A site on Juneau's Douglas Island could be the future home of a casino-like gambling hall, after a proposal from the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska was approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission.
Tlingit and Haida says the facility’s approval represents a step toward economic self-sufficiency and sovereignty for the tribe.
The land is on Fish Creek Road, not far from Eaglecrest Ski Area. It’s just a small piece of a Native allotment owned by tribal members who lease it to Tlingit and Haida. Rumors of the tribe developing something on that property have circulated for years. The tribe first cleared that area in 2018 and has hosted fireworks shops there on and off over the years.
But, nothing substantive has been developed — until recently.
Driving past the location in August, “No Trespassing” signs lined the area and a sign at the entrance warned of construction. Excavators, trucks and building material scattered the graveled area as the structure of a building was beginning to take shape.
In an email this week, Tlingit and Haida spokesperson Dixie Hutchinson confirmed that the tribe is developing a gaming facility. According to Hutchinson, the plan “aligns with Tlingit and Haida’s broader mission to expand revenue-generating opportunities that support essential programs and services for tribal citizens.”
The tribe intends to offer Class II gaming, which covers things like pull tabs, bingo and slot-style electronic machines. It doesn’t cover games like poker or blackjack. Pull-tab gambling is common across Alaska, but what’s less common are electronic pull-tab machines. Tlingit and Haida’s gambling hall could resemble one that’s been operating in Metlakatla, on Alaska’s only Indian Reservation, for years. There, rows of slot-machine-like devices sit in rows, with stools in front of each machine.
The National Indian Gaming Commission’s acting chair approved the tribe for site-specific gaming at the location in January. The decision came just days before President Donald Trump began his second term in office.
In Alaska, very few tribes have authority over land, so they haven’t had a way to open reservation-style casinos like tribes in the Lower 48. But many tribes in Alaska have sought to assert authority over Native allotments owned by individual tribal members.
For decades, federal officials — and state officials in Alaska — have said that Native allotments owned by tribal members in Alaska were not considered “Indian country.” Therefore, they are not under the jurisdiction of tribes and cannot be home to casinos or casino-like gambling halls under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
That stance held firm during the first Trump Administration – the commission declined Tlingit and Haida’s request for gaming authorization at the site in 2020.
ButMichelle Jaagal Aat Demmert,a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ tribal governance department, says the legal interpretation of Native allotments shifted when former President Joe Biden came into office.
“During the Biden administration, there was a solicitor’s opinion that evaluated the laws and made the determination that the laws supported that Indian tribes in Alaska have jurisdiction over allotments and other land that’s classified as Indian country,” she said.
Demmert is also an attorney and Tlingit and Haida’s former chief justice. She said gaming serves as an important governmental function for many tribes in the U.S.
“People look at it that it’s just this big money-making operation, but it’s so much more than that,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to make money and an opportunity to put that right back into your governmental system, to provide essential services to your citizens.”
The change in opinion during the Biden administration provided an avenue for tribes like Tlingit and Haida and the Native Village of Eklutna to move forward. In February, Eklutna opened a gaming hall on a Native allotment near Anchorage.
However, just days after the Eklutna hall opened its doors, the State of Alaska filed a lawsuit to shut them down, arguing that the state still maintains primary jurisdiction over Native allotments. That lawsuit is still ongoing.
Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson expressed his support for the Eklutna Tribe’s gaming hall and championed the benefits it brings to the tribe. He did not respond to a request for comment on Tlingit and Haida’s proposed facility.
In a statement, Juneau City Manager Katie Koester said the City and Borough of Juneau “respects the sovereignty of Tlingit and Haida, and recognizes that this parcel is not subject to CBJ jurisdiction.”
Hutchinson said the project is still in the early phases of development, and she did not offer a timeline for when it will open to the public. She said the tribe intends to reinvest the gaming hall’s revenue into essential tribal programs and services.
Copyright 2025 KTOO