CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — The Catawba Indian Nation is breaking ground on a casino that’s just 50 miles away from it’s reservation in York County.
But first, take a look back at the Catawba’s journey to build a casino in the Carolinas.
It dates back to 2012, when the project was first proposed by the Catawba’s in York County. Back then, the Catawba Indian Nation sued the state of South Carolina for the right to gamble on its reservation.
In 2013, a judge ruled against the proposed casino. That’s when the Catawba’s decided to take their project up north to Kings Mountain in Cleveland Co, N.C. The department of interior set aside land along the I-85 corridor in the county into a trust for the Catawba Indian Nation, but the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians called that a modern day land grab, and they sued the federal government over the land.
Some of that litigation is still ongoing, but it’s not stopping the Catawba Indian Nation from moving forward.
In the video above, CN2’s Indira Eskieva takes us to the groundbreaking of the multi-million dollar facility that is predicted to impact regions across the Carolinas, including York County.
