AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. (AP) — A glittering casino that has brought financial success to a tiny Indian tribe is drawing covetous eyes from a larger neighbor.
The Kalispel Tribe’s off-reservation Northern Quest Casino has been so successful in tapping the lucrative Spokane, Wash., market that the Spokane Tribe of Indians is seeking rare federal approval to build a similar Vegas-style resort nearby.
The quiet but intense conflict is enmeshed in a larger federal study of Indian gambling that critics fear could lead to a boom of off-reservation casinos in cities around the country. The Spokane say their casino would complement the existing one. The Kalispel disagree, saying it would only be competition.