Cherokee Nation Expands Casino

by 158 | December 22, 2008 at 05:05 pm

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The Cherokees need the help, financially, that

casinos can provide. Indians in Oklahoma are still

among the poorest segment of the population.

But casinos are helping raise living standards.

Cherokee Nation Enterprises, which operates the Cherokee Casino chain, employs more than 3,300 people in northeastern Oklahoma. Chief Executive David Stewart expects this expansion to increase that by several hundred positions.

Other tribal gaming operations in Oklahoma have been growing as well.

The Chickasaw Nation runs the WinStar World Casino, located in Thackerville near the Texas border. The operation, which began in the early 1990s as a bingo parlor, grew to a 183,000 square-foot facility.

With its current expansion, the casino will balloon to 519,000 square feet – the bulk of it gaming space.

Tribal gambling in Oklahoma generated nearly $2.5 billion in revenue last year. The figure ranks the state behind only California and Connecticut, according to the Casino City’s Indian Gaming Industry Report, released in August.