QUAPAW, Oklahoma — The Quapaw Tribe has acquired additional property in southeastern Kansas along the Oklahoma border after gaining approval from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Joplin Globe reports that the tribe has obtained 211 acres of Cherokee County grassland stretching north of its Downstream Casino Resort in Quapaw, Oklahoma. The land is now part of the federal Quapaw Tribal Trust, giving the tribe governing authority over the land.
The tribe faced opposition from Kansas officials over concerns the land would be used for gambling.
John Berrey is chairman of the Quapaw Tribal Business Committee. Berrey says the tribe will use the land for agriculture and has no plans to expand its gambling operation.
Berrey says the property acquisition brings more land that used to be part of the tribe’s reservation back under its ownership.
