Tribe Wants to Open Wizard of Oz Casino in New York

The Yellow Brick Road Casino will be launched in Chittenango in 2015.

A new $20 million casino that features the Wizard of Oz theme will be opened in the village where the author of the piece L Frank Baum was born. The plans about the casino were announced by the Oneida Indian Nation, a Native American tribe that lives on the reservation land.

The CEO of the Oneida Nation, Ray Halbritter, said that the casino should be opened in 2015 in Chittenango. He also added that The Yellow Brick Road Casino is an investment that would create a big number of construction jobs for local workers as well as “more than 250 permanent positions once it opens.”

The casino should take 67,000 sq ft and it will be located 14 miles east of Syracuse. As was reported by the Syracuse Post, the casino will be located in a renovated shopping plaza that belongs to the Nation.

The Oneidas Don’t Need Any Approvals from the Government

Officials from the Oneida Nation said that they didn’t need any approvals from the government to open the casino. The Yellow Brick Road Casino, that will feature 436 Vegas-style slot machines as well as a Bingo hall, will be built on a reservation land that belongs to the Oneidas.

The Nation further explained that the 1993 Oneida Nation Gaming Compact with the state of New York permits the Indians to operate gambling activities on nation lands. Therefore, the Oneidas don’t need a license from New York. Chittenango is on reservation land; hence, they don’t need permission from federal, local or state governments either.

In 2013 there was another state compact that ended a dispute over the Oneida Nation land. That compact gives the Oneidas exclusive rights to gambling activities in the 10-county area that surrounds its Turning Stone Casino in Verona. However, the Oneidas in return had to agree to share 25% of their slot revenues with the local governments and the state.

Other Tribe Launched Online Gambling Site in California

The Indian Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988 gives many privileges to Native American tribes when it comes to the gambling industry. Besides the permission to build land based casinos on reservation lands that belong to tribes, they obviously can launch online gambling sites too.

Only a month earlier, in November, 2014, other Indian tribe known as the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel established a remote gambling site in California regardless the state’s gambling rules and regulations.There were many reactions about this decision of the tribe because online gambling is still not legalised in California. However, according to Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel IGRA allows them to offer Class II games such as online bingo and poker.

Their site is called Desert Rose Bingo and it makes it possible for customers to play online bingo games for real money. Nevertheless, only those who live on tribal lands and are over 18 will be able to create an account at Desert Rose Bingo and use its services.