State asked to consider American Indian reservation in Brownsville
BROWNSVILLE – The Rendell administration is being asked to consider the creation of an American Indian reservation, which could include a casino, in Brownsville. A spokesman for the governor’s office said the matter is in the hands of the office of the general counsel. “The governor’s office has received materials related to a Native American reservation in Brownsville. The governor and his staff are reviewing the materials from the individuals, but the governor’s office feels more information is needed,” said spokesman Tom Hickey.
Ernest and Marilyn Liggett, who own more than 100 parcels in Brownsville, including much of the downtown area, have approached several American Indian tribes over the past several years regarding a casino in the community. Neither the Liggetts nor Don Kobaly, who reportedly has an agreement to purchase the properties from the Liggetts, could be reached for comment Friday.
The most recent tribe to confirm that the Liggetts approached them about a casino was the Seneca tribe in New York. The Senecas recently opened a new casino in Niagara Falls and have plans for another casino in the Buffalo area under a compact with New York state.
Attorney Mickey Brown, who once managed the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, is running the Niagara Falls casino. Sources who have seen the plans for the Brownsville casino have said
it would be modeled after Foxwoods.
When contacted last week, Dwayne Ray, the chief of staff for Seneca President Ricky Armstrong, said the tribal president had nothing to announce at this time.
“At this point, things are on hold as far as I know,” Ray said.
He could not be reached for comment Friday when the governor’s office confirmed the filing of papers requesting a reservation.
Pennsylvania has no state or federally recognized tribes and no property held in trust for any tribes. Under the Native American Gaming Act, federally recognized tribes must have owned land intended for gaming purposes in 1988, when the gaming act went into effect.
There are some exceptions to that rule, including the acquisition of land contingent to previously owned tribal land or land states have given by agreement to settle past land disputes. The Seneca were given the Niagara Falls site to settle a $750 million suit filed against New York for lands taken from the tribe in the past.
Brown has suggested that the Seneca could have a land claim in Pennsylvania, based on the taking of tribal lands including Cornplanter’s Grant in northwestern Pennsylvania in the 1950s and 1960s during the construction of the Kinzua Dam.
A representative from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., said that claim would be a matter for the courts to decide, since the land was taken by the Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency, and not by the state. According to the BIA, however, most land claim cases that go to court are sent back to be handled administratively by the BIA first.
The other way lands can be taken into trust for American Indian gaming purposes is if the state, the tribe and the federal government all agree it is in the best interest of the community involved, according to the Indian Gaming Act.
The trust agreement then would be approved by the Department of the Interior, the parent agency of the BIA. According to the BIA, the Department of the Interior neither confirmed nor denied the New York state agreement with the Senecas.
Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan said she still has not been contacted regarding the plans for a reservation or casino in the borough. She was unaware that paperwork had been filed recently with the governor’s office.
“Now that you’ve informed me, I’ll make every effort to get more information,” Ryan said. “It’s very difficult to comment on something we really know nothing about. No one has contacted this department at all.”
A source who has seen the casino plan said, on the condition of anonymity, the plan calls for funds to be given to the Brownsville Area School District, Brownsville General Hospital and Fayette County. It was not known if the plan also included money for the borough.
“It would be a couple of million just for the school district. The hospital was told, ‘Don’t shut down. You’re going to get so much money,'” the source said. “I’m not going to tell you it’s not going to change our lifestyle and our town forever. They’re even talking about putting in an amusement park around
the square to make it family oriented”
According to the BIA, however, gaming compacts are negotiated between the tribe and the state, and, generally, very little money trickles down to the local level.