The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s president, Chalyee Eesh Richard Peterson, spoke about addiction prevention during the grand opening of Juneau’s first casino on Wednesday. The ceremonial event follows a soft open of the tribe’s Two Coppers Casino on Douglas Island last month.
“We make a commitment to the community of Juneau that this is going to be a benefit and not that poison pill for our community,” he said, addressing a crowd of more than 150 people at the opening ceremony.
While the tribe is opening this casino, he said Tlingit and Haida is simultaneously working on new programs that could intervene if community members struggle with gambling addiction.
Peterson specified what Tlingit and Haida’s behavioral health department will do to combat gambling disorders in an interview with KTOO afterward.
“They’ve been working on a plan that we’ll be rolling out here in the next few weeks, essentially that identifies if folks are spending too much time having fun up here and maybe spending too much money, that we encourage them to do our behavioral health program, and actually we’ll kind of uninvite them,” he said.
People identified through this effort would then have to go through a program before they could return to Two Coppers.
Though the casino is officially open, Tlingit and Haida may still see legal challenges to the casino in the future. Last fall, the U.S. Department of the Interior withdrew a legal opinion that gave Alaska tribes jurisdiction over land allotments owned by Alaska Native families. Peterson said in June that Tlingit and Haida’s lawyers believe this change should not impact the tribe’s ability to operate the Juneau casino.
And last month, the Juneau Independent reported that members of the family that own the land the casino sits on wrote letters to the tribe opposing the project, citing public safety concerns and the questions of legality.
The George family is leasing the land, located on Fish Creek Road or Eaglecrest Road, to Tlingit and Haida. In February, Jimmy George Jr. requested the Bureau of Indian Affairs cancel the lease in February.
But other members of the George family attended the opening, and spoke in favor of the casino.
Travis Woodbury is the grandson of Lydia and Jimmy George who owned the land the casino is on now.
“My uncle, when I was younger, he said, ‘We’re gonna go on a boat, we’re gonna go claim your grandpa’s stick, and that’s his land, that’s the family’s,’” Woodbury said. “We had to go clear out land, so this could be possible. I mean, it’s a long process, and it came true, and I’m so happy.”
Woodbury said he has not spoken with the members of his family who are opposed to the casino’s operations. KTOO has not been able to contact Jimmy George Jr.
