Wyandotte Casino Entertainment
- Wyandotte Casino Entertainment Center
- Wyandotte Casino Entertainment Casino
- Wyandotte Casino Entertainment &
- Wyandotte Casino Entertainment Events
The 7th Street Casino in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. File Photo © Wyandotte Nation.River Bend Casino and Hotel River Bend Casino and Hotel brings you great entertainment and gaming in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. We provide you with over 750 slot machines, table game favorites, delicious dining at our Twin Bridges Restaurant and casual dining at the Casino Deli. Fun atmosphere, exciting promotions and always a good time. Lucky Turtle Casino Lucky Turtle Casino, located in Wyandotte, OK, features 113 slots in our travel plaza, and is next to our diner.
Wyandotte Casino Entertainment Center
After more than a decade of litigation, it looks like the out-of-state casino operated by the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma is finally safe. The tribe began laying groundwork for the casino in 1995 by buying a half-acre of ancestral property in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. The property was purchased with funds that Congress appropriated to settle the tribe's land claims. The state of Kansas and the four federally-recognized tribes in the state quickly sued the Interior Department to prevent the land from being taken into trust. And if it ever was, they wanted to make sure the Wyandotte Nation couldn't use it for a casino. After several rounds of litigation, the Bush administration in March 2002 reaffirmed the trust status of the Shriner Tract, as the property is known. But the Bureau of Indian Affairs refused to say whether the land could be used for gaming. That issue is a critical one since the Shriner Tract was taken into trust in 1996, long after the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. The law generally bars gaming newly acquired lands unless certain exceptions are met. According to the National Indian Gaming Commission, the Shriner Tract didn't meet any of the exceptions -- including one related to land claim settlements -- but that didn't stop the tribe from opening a modest Class II facility on the site. The NIGC's stance prompted the state of Kansas to raid the facility in April 2004, a move that clearly violated the tribe's sovereignty, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals later ruled. With that victory on its belt, the tribe won additional rulings that effectively overturned the NIGC's opinion of the Shriner Tract. The 10th Circuit finally dismissed the state's lawsuit in October 2007, pointing out that there were no more claims to resolve because the casino site was already in trust. The tribe reopened the 7th Street Casino in January of this year. But less than a month later, the 10th Circuit revised its opinion and suggested that the state could reopen its lawsuit. Judge Richard D. Rogers agreed to hear further arguments, but in an opinion filed on Wednesday, he dismissed the case. Since the land is already in trust and the United States enjoys sovereign immunity from lawsuits, he ruled that the state lacked any basis to continue. '[S]overeign immunity has not been waived in a situation in which plaintiffs are asking for land to be removed from trust status and, therefore, this case is moot,' Rogers wrote. Barring dramatic shifts in the case, the 7th Street Casino appears to be safe from future litigation. That makes the Wyandotte Nation only the second tribe in the history of IGRA to open a gaming facility through the land claim exception. The Seneca Nation opened two off-reservation casinos in New York through the land claim exception. However, a federal judge ruled that the NIGC's opinion on one of the casinos was flawed and the agency has since ordered the tribe to shut down the facility. Court Decision:Kansas v. Kempthorne (September 10, 2008) 10th Circuit Opinions:
Revised February 2008 Opinion October 2007 Opinion Related Stories:
Judge reopens lawsuit over Wyandotte casino (4/16)
10th Circuit revises Wyandotte Nation casino opinion (2/1)
Wyandotte Nation dedicates Kansas City casino (1/11)
Wyandotte Casino Entertainment Casino
Wyandotte Nation wins big decision on gaming in Kansas (7/7)Wyandotte Casino Entertainment &
Oklahoma tribe wins another ruling on out-of-state land (05/12)
Oklahoma tribe wins ruling on out-of-state gaming site (04/10)
The Skip Clack Fishing Derby, The Independence Day Parade and the 59th Annual Wyandotte Street Art Fair are just weeks away and it is very clear to us it will not be possible for the events to take place. Public and employee health must come first and many factors have been considered in making this extremely difficult decision.
The Special Events Office will coordinate the production of a section in the August Welcome to Wyandotte Magazine that will feature artists, businesses and vendors who would have been participants in the fair as well as create an online event that will encourage visiting these vendor’s online shops. We will also utilize our social media outlets to create activities that our community’s families can do at home to celebrate the 4th of July, the Street Art Fair and summertime in general.
We realize this is enormously disappointing news for the many people who participate and the hundreds of thousands of attendees to these annual city events, but sadly, these are unique times and this is the responsible thing to do. We hope you will join in on our fun at home activities and we will see you next year at our special events!