POLITICAL FRONT
Mississippi Sovereignty Showdown
H
aley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi and the longtime
Republican powerhouse credited with the 1994
Republican Revolution, might have his year in 2012 with a bid
for the White House, but 2010 will be remembered as the year
he picked a fight with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians (MBCI) and lost.
Barbour v. MBCI
In the spring of 2010, the tribe’s Chief, Miko Beasley
Denson, proposed opening a gaming facility on trust land in
the Bogue Homa community in south central Mississippi,
Bok Homa Casino. This satellite of the tribe’s flagship Pearl
River Resort would house more than 750 slot machines and
a quick service restaurant in an approximately 27,000 sq. ft.
building.
Even before the MBCI Tribal Council voted to approve
the project in June, Governor Barbour went public with his
disapproval of the proposed casino. Joining Barbour in
publicly calling on the tribe to abandon the project were
Senator Roger Wicker, Congressman Gregg Harper and all
but one statewide elected official in Mississippi. Even
candidates in the 2010 midterm elections lined up against
the project.
Barbour’s criticism of the project ran the gamut from
dismissing the casino as a “slot parlor” and raising health
and environmental concerns to claiming the tribe was in
violation of the State Gaming Compact signed in 1992.
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January 2011
Tribal Miko Beasley Denson; Pearl River Resort CEO Major General Paul
Harvey, USAF (ret.); and “Mr. Las Vegas”Wayne Newton welcome the
crowd to the Bok Homa Casino.
Despite Barbour’s claims, Mississippi Attorney General
Jim Hood concluded in a June memorandum, “After
thorough review, staff has found no viable legal cause of action
which would halt the proposed development, either by challenging
the validity of the 1992 Gaming Compact between the State of
Mississippi and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, or by
otherwise challenging the proposed development itself.”
In a June 27 editorial for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger,
Perspectives Editor Sid Salter ridiculed Barbour for his
opposition:
In Barbour’s letter last week to Choctaw Miko Beasley
Denson, the governor made every possible threat to the
Choctaws – lawsuits, regulatory hurdles from environmental
challenges, public health concerns, potential damages to state
and county roads and bridges – to stop the project. Barbour
even lamented the dangers the development posed to
“tortoises, fowl, snakes, and plants” in the Pine Belt region.
Please...
All that flora and fauna aside, it’s clear why Barbour and
other state officials want to stop the Choctaw’s project –
to protect the profit margins of the state-regulated casinos
from competition.
Denson’s Field of Dreams
Despite the barrage of external criticism and some
internal opposition, Miko Beasley Denson pushed the
project forward with support from a majority of the Tribal
Council. Efforts to force a reservation-wide referendum on
the issue failed after the applications were deemed deficient
by tribal courts.
Denson said, “A majority of the Tribal Council understood
the magnitude of this project when they voted in favor of the
authorizing resolution. I commend the Tribal Council for their
support and for embracing my vision of what was possible in
Bogue Homa. Success here will help the Mississippi Band fund
and operate our tribal schools, our own tribal law enforcement department, fire department, security services, courts
and judicial system, Choctaw Health Center, water treatment
plants, housing and maintenance facilities, forestry, land
management, childcare services, social services, and many
other basic governmental programs. I believe the casino we
open here today serves the best interest of our tribe and will
prove to be a catalyst for continued economic development
in the region.”
The Bok Homa Casino is part of a larger realignment of
the tribe’s largest business, the Choctaw Resort Development
Enterprise (CRDE). CRDE operates Pearl River Resort, the
southern United States’ first comprehensive luxury gaming
resort employing more than 2,500. The resort features over
3,500 slot machines, 70 table games, 1,074 hotel rooms, 10
restaurants and European spa facilities. Also featured is The
Arena at Golden Moon Hotel & Casino, the region’s largest
casino event venue, The Dancing Rabbit Golf Club with two
championship golf courses and Geyser Falls Water Theme
Park, one of the region’s largest water park attractions.
In 2007, after Denson was sworn in as the Tribal Miko, his
administration began a wholesale evaluation of the CRDE’s
operations. The tribe’s second casino, the Golden Moon, was
built directly across the street from the Silver Star and left the
tribe with more casino than the market could sustain.
Denson made the decision to reduce the Golden Moon’s
operating hours during the week throughout 2009 and 2010
before converting it into the largest casino event venue in the
southeast. According to Denson, “This conversion will
transform the Golden Moon property into a driver of revenue
rather than the drag on profit it has been for years.”
Citing efficiency and revenue provided through the rightsizing of casino operations in Choctaw, Denson believed the
next step was to tap into demand for gaming and entertainment options in the south central portion of the state. The
Innovation Group, a Colorado-based gaming consultancy,
January 2011
Indian Gaming 41
POLITICAL FRONT
confirmed the demand and potential success of this project
through in-depth, independent market assessments. “The
tribe should have built the Bok Homa Casino years ago
instead of building the Golden Moon as a casino. In gaming
as in real estate, location is critical. Bok Homa is located just
off a major interstate and convenient for visitors from across
the southeast.” Borrowing from the classic baseball movie
Field of Dreams, Denson stated, “if you build it, they will
come.”
Victory for Tribal Sovereignty
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is the fourth
largest employer in Mississippi. The Bok Homa Casino
project brought an $18 million investment in local construction and generated over 300 new jobs. Despite all of this, a
majority of the Mississippi political establishment opposed the
project and Governor Barbour, despite the legal opinion of
his own Attorney General, continued his efforts to stop
construction, including appealing to the Environmental Protection Agency and National Indian Gaming Commission.
In July 2010, the tribal government issued an “Open
Letter on Tribal Sovereignty” signed by Miko Denson and
fourteen of the seventeen Tribal Council members. The
Tribal Council members who did not sign the letter cited a
reluctance to challenge the state's non-tribal elected
officials and an unwillingness to incur more debt in order to
build the Bok Homa Casino as reasons for not joining the
majority of their colleagues. The letter stated:
The history of this country is littered with examples of
broken agreements between the Indian tribes and the state
and federal governments. As representatives of the government of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, we stand
united in our commitment to exercising our right to
pursue economic development through gaming under our
compact as we determine to be in the best interest of our
Tribe. We have a responsibility to provide for our ten
thousand tribal members, which in so doing will also
benefit the State of Mississippi and all its citizens.
Construction began on June 17, 2010 and the casino held
its grand opening on December 20, 2010. Amid the fanfare
of “Mr. Las Vegas” Wayne Newton, The Flying Santas and
the more than 300 invited guests at Bok Homa’s Grand
Opening, Miko Denson stated, “Despite humble beginnings,
we are inheritors and protectors of a proud tradition and
I remain committed to providing a prosperous future for our
people.” p
For more information about the Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians, visit www.choctaw.org.
January 2011
Indian Gaming 43