Sept 14 is BIA Deadline for EIS Public Comment on Barstow Casino Scheme (Los Coyotes with Barwest/Ilitch/Malik)

REMINDER:  The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is taking comments on the environmental impact statement for the proposed Los Coyotes/Barwest (Marian Ilitch/Michael Malik) Barstow casino.  The deadline for public comment is September 14. Barstow (San Bernardino County) is more than 100 miles from the Los Coyotes reservation (San Diego County).

The BIA is reviewing the proposed Los Coyotes/Barwest casino under the two-part determination section of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.  A bill, S.1424, intended to restrict off-reservation gaming has been introduced by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona).  If approved, it would replace that two-part determination section with an entirely new set of standards and conditions.

Contact Info:
U.S. Department of Interior,
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Pacific Region
2800 Cottage Way
Room W-2820
Sacramento, CA 95825

Federal Register Notice:
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians' 23-Acre Fee-to-Trust Transfer and Casino-Hotel Project, City of Barstow, San Bernardino County, CA (July 1, 2011)

Shinnecock first filed for Federal Recognition 29 years ago; that has not stopped their determination

Shinnecocks' recognition swamped in litigation
Posted: February 12, 2007
by: Gale Courey Toensing / Indian Country Today

SHINNECOCK, N.Y. - Long before the Shinnecock Indian Nation became embroiled in its lawsuits and controversy over casino plans, it was one of the first Indian nations in the country to file for federal acknowledgement in 1978 under what were then the BIA's newly established regulations.

Back then, the tribe was No. 4 on the petitioners' list to be reviewed for federal recognition. Twenty-nine years later - after a series of Kafkaesque legal roadblocks, anti-casino opposition from some of the local rich and famous homeowners with political clout in New York state, and an Office of Federal Acknowledgement that is perennially overworked, understaffed and underfunded - the Shinnecocks are No. 9 on the ''active ready-and-waiting'' list. Eight other petitions will be considered before theirs.

If the tribe has to wait another dozen years, it will have spent 40 years in the wilderness of non-recognition, tribal Chairman Lance Gumbs said. ''

That's what they're telling us - that it will take another 12 years. I feel like Moses. I've sat on recognition committees over the past 30 years with so many people who have passed on and will not ever see this tribe take its rightful place,'' Gumbs said.

Recognition could come sooner, however, through a court action the tribe has filed against the Department of the Interior. In 2005, a federal judge bypassed the BIA recognition process and ruled that the state-recognized Shinnecock Indians are indeed a federal tribe.

(Full Story)

BIA extends comment period on proposed Section 20 rules for Indian gaming

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has extended (re-opened) the comment period on proposed IGRA related rules, published October 5, 2006, for gaming on lands acquired after October 17, 1988. Comments must be received by February 1, 2007.

Federal Register
January 17, 2007
(Volume 72, Number 10)

... On October 5, 2006 (71 FR 58769), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published a proposed rule to establish procedures that an Indian tribe must follow in seeking to conduct gaming on lands acquired after October 17, 1988. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act allows Indian tribes to conduct class II and class III gaming activities on land acquired after October 17, 1988, only if the land meets certain exceptions. This proposed rule establishes a process for submitting and considering applications from Indian tribes seeking to conduct class II or class III gaming activities on lands acquired in trust after October 17, 1988. On December 4, 2006, the BIA published a notice making corrections to the proposed rule and extended the comment period until December 19, 2006. Eighteen comments were received after December 19, 2006. Several of these comments raise substantive issues that may result in modification of the proposed rule. The comment period is reopened to allow consideration of the comments received after December 19, 2006, and to allow additional time for comment on the proposed rule. Comments must be received on or before February 1, 2007... (complete notice)

Proposed Rules as published in the Federal Register on October 5, 2006 (text or pdf).