land where a tribe is building a casino in Broken Arrow demanding to see the lease the women have signed with the tribe.

The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office released the letter Thursday afternoon, a short time after the Kialegee Tribal Town announced that the first prefabricated modular units were about to arrive at the building site of the Red Clay Casino.

2/8/2012:  Related Story:  Oklahoma's Kialegee Tribe Linked To Casino Projects In Other States

Karen Ketcher, Acting Regional Director of the BIA's Eastern Oklahoma Region, sent the letter on February 13, 2012 to Marcella Giles and Wynema Capps, the sisters who own the land.  

Ketcher says in the letter that since the land in question is restricted fee property, a lease must be approved by either the BIA or a state court.  Ketcher says a lease was submitted to a Tulsa County District Court which declined to approve it. 

Ketcher also disagrees with a claim made by Dennis Whittlesey, counsel for Florence Development Partners, LLC that the sisters' ground lease for the property does not require BIA approval.  Ketcher asks the sisters to respond to her letter by February 24, 2012.

Read the BIA's letter about the lease.

So far the tribe has not responded publicly to the letter.  Marcella Giles sent a statement to News On 6 late Thursday afternoon:

"On February 14, my sister and I received a letter from the Eastern Oklahoma Region of the Bureau of Indian Affairs concerning our allotment land in Broken Arrow and posing three questions for us to answer on or before February 24. We have shared that letter with our legal counsel and no other people, recognizing that it was a communication from people working for the Secretary of the Interior, who is the federal trustee for the two of us in our capacity as Native Americans.

Today, we learned through press inquiries that someone at the Eastern Regional Office apparently forwarded a copy of that letter to the Office of the Oklahoma Attorney General, a transmission that violates the trust relationship and in our experience is an unprecedented breach of trust and potential violation of federal law. In my many years working for and with the BIA on Indian Law matters, I have never known of any official acting with such reckless disregard for the privacy and rights of Indian individuals. At least one Tulsa news reporter has confirmed that the Attorney General's office identified its source as the BIA.

I intend to meet soon with Interior Department officials in Washington, DC to raise this matter with them and demand an immediate investigation for the purpose of identifying the person responsible and the authority under which that person claims to have been acting.

It goes without saying that we will respond to the letter. It also goes without saying that the responsible BIA representative in the Eastern Regional Office should be suspended immediately for this action with notice that the BIA is reviewing his/her termination of employment."

The letter became public just a short time after the Kialegee Tribal Town announced a major new phase in construction at the site.  The first prefabricated modular units arrived Thursday afternoon at the Red Clay Casino site. 

The Kialegee Tribal Town says it hopes to open the casino by late spring or summer. 

Broken Arrow Citizens Against Neighborhood Gaming say they are pleased by the letter and hope the tribe and land owners cease all activity at the site.

Read the Broken Arrow Citizens Against Neighborhood Gaming news release.