Ho-Chunk Nation buys casino land
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BELOIT — The Ho-Chunk Nation thinks it has a better chance of getting approval to build a casino in Beloit than the two Chippewa tribes that have been working on the project for almost 10 years.
That’s why the Ho-Chunk on Thursday bought 26 acres of land near Interstate 90/39 from a developer for $4 million, Ho-Chunk Vice President Daniel Brown said. The Ho-Chunk intends to place the land in trust.
The Ho-Chunk announcement was a surprise to the Bad River and St. Croix Chippewa, said Joe Hunt, casino project spokesman for the tribes. But it doesn’t stop the tribes’ efforts to bring a casino to Beloit, he said.
The tribes had options to purchase the 26-acres bought by the Ho-Chunk, Hunt said. The tribes have similar options on several adjacent properties owned by the city of Beloit, he said.
In 2001, the two Chippewa tribes entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Beloit. That relationship followed a 2000 referendum in which 61 percent of Beloit voters favored a casino.
The project passed regional approval and moved to Washington in early 2007 for federal approval. At the time, the Ho-Chunk ran an advertising campaign opposing the project.
In early 2008, the federal interior department and bureau of Indian affairs announced a policy change that takes into consideration the distance between a casino and its home reservation.
Essentially, that made it harder for the two tribes, who are based in northern Wisconsin, to get their application approved. The tribes filed a lawsuit opposing the policy change. The suit was dismissed in October, but the tribes have appealed the decision.
The tribes will be in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 13 to give oral arguments, Hunt said.
The Ho-Chunk is better suited to get a casino built despite the changes to the application process, Brown said.
Specifically, Beloit is the aboriginal land of the Ho-Chunk Nation, he said.
In addition, the Ho-Chunk operates De Jope Bingo and Entertainment in Madison. That site is close enough to Beloit to be within the federal distance regulations for building off-site casinos, Brown said.
Both details are part of the federal application process, Brown said.
A Ho-Chunk-owned casino in Beloit also would fit the Ho-Chunk contract with the state of Wisconsin, Brown said.
In 1992, the Ho-Chunk signed an agreement with the state that would allow the nation to operate four casinos in the state. They currently operate three casinos in Black River Falls, Nekoosa and Wisconsin Dells, Brown said.
De Jope is not a casino. In addition to De Jope, the Ho-Chunk operates other non-casino facilities including convenience stores, Brown said. The nation of 6,900 people does not have a reservation, Brown said.
So, of course, the Ho-Chunk is in favor of off-reservation casinos, Brown said. The reason the Ho-Chunk opposed the Chippewa project in Beloit was the fact that the Ho-Chunk consider the area their aboriginal land.
“We’re very pro off-reservation gaming as long as those rules don’t have an adverse affect on tribes,” Brown said. “A couple of tribes were leap-frogging. We took issue with that. But we see it (off-reservation gaming) as something that’s very positive for tribes.”
The Ho-Chunk’s purchase of the Beloit site is a big change, and it will take time for all the parties involved to get up to speed, Brown said. City of Beloit and Rock County officials contacted Friday by the Gazette were either unaware of the change or were not ready to comment.
The Ho-Chunk plans to meet with the Chippewa tribes as well as city and county officials to talk about how to move forward, Brown said.
“The main point is folks need to understand that this will require a cooperative effort,” Brown said. “People assume we’re going to just move in. That’s not the case, although we intend to do it (work on a fee-to-trust application) much faster.”
Hunt “absolutely” agreed that cooperation would be necessary from all parties.
“The whole idea of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was to help Indians improve their economic conditions,” Hunt said. “We have a lot more in common than not because we are Indian.”
Nov 5, 2009 at 10:23 p.m.
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Hey, I was just thinking. With Obama taking America down the trail of socialism and charming the blind in this country on those principles, who knows, maybe the casinos will be a great deal for ignorant people who are stupid with their money! Only a sliver of people win anyway, but, under Obama's plan, they'll have to share their wealth with the lazy, stupid and broke anyway! I make a motion to name the new casino coming to Beloit: HOBAMA-NATION!
Nov 5, 2009 at 12:21 p.m.
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Making news today, law enforcement officials uncovered a vengeful plot in which the Chippewas planned to attack unsuspecting HoChunk Nation members with gallop by arrowing.
One Chippewa suspect, Obama me Not, told authorities he was planning to arrow a Ho Chunk member called Hungry for Government.
Nov 5, 2009 at 8:50 a.m.
