New White Earth Leader Slams Brakes on $177 Million Minnesota Casino Plan

• New secretary-treasurer Jacob McArthur says the tribe should pause the Moorhead casino project until key financial and community questions are answered
• The proposed development would include a casino, hotel, RV park and entertainment complex projected to create 700 jobs
• McArthur fears the new venue could cannibalize business from White Earth’s existing casinos in Mahnomen and Bagley

A planned $177 million casino complex near the Minnesota-North Dakota border has been thrown into jeopardy following a White Earth Nation tribal election that put a vocal critic of the project into power.

Jacob McArthur, who beat incumbent Michael LaRoque in the White Earth Reservation secretary-treasurer race on June 9, told The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead he is against moving the casino forward.

That’s not because he has ruled it out permanently, but because he believes members have not been given enough information to judge whether it is in the band’s long-term interests.

“At this time, I’m going to pump the brakes on this thing. I’m not going to enter into any financial agreement on behalf of the tribe to get this thing moving. It’s going to come to a pause until we can answer some of these big questions,” he told The Forum.

The secretary-treasurer is the tribe’s second-highest elected official behind Chairman Michael Fairbanks, who was not up for reelection and has publicly supported the project.

Economic Case

White Earth has been exploring a casino and entertainment complex on land east of Moorhead. The band bought a parcel of land in Clay County in late 2024 for about $3.9 million.

A recent economic and social impact study proposed a casino with 950 gaming machines and 10 table games, along with a 200-room hotel, ballroom and meeting space, restaurants, bars, a gift shop, parking for more than 1,000 vehicles, and a 50-pad RV park.

The study estimated construction costs at $176.8 million and projected about 391 full-time-equivalent construction jobs and, once open, around 600 full-time and 100 part-time jobs.

The study also forecast that the venue would pull more than 1.1 million annual visitors and put the annual economic impact for Clay County at around $174 million.

But McArthur is concerned that a casino aimed at the Fargo-Moorhead market would pull business from White Earth’s existing gaming operations. The band already operates Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, on its reservation, and a smaller Shooting Star Casino in Bagley.

McArthur told The Forum that tribal members raised the issue repeatedly during his campaign. He said the revenue projections appeared strong, but he wanted to know whether any gains in Moorhead would come at the cost of jobs or activity at Mahnomen and Bagley.

He also questioned whether the 700 projected permanent jobs would meaningfully benefit White Earth members.

“Seven hundred jobs sounds great, but it’s meaningless to me if the majority aren’t going to my people,” he told The Forum.

No Done Deal

Because the Moorhead site is not reservation land, White Earth would need to have the property placed into federal trust before casino gaming could occur there.

The proposal has also generated opposition from some local residents and officials, who have raised concerns about issues including public services, infrastructure, and transparency.

McArthur told The Forum those concerns should be taken seriously, saying the tribe should strive to be a good neighbor.