How did it all start?

Gaming sponsored by tribal governments started in the early 1980s. As state lotteries grew in popularity, several Indian tribes in Florida and California began raising revenues by operating bingo games offering larger prizes than those allowed under state law. When Florida and California attempted to close tribal gaming operations, tribes sued in federal court, Seminole Tribe vs. Butterworth (1979) and California vs. Cabazon Band (1987). In both rulings, the courts said that if state law criminally prohibits a form of gambling, then the tribes within the state may not engage in that form. However, if state law regulates a form of gambling, then the tribes within the state may engage in that gaming free of state control. In 1988, Gaming on U.S. Indian Reservations was officially regulated after Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). This legislation requires gaming tribes to have compacts with their respective state governments specifying the types of gaming permited on reservation lands.

The IGRA divided the types of Indian Gaming into three separate classes:

Class I is designated as traditional gaming played in tribal ceremonies and remains under tribal jurisdiction. Who Regulates? These games are subject only to regulation by the tribes themselves.

Class II includes games like bingo that use pulltabs or punchboards, regardless of their technology mechanisms, and any non-banking card games that are not explicitly banned by state constitutions. These games are further regulated through the National Indian Gaming Commission, a regulatory agency created by the IGRA. Who Regulates? The IGRA provides for regulation of Class II games by both tribes and the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). In states allowing Class II games, like California, there are no limits on the number of Class II games that a tribe may operate

Class III includes all other forms of gaming (including slots) that do not fall into the first two categories. These games require a tribal-state compact or agreement, approval by tribal ordinance, and need the approval of the chairpersons of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Who Regulates? Tribes and states regulate Class III games pursuant to tribal ordinances and tribal-state compacts approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In California, the principal state regulatory agencies are the California Gambling Control Commission and the Division of Gambling Control in the Department of Justice. The NIGC has asserted its authority to regulate and audit tribes’ Class III operations, but in October 2006, a federal appeals court affirmed a lower court decision that no such authority exists under IGRA.

In September of 1999, sixty one California tribes finalized their tribal-state compacts with the state of California. In March 2000, the California voters passed Proposition 1A, approving Indian gaming on reservation lands. The Chumash’s tribal-state compact received approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in May 2000 and became effective immediately.