The Osage Nation could be reverting to Show Me State after a 200-year hiatus. In a press relinquish Friday, the tribe that gave its epithet to the Osage River announced its intention to build a casino resort hotel at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The Oklahoma-based Carry Nation said it would commit around $60 jillion towards the project, which it described as “one of the to the highest degree material economical development initiatives for the part inwards years.” It envisages the developing as a “new amusement district” that would include a hotel complex, restaurants, and “entertainment and more.”

This would live the only when cassino inward the popular regional tourer destination. Its closest competitors would live Isle of Capri Casino in Boonville, around 70 miles away, and the casinos of Kansas City and St Louis, all more than 160 miles away.

The tribe said the proposed gambling casino would live inward Henry Miller County, without elaborating on the precise location or whether it had already acquired earth for the project. Osage Beach is split between Henry Miller County and side by side(p) Camden County.

Historical Homelands

According to local public wireless broadcaster KCUR-FM, the Osage Nation has been reconnoitring for investments in the res publica since at least 2017. That’s when it hired former Missouri River House verbalizer Steve Tilley as a lobbyist and contributed to former Gov. Eric Greitens’ initiatory fund.

Back then, the tribe mentioned the Lake of the Ozark Mountains as a property of interest. But it appeared to be more focussed on the area around the city of Cuba.

The Carry Nation relieve has material hoops to jumping through. There are no tribal reservations in Missouri and no tribal casinos. The Carry Nation testament hold to have got put down for the developing taken into bank by the federal government, a physical process that tin can accept years to recreate out.

This is where the governing takes non-tribal terra firma and converts it into Amerind land, thereby part removing it from the jurisdiction of the state. The procedure makes cassino gaming lawfully possible under the federal Amerind Gaming Regulatory Act.

A tribe needs to show a historical connecter to the set ashore inwards question inwards its bank application, although this may follow the least of its worries. Osage River lands formerly encompassed most of Missouri, although it was forced to cede often of this to the United States inward a treaty in 1808.

Local Support?

The folk testament also want to unafraid funding from local communities, local officials, and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to grease the skids on its application.

Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said inward a financial statement the tribe had forged sound relationships with several communities inward the region. The tidings liberate also contained supportive quotes from several local lawmakers.

The tribe currently owns and operates septet casinos inward Oklahoma. Following a skimp inward southeast Kansas River inwards the mid-1800s, its members were relocated to Amerind Territory inwards Sooner State past an 1870 bit of Congress.

The breakthrough of oil color on those lands inwards the betimes 20^th century led to tribal members comme il faut extremely rich. But inwards 1921, the federal governing declared that the Osage River people were unequal to(p) of managing their own wealth.

Court-appointed white-hot guardians were assigned to each grownup member, and this attracted swindlers who defrauded and sometimes murdered their charges to steal their money.

This chapter of Osage River chronicle is the topic of an upcoming Martin Martin Scorsese movie, Killers of the Flower Moon.