After almost a four-year wait and northern Washington’s Nooksack Indian Tribe is reportedly once again authorized to offer Las Vegas-style casino games after successfully renegotiating the terms of its gaming compact with the state.

Troubled times:

According to a Thursday report from The Bellingham Herald newspaper, the federally-recognized tribe had once operated a pair of aboriginal casinos encompassing its Nooksack River Casino and smaller Nooksack Northwood Casino. The former venue was purportedly authorized to offer games including blackjack, poker, craps and roulette but was shuttered in 2015 due to financial difficulties leaving its nearby compatriot with only Class II entertainments such as bingo.

Agreed adjustment:

However, the Nooksack Indian Tribe reportedly revised the terms of its 1991 gaming compact in March and intends to begin offering a more lucrative range of Class III games at its Nooksack Northwood Casino facility from later today. This Whatcom County venue is located less than a mile from the United States’ international border with Canada and was purportedly temporarily closed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2017 for violations of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Supplementary support:

The Bellingham Herald reported that the Nooksack Northwood Casino sits just north of the small Washington city of Lynden and will now additionally be required to hand over 0.07% of its net annual win in order to assist with the funding of programs and campaigns designed to counter problem gambling.

Regular review:

Finally, the Bureau of Indian Affairs noted in an official April announcement that the Nooksack Indian Tribe’s new deal represented the seventh such revision of its gaming compact with the state and authorizes it to run ‘Class III gaming activities on Indian lands.’

Read the update from the Bureau of Indian Affairs…

“The amendment authorizes Class III gaming at two facilities to be located on tribal lands, requires the tribe to initiate a problem gambling program, updates the tribe’s community contributions, updates the application of state law consistent with the compact and provides for review and renegotiation of the compact on a regular basis.”