September 23, 2005

Last modified September 23, 2005 - 12:22 am

Associated Press

CHEYENNE - The U.S. Department of the Interior has signed documents allowing the Northern Arapaho Tribe to begin offering Las Vegas-style gambling.

Jim Conrad, chief executive officer of the Wind River Casino, said Thursday there were still a few procedural hoops the tribe had to jump through, but he expected to have Class III machines and the first blackjack tables installed in the tribe's existing bingo parlor within 60 days.

James Cason, associate deputy secretary of the interior, signed the agreement on Wednesday, according to Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"It was a day the tribe has been working at for many years. It's a major step," Conrad said. "Now we have the opportunity to go and start bringing in Class III - 21-tables, slot machines."

The Northern Arapaho are one of just a handful of tribes that have won federal approval for Class III gambling - which ranges from slot machines to table games - without signing a compact with an adjoining state.

The Arapahoes first asked the state to enter negotiations in the mid-1990s. In November 2000, after years of talks failed to produce an agreement, the Arapahoes sued Wyoming, saying the state had failed to negotiate in good faith and that the tribe should be allowed to bypass the state and open a casino.

Federal courts consistently sided with the tribe, and this summer the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Northern Arapaho were entitled to operate a full range of Class III games. Following that ruling, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, which shares the Wind River Indian Reservation with the Northern Arapahoes, announced its intention to operate a casino.

Conrad said the agreement signed Wednesday was based on prior talks between the tribe and the state and allowed only a limited range of Class III games. But he said the tribe would seek an amendment, based on the 10th Circuit ruling, to allow all Class III games.

"There's still a few hoops," Conrad said. "It's probably going to take us 60 days to get tables and slot machines in and on the floor."

Conrad said the current facility, formerly known as 789 Bingo, would probably house between 300 and 400 Class III machines. It will start with three blackjack tables, then add more table games as dealers are trained and as the market demands.

The tribe also has plans for a $10.3 million casino that Conrad said would probably hold 600 to 700 machines and expanded table offerings.

Anthony A. Addison Sr., co-chairman of the Northern Arapaho Business Council, said the tribe still hadn't determined exactly how it would use its casino revenue, but said tribal schools, housing and economic development have been discussed as options.

"The way we first looked at it in pursuing this gaming was those were the areas we needed to look at to meet the needs of the people," Addison said. "The way we look at it, it's going to be positive for us."