After 32 years of asking, the Shinnecock tribe has finally received formal recognition from the federal government. The Shinnecock tribe knew they existed, as evidenced by their 1,292 members living on an 800-acre reservation in Southampton, New York, but it took 32 years for the government to come to that realization, it seems.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Indian Affairs formally recognized the Shinnecocks as a Native American tribe. Along with the symbolic nature of that designation and the feeling of finally having their existence verified, the Shinnecocks are now allowed to open a casino in on their reservation.

Seeking the ability to open a casino was one of the reasons that the tribe petitioned the government for recognition in the first place. Though living among the wealthy and famous in the Hamptons, the Shinnecock tribe is an impoverished one. Opening a casino can lead to a drastic improvement in the economic status of the tribe; just ask the Seminole.

There is a slight problem, though, and that is that the Shinnecocks don’t want their casino to actually be located on their reservation. The Hamptons are full of rich people and are flooded with tourists every summer. A casino in the area would face stiff competition from basically everything else that the Hamptons offer. For that reason, the tribe wants their casino located elsewhere, preferably in New York City or in its suburbs. Such a move is possible, though it is complicated by federal law and politics.

By the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, federal recognition automatically entitles a tribe to a Class II casino that can carry slot machines but no table games. To have a Class III casino, which can have table games, the tribe would need to make a deal with the state in which it’s located, with the state getting a share of the revenue. The Shinnecock tribe is interested in a Class III casino off of their reservation, which would require a deal with the state legislature that would be signed by the governor and permission from the federal government.

New York Governor David Patterson supported recognition of the tribe and said that he wants to “explore with them ways in which they might be able to partner with us and bring revenues into the state.”

Even with a deal with the state in place, there is no guarantee that the federal government will allow the tribe to open a casino outside of their reservation. In addition, any proposed casino will likely be opposed by unions and lobbies for casinos in nearby markets. For example, approximately 20% of the customers in Atlantic City casinos come from New York City. More than 30% of the customers of Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut are New Yorkers. Those establishments are not going to love the idea of a tribal casino in New York City.

What will happen next is anybody’s guess. The Shinnecocks want a casino, but not on their reservation in the Hamptons. The people of the Hamptons don’t want a casino there. There are mixed feelings about an off-reservation casino in New York City. The Shinnecocks have already lobbied Congress for such a casino, with no decision being made.

Don’t expect anything to happen soon. It takes 30 days after this formal recognition for the tribe to be official. Also, though the fight for recognition began in 1978, the tribe didn’t make any progress until they sued the Interior Department in 2006. Suddenly, it became more difficult to ignore them.

The Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians want in on the online casino industry. Already operating the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, the tribe has seen a decline in business during the recession. In an effort to increase revenue, the tribe has teamed with California card clubs to petition the government for a license to operate online casinos in the state. It is an interesting move in that it is a partnership of groups normally thought of as rivals. The Morongo Casino Resort considers the California card clubs competition. In the same way, the card clubs and the tribal casino generally view online casinos as competition. However, both have taken a hit due to the recession and believe that American customers are being lost to overseas online casinos. The two groups are seeking to reclaim some of those lost customers.

As the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is being attacked in both houses of Congress, with separate bills seeking to repeal it, the Morongo Band and the California card clubs are challenging the ban at a state level. The Morongo’s challenge is particularly interesting because their reservation isn’t technically under the jurisdiction of the state of California or the United States of America.

George Forman, a lawyer for the Morongo Band, is leading the one-two punch with the help of tribal council member Damon Sandoval. Forman’s argument for tribal-run online casinos is that “there is nothing in federal law that prohibits a tribe from participating in state-authorized gaming outside the tribe’s Indian lands.”

The Morongo Band has formed a group called the California Tribal Intrastate Internet Poker Consortium LLC, which is drafting a bill for presentation to the state Congress. As you may imagine, not everyone thinks this is a wonderful idea. The California Tribal Business Alliance rejects the proposal and believes it will lead to a rash of non-Indian online casinos operating in the state. Cheryl Schmidt, spokesperson for Stand Up California, a nonprofit group that opposes an expansion of gambling in the state, claims that “the operation of an online poker site off Indian land also holds potential to be in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.” In other words, she wants the Native Americans to stay on the reservation.

Maybe that was too harsh. Schmidt does have a point. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act does restrict Class III gaming, which includes casino-type games poker, blackjack, slots and more. The Act states that Class III gaming must be “located in a state that permits such gaming for any purpose by any person, organization or entity.” Therefore, since the UIGEA prohibits online casinos in California as well as the rest of the country, an online casino in California run by the Morongo Band would not be allowed. The interesting question, though, is if a tribe does operate an online casino without the permission of the government, by whose authority could the ban be enforced? If the online casino is operated on the reservation, it is not under the jurisdiction of any city, county, state or federal law enforcement agency. It’s a convoluted legal argument to be sure, one in which government officials can expect to be grilled by George Forman.