- Two Idaho indigenous tribes are in a disagreement over the proposal to build a casino in Mountain Home.
- The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes pushed Joe Biden’s administration and Idaho governor Brad Little to reject the Shoshone-Bannock’s casino proposal.
- Plans to build a casino off the tribe’s reservation in Fort Hall are legal but must be approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the city, and Governor Little.
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho – Two tribes pitched proposals for a casino in Mountain Home, Idaho, but now there’s debate over which will earn the spot. The Shoshone-Paiute Tribe of the Duck Valley Reservation wants Joe Biden’s administration and Idaho Governor Brad Little to reject the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe’s casino proposal.
Shoshone-Paiute tribe, known as Sho-Pai for short, don’t have a casino of their own and want both state and federal government to give the Sho-Ban tribe’s proposal a thumbs down. The Shoshone-Bannock tribe looks to build their fourth casino, this time in Mountain Home where most Sho-Pai members shop.
Sho-Pai Wants Government Assistance To Prevent Casino Approval
The Sho-Pai Tribe submitted a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs that stated their intentions of building a casino for gaming entertainment that hopefully includes blackjack and other table games. With Mountain Home being the tribe’s closest neighbor, community leaders fear the Sho-Ban tribe’s casino would be detrimental for the Sho-Pai Tribe.
“By allowing the Sho-Ban Tribes to situate itself in our homelands and with out best neighbor [Mountain Home], to the exclusion of Sho-Pai Tribes, you will be relegating the Sho-Pai People to continued poverty,” said Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Chairman Brian Mason in a letter to the Department of the Interior.
Meanwhile, the Sho-Ban Tribe already purchased a 157-acre plot of land with 500,000 square feet of casino space back in 2020 with the intention of bringing Idaho blackjack to Mountain Home. The Tribe can only offer tribal gaming off their reservation if approved by the U.S. Department of Interior, the City of Mountain Home, and Governor Little.