Butte County Lawsuit Against Dept of Interior

Here’s another case to throw into the mix.

Back in March of this year Supervisors in Butte County, California (up by Chico) sued the Interior Department over a casino sought by the Mechoopda Tribe.

The tribe wants to build a casino on 645 acres in the county. The land has not yet been taken into trust but the Bureau of Indian Affairs has issued a finding of no significant impact for the project and the National Indian Gaming Commission has done the same for the tribe's management contract.

The NIGC has also written an Indian lands determination that said the site could be used for gaming because the Mechoopdas are a restored tribe.

County leaders maintain their opposition to the casino is purely about environmental and safety issues related to the proposed location, but the actual lawsuit makes no mention of environmental concerns and challenges the legitimacy of Chico Rancheria of the Mechoopda Tribe.

In fact the tribe is not one of the defendants in the action. The defendants in the suit are the National Indian Gaming Commission.

As well as the lawsuit, Butte County residents may get a chance to express their feelings about additional Indian casinos in the area.

A late addition to today’s Butte County Board of Supervisors' agenda is a potential ballot measure that would allow the citizens to weigh in on the question.

The advisory measure, which if approved today would be on the Nov. 4 General Election ballot, asks whether "the County of Butte should support proposals for additional Native American gaming casinos within the unincorporated areas of the county?"

The suit claims the commission erred when it accepted the Mechoopda's proposed casino site, as "restored lands," which gave the tribe sovereignty over the property and made it possible for the group proceed with its casino plan.

Butte's legal action asserts that the proposed casino location was never Chico Rancheria Mechoopda land and that the only " land ever occupied in common by the ancestors of the modern Mechoopda tribal membership was the Indian village on the Bidwell Ranch which was designated as the site for their residency by the (John and Annie) Bidwells. The former Chico Rancheria is the only land to which the current Mechoopda tribal members can document any historic ties or connections as a group."

The Mechoopda point out the compromise that led to the Chico Rancheria unit's recognition by the federal government required the tribe to renounce any right to the former Indian village property that included parts of what is now the Chico State University campus.

The tribe maintains, if the court agreed with the county, it would be effectively stripped of all land rights.

Full Article and Additional Resource:
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_10095206
http://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2008/007881.asp