A group of leaders from the Shinnecock Indian Nation have been negotiating with the Florida’s Seminole Tribe in terms of creating a collaboration, which will contribute to the development of their shelved casino, a group of tribe members have reported.
The discussions with the Seminoles, who apart from seven casinos in Florida, also own the casino development and management company Hard Rock International, commenced shortly after the partner of the Seminole Tribe – Gateway Casino Resorts – stopped its remarkable support towards the Shinnecocks, as well as its monthly payment of $250,000.
Tribe members, who are only allowed to speak anonymously and not with the media, due to a decree imposed by the tribal leadership, admit that they have been informed about a possible agreement between the tribe’s Council of Trustees and the Seminoles. However, the members of the tribe have not received any further details, concerning the negotiations, except for the fact that there have been discussions about the future of Shinnecock gaming. That, of course, led to other concerns among some of the tribe members, mainly connected to the scandal that appeared around the past and unrevealed talks with the eventual casino partners.
According to one of the tribe members, there has not been any official information to confirm this, although they have been told about a future deal with the Seminoles. The tribal Council of Trustees, on the other hand, has definitely avoided speaking to the Press about the issue, and refused a request for discussions on Tuesday.
The tribe members have recently voted and then approved the establishing of a tribal corporation, named Shinnecock Sovereign Holdings Inc. The company was created in correspondence with Section 17 of the Indian Reorganization Act, according to which tribes are allowed to create corporate offshoots, that despite benefiting from the sovereign status of the tribe, are considered legally separate.
The tribe has gone through many experiences, concerning the efforts for stimulating the casino development. There have been many conflicts with their former partner Gateway, as well as other internal problems, that included disagreements around the contracts and many internal revelations that caused battles and further conflicts. In 2012, the partnership with Gateway and its manager Michael J. Malik was terminated and all the payments to the tribe were also halted. Due to some reports, the Gateway’s investments for the casino development of Shinnecocks are about $50 million.
A great part of the Seminole casino operations are Class III facilities which determines them as casinos that offer games like craps, blackjack and slot machines. However, the tribe has become very popular with the establishment of a real gaming paradise, that falls within Class II facilities and includes different pull-tab games, card games, keno machines and bingo.
The Seminoles bought Hard Rock International company in 2006 for almost $1 billion. In fact, that was the company that owned the Hard Rock Café Hotel, and that operates the restaurant and the casino franchise. After that, the Seminoles have collaborated with different Native American Tribes in order to create other gambling facilities, or to support the efforts of tribes that want to manage casinos.