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MOC0428, Read what Acai, Okiefed, and huntnfish had to say and I agree with all 3 of them. What I meant about 'go more unemployed' was a joke to make you laugh (well, not really) because the unemployment rate in Beloit/Rock County is well over 10% which is well above the WI average. Those same unemployed workers will be going to the Casino and spending what little money they have foolishly to make the Casino richer UNLESS the state enforces the Tribes running the Casino to pay back to the county/city a very hefty portion of their profits back into the local community. Go ahead and waste your money and hope you don't regret it when down the line you end up unemployed and wish you would have listened to me. NO job is 100% guaranteed to be there in the future forever anymore. Best of luck at the Ho-chunk nation, you'll need it.
Nov 5, 2009 at 8:29 a.m.
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Luckily, the Chippewas have a an ace in the hole...Lt. Dunbar. He has a bunch of rifles buried - boy, those Ho Chunk are going to be surprised!!
Nov 5, 2009 at 7:56 a.m.
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The Ho Chunk are also planning a raid to steal the Chippewa's horses.
Nov 5, 2009 at 7:28 a.m.
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The Ho-Chunk will even screw another Tribe! Do you honestly think that they have the best interest of Beloit in this? These people look out for themselves and only THEIR best interest and screw anyone else. EVEN if it's another Tribe. Open your eyes!
Nov 4, 2009 at 10:29 p.m.
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No more Indian casinos. They refuse to pay even the small amount they agreed to when they made the sweetheart deal with their crony Doyle to allow Craps and Poker.
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I say open up the state to non-Indian entities who would run casinos and probably would pay 20 times the revenue to the state that the tribes do. Enough with the white guilt. 'We' didn't do anything to the Indians. Any injustices that were committed happened over 100 years ago, and I'm pretty sure treaties weren't signed with Wheel of Fortune slot machines in mind.
Nov 4, 2009 at 9:14 p.m.
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lovethemidwest, don't get me started on the bars too! It doesn't matter which is worse, they're both harmful. The odds against winning are completely against the betters. FACT! If that weren't the case, there would be no casinos! As far as "peckingorder's" comment, most people aren't educated on how money works or how to manage it, so is winning 8K really that healthy? I'm not saying it's not nice to win, but wouldn't an education on finances be worth more than a quick fix?? Do the homework on people who win the lottery once. 90% of those people wind up bankrupt because they have no clue on how to keep the money. We're educated by the corporate driven media on how to part with it every second we're breathing these days! The best way to help people be "winners" is to teach them how to manage their money and not gamble what they have on the slim chance that they may come out ahead!
Nov 4, 2009 at 8:57 p.m.
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I'm ALL-IN
Nov 4, 2009 at 8:54 p.m.
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You can have pleasant dreams of hitting-it-big the next time you go to the casino.
Nov 4, 2009 at 8:52 p.m.
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Betting at a casino is more fun and entertaining than buying a lottery ticket at the gas station.
Nov 4, 2009 at 8:46 p.m.
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acai, there are HUNDREDS of establishments here in Rock County that do exactly what you say a casino will do, even worse than a casino would do, theyre called BARS and LIQUOR STORES! Without the math part obviously.
Nov 4, 2009 at 8:06 p.m.
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but Acai - there are also WINNING stories to be told. It does not ruin your life when you win $8,000.
Nov 4, 2009 at 3:59 p.m.
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"LOOK AT ALL THE JOBS IT WOULD CREATE" that's the biggest bunch of bull imagineable. Is it really worth putting something in place that's been proven to ruin people's lives through history?? Is the almighty dollar that important? I understand we all make our own beds, but does that give people the "red carpet" to capitalize on the ignorance of thousands upon thousands of people who are really bad at math??!!
Nov 4, 2009 at 12:45 p.m.
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cookiedough: You are wound up a little tight. If someone wants to blow $300 in a casino that is their right. Who are you to tell them they are stupid just because others are less fortunate.
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You sit here and bash the Bush presidencies but you wait and see what happens with this one. You have no idea of how this term may end up. I'm so sick of all the less fortunate people screaming "it's not fair" I want some of their money so I can sit at home on my unemployed ass! Okay, that was probably a bit harsh but the point is that if you want everyone to have the same then move to a socialist country. I like mine the way it is!
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Back to the casino, don't we owe them a little since we came and wiped them out back in the day? Who cares build the casino it may bring some jobs. It certainly won't cause more people to become poor.
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Cookiedoough, please tell us how there will be more unemployed people because of a casino! I'd really be interested in that response as I haven't had a good laugh today.
Nov 4, 2009 at noon
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Build it and jobs will come.
Nov 3, 2009 at 7:59 a.m.
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Well said, Napalm
Nov 2, 2009 at 2:26 p.m.
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How can people be against this? Its not a casino that brings bad things, its the idiots that cant control themselves, why should I have to live in a place that limits its entertainment due to morons?
Nov 2, 2009 at 1:20 p.m.
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Reading the comments on this issue really shows the sorry state of the Janesville education system.
i.e.
