Idaho: Decision nears as tribes spar over who should get casino 45 minutes from Boise

Monday, June 10, 2024 4:00 PM
  • Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman

Two Native American tribal groups are at odds over plans for a casino about 40 miles southeast of Boise.

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, based at the Fort Hall Reservation near Pocatello, bought land in Elmore County in 2020 to develop a gaming enterprise. The 154.5-acre parcel is southeast of Mountain Home and just west of Interstate 84, according to the Elmore County Assessor’s Office.

It would be the tribes’ fourth casino; the Shoshone-Bannock have two casinos on their eastern Idaho reservation and one close by in Pocatello. But they’re not the only tribes who want to build a casino in Mountain Home. The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, of the Duck Valley Reservation on the Idaho-Nevada state line, are urging Idaho Gov. Brad Little and the Biden administration to reject the Sho-Bans’ proposal. Brian Mason, tribal chairman of the Sho-Pai, said the casino would be built on his tribes’ ancestral territory.