Last things first, yes, tribal casinos are a huge industry unto themselves, so much so that the American Gaming Association, which long had taken a standoffish stance toward Native American casinos, allied itself with the National Indian Gaming Association this year. In fiscal year 2015, tribal gaming brought in $29.9 billion. During the same period, Las Vegas casinos grossed $5.8 billion and Atlantic City casinos brought in $2.6 billion. Heck, even Macao – the world's gambling capital – grossed less than the tribal sector – generating revenues of $28.9 billion in calendar year 2015.
Also, Southern Nevada does have one full-service Native American casino … but it's in Laughlin. It's Avi Resort & Casino, owned and operated by the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe. It has 1,100 slot machines, 27 table games, bingo, keno and poker. It also has eight eateries and a 452-room hotel. If seven slot machines says "casino" to you, then there is a tribal casino in Las Vegas: the slot route in the Snow Mountain Smoke Shop at 11525 Nu Wav Kaiv Boulevard. It's near the foothills of Mount Charleston, between I-95 and the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort.
According the University of Nevada-Las Vegas history professor Michael Green, although the Anansazi Indians (who once populated the area) have become extinct, the Southern Paiutes have a claim on the area that's just as venerable. "There are Paiutes throughout the southwest, but the Las Vegans would be considered indigenous to the area," he opines.
However, that in itself is not enough to build a tribal casino in Las Vegas. The federal government requires that the tribe in question demonstrate an ancestral connection to the affected land (which the tribe would have to buy just like anyone else) and have been recognized by the government at the time of the Indian Recognition Act, passed in 1934. At present, the Justice Department and Interior Department are trying to persuade the federal court system that a tribe need merely have been under Washington's jurisdiction, even if unrecognized as a tribe, to qualify to have land taken into federal trust, an absolute precondition for building a casino. The land-into-trust process can drag on for years and its outcome is not a certainty.
Even if the Southern Paiutes met all those prerequisites, they would have to have a substantial bankroll or (more likely) a well-heeled benefactor in the private sector. For instance, Penn National Gaming is paying the bill, for the time being, to construct Hollywood Casino Jamul, near San Diego. If all goes according to standard industry practice, Penn will run the casino for a time, collect a share of the proceeds and a management fee, and eventually be repaid by the tribe for the construction cost, unless Penn can find a lender to take over the note for the construction bill.
As for the Southern Paiutes, their current reservation is so far from downtown Las Vegas, let alone the Strip, that there's no point in trying to build a casino on it. And, for the time being, the Paiutes – who weren't answering their telephone and whose voice mail was full -- seem to be content with their seven slot machines rather than trying to elbow their way into the high-cost Vegas market.