"But there has not been a slave in America in 200 years" Really, you may want to read a history book on the civil war.
"So when Europeans arrived, they simply brought technology - guns, preserved foods, durable goods, etc - and went to war with those who stood in the way of Manifest Destiny." Three cheers for genocide?
This is really sad.
Nov 2, 2009 at 11:28 a.m.
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Imagine the jobs that would be created by allowing this to happen!!
Nov 2, 2009 at 10:52 a.m.
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White settlers gave no one the shaft - aboriginal tribes routinely went to war with each other, over territory, grazing land, females, and most times, just to demonstrate their superiority...
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So when Europeans arrived, they simply brought technology - guns, preserved foods, durable goods, etc - and went to war with those who stood in the way of Manifest Destiny.
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War - whether with aboriginal tribes, British Red Coats, Spanish colonials, or Mexican fortresses - determines who is in charge.
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Aboriginal tribes were in charge only as long as they could win their wars.
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Having said that, dealer must hit on a soft 17.
Nov 2, 2009 at 10:44 a.m.
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ShotGunWillie -
It was ONE mule and FORTY acres...read a book once.
Nov 2, 2009 at 10:33 a.m.
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Look, we gave the Native Americans the shaft here and everybody knows it. But, then we can't live in the past either. If it was all ancestral land, then let them build a casino. Since my ancestors were from France and Ireland, can I go there an build a Casino? No. It's my ancestral land after all, so why can't I?
I have mixed feelings about it. I don't see casinos as a great economic engine, but then the Beloit area really deserves progress, I'm just not sure that it's the right way to go.
Nov 2, 2009 at 10:14 a.m.
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** Sorry group two want two mules, and 15 acres.
Nov 2, 2009 at 10:12 a.m.
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This always makes me confused. We crap on the Indian tribes which we have treaties with for over 300 years. But people roll over, and play dead when black people claim they are repressed slaves. But there has not been a slave in America in 200 years. * Something wrong with this picture.
** One group wants a self supporting business which under law is allowed.
** Number Two group which has no connection to slaves, but want a welfare check.
Nov 2, 2009 at 8:36 a.m.
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holy cow, after reading that article I cannot believe the Bush administration did ONE thing right for a change. Both Bushes messed up this country so bad and now we expect Obama to get us out of their messes by giving us tax break after tax break and stupid govt. intervention where they have no clue how to run these programs like health care for all and the idiotic CARS program that benefited a few, but is going to impact the entire country. Sorry, off topic. Let the Tribes build the Casinos and no one will go since no one but a few have money in Beloit to spend. Go more unemployment and poor folks???
Nov 2, 2009 at 5:56 a.m.
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I blame Christopher Columbus.
Nov 2, 2009 at 1:50 a.m.
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janesvillean - thanks for the useful link - My Question is answerred.
Nov 1, 2009 at 11:48 p.m.
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thepeckingorder, see this:
http://www.nativelegalupdate.com/2009/09...
Nov 1, 2009 at 8:45 p.m.
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Idiot postings like ONLY costing you 300 bucks for some enjoyment when 1,000 are unemployed is a stupid comment, especially Rock County in Beloit. I'd like to see the owners of these gambling establishments be REQUIRED to give to the county/city 1/2 of their profits like they should.
Nov 1, 2009 at 6:12 p.m.
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An occasional gambling excursion is good for 'ya - it can be humbling, and only cost 'ya $300 for the entertainment.
Nov 1, 2009 at 6:08 p.m.
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I'm all for ANYTHING gambling, so count me as ALL-IN.
Nov 1, 2009 at 5:53 p.m.
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Sorry, meant Native Americans!
Nov 1, 2009 at 5:50 p.m.
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yeah, lets make the unemployment in Beloit jump from say 14% to 25%! Go Indians??????
Nov 1, 2009 at 4:48 p.m.
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So how is the new property within distance from property that is NOT a casino ??? Can off-site facilities leap-frog endlessly ???
Nov 1, 2009 at 4:40 p.m.
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What puzzles me: It says that "De Jope is not a casino" yet "the Ho-Chunk operates De Jope Bingo and Entertainment in Madison. That site is close enough to Beloit to be within the federal distance regulations for building off-site casinos, Brown said."
Nov 1, 2009 at 3:04 p.m.
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This article makes clear that this was an end-run around Bad River/St. Croix Chippewa, so I guess we'll see how that plays out.
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For the record, this is a map of lands allocated to tribes by treaty in territorial days. The Ojibwe (Chippewa) were primarily in Northern Wisconsin, while the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) were here when French explorers arrived.
http://www.wisconsinstories.org/2001seas...
Oct 31, 2009 at 8:12 p.m.
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This is a very well written summary of the topic.
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