Come midnight on Thursday, November 30th, all keno and poker machines in bars and casinos on the Flathead Indian Reservation will apparently have to be unplugged and removed from the reservation by December 15.
The new gaming compact proposed by the state of Montana was rejected by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). It would have allowed them to share in the revenue generated by state-regulated gambling on the reservation, but instead it denied them jurisdiction over all gaming.
Under the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes proposal, the tribes would have determined the number of machines, maximum bets and maximum payouts allowed on the Flathead Reservation.
The tribe controls, and gets 100% of the revenue from 371 keno and poker machines on the reservation.
Rob McDonald, CSKT Communications Director stated that Gov. Brian Schweitzer's offer "hinges on the Legislature making significant changes to state law."
"Our tribal government hasn't pro-actively pursued gaming as an economic tool before," CSKT chairman James H. Steele Jr. told the Missoulian earlier this month.
Steele took the lead after Schweitzer canceled a meeting on November 17th between the 2. Steele said reporters are welcome at any meeting where he's conducting the state's business.
The Missoulian learned about the meeting through sources outside of the tribal government.
McDonald said the tribes asked to reschedule and the governor's office offered to let Steele join Schweitzer at the November 18th Grizzly-Bobcat football game in Missoula.
While Class III gaming at all businesses on the reservation must cease if no agreement is reached by midnight Thursday, the tribes will still be able to operate their Class II machines.
Thursday, December 07 , 2006
Louis Blechdom
