- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Gaming
The Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska held a soft opening this week for Two Coppers Casino on North Douglas Island, advancing a project that received federal authorization last year to operate Class II gaming on the site.
In a statement, Tlingit and Haida President Richard J. Peterson said the project would create economic development opportunities for the tribe.
“For Tlingit and Haida, this enterprise represents opportunity,” Peterson said. “Opportunity for jobs. Opportunity for career advancement. Opportunity for tribal citizens and residents seeking meaningful employment. Opportunity to generate revenues that can support services, programs, and investments that strengthen our communities for generations to come.”
However, even as it opens its doors, Two Coppers faces a shifting legal landscape. In September 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior withdrew a 2024 solicitor’s opinion that had recognized tribal jurisdiction over Alaska Native allotments.
That opinion formed the basis for the National Indian Gaming Commission’s approval of Tlingit and Haida’s amended gaming ordinance, which designated the 20-acre Jimmie George allotment as eligible for a gaming facility. The withdrawal requires the NIGC to reevaluate that approval, creating uncertainty for both the Douglas Island project and the Native Village of Eklutna’s Chin’an Gaming Hall near Anchorage that opened in Jan. 2025.
The 2024 opinion had replaced a 1993 interpretation that limited tribal authority on allotments. Its reversal strengthens the state’s position in ongoing litigation challenging Eklutna’s facility and could influence how federal agencies treat Tlingit and Haida’s ordinance going forward. The NIGC has not announced how it will address the change.
Two Coppers Casino is the second tribally operated Class II venue to open in Alaska. The soft opening brought invited guests, partners and members of the George family to the allotment at 2270 Fish Creek Road, according to the tribe’s press release. The facility opened with approximately 100 electronic gaming machines and will operate with limited hours until a planned July 1 grand opening.
