Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA)
IGRA was passed by Congress in 1988 and allows tribes to conduct gaming on their lands. IGRA generally prohibits gaming on reservation lands acquired after 1988 but explicitly includes limited exceptions which are intended to assist tribes that were disadvantaged when IGRA was enacted in 1988.
One exception is for “lands taken into trust as part of the settlement of a land claim.” The purpose of this exception is to provide the same legal rights and protections for replacement lands acquired in land claim settlements as would have been available to the lands taken from the tribe. Under the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act, the federal government settled claims for the Nation’s loss of lands and promised to take replacement lands “suitable for sustained economic use” into trust.
Click here to download the full text of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Click here to download an Issue Brief on the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act.
Click here to download a timeline of activities leading to the West Valley Resort.