American Indian tribe battles Texas to keep bingo center open
LIVINGSTON, Texas—Historically averse to anything resembling casino-style gambling, Texas officials are now going after a thriving electronic bingo center run by an American Indian tribe nearly a year after the machines began filling a rustic building on historic land north of Houston.
The Alabama-Coushatta tribe runs the Naskila Gaming entertainment center, named for their word for dogwood trees that populate the Piney Woods of East Texas. The operation has so far created more than 400 jobs—including about 200 for the tribe's 1,200 members—and added $5 million to the local economy, said Carlos Bullock, a former tribal council chairman.
"We are in the fight for our future," Bullock said. "This is something, a revenue stream, that can help the tribe immensely."
But state attorneys say the operation is illegal. The state argues the presence of electronic bingo machines violates an injunction from 15 years ago that closed a full-scale casino shortly after the tribe opened it on the same site. The center—on land the tribe received through Texas hero Sam Houston—is about 80 miles northeast of Houston.
Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2017/may/11/american-indian-tribe-battles-texas-keep-bingo-center-open/673534/