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The leader of the Catawba Nation – chief Brian Harris – isn’t mincing words when he rails against a proposed casino development in Santee, South Carolina.
But is he really speaking for his tribe? Or is something else motivating his staunch opposition?
According to Harris, the impoverished, rural town of Santee – located on the southwest bank of Lake Marion – was where “the Catawba had planned (to develop a casino) since the mid-2000s.”
If anyone is going to build a casino at that location, Harris insists, it’s going to be his tribe.
“The Catawba Nation, despite being the only federally recognized Native American tribe in South Carolina, has for thirty years been prohibited from operating casino gaming on its lands, when now more than 240 tribes across the country are allowed to do so in their own home states to benefit economic development for their people, including in neighboring North Carolina,” Harris said recently. “We have renewed those efforts to reverse this injustice in the state and are in the process of working toward a fairer settlement agreement that would allow us to operate casino gaming and give our people more opportunity for economic development.”
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During testimony before a S.C. House ways and means subcommittee this week, Harris was more recalcitrant than ever in his opposition to the current proposal – which would build a 300,000- to 400,000-square-foot casino tethered to a 300- to 600-room luxury hotel and convention center on approximately forty acres near Interstate 95. Initial estimates suggest the facility – which is not seeking taxpayer subsidies – will create several thousand jobs and generating $8 billion in new economic activity over its first decade of operation.
Polling shows strong support for the casino – which is awaiting authorization from state lawmakers via the passage of H. 4176. That’s the bill Harris is trying to kill.
“We have an inherent right to game in our home state before anyone else,” the Catawba leader said this week.
Harris is especially livid over the involvement of Greenville, S.C. businessman Wallace Cheves in the Santee casino, claiming he is “trying to take advantage of the Catawba.” Cheves partnered with the Catawba to build the Two Kings casino resort in Kings Mountain, N.C. – but relations between him and the tribe have soured since Harris was elected.
While Harris purports to speak for the 3,300 enrolled members of the nation, even a cursory look at the debate over this facility reveals he does not.
Former Catawba assistant chief Jason Harris recently spoke with FITSNews about Brian Harris’ statements, offering a dramatically different perspective of the situation. According to Jason Harris, Cheves wanted to launch the Santee project as a collaborative development with the tribe – but as soon as Brian Harris was elected chief in 2023, “he started to move against Cheves.”
“He wanted him completely out of the agreement,” Jason Harris said.
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Jason Harris also disputed the chief’s contention that the Catawba were actively planning to develop a South Carolina facility independent of Cheves prior to the developer’s Santee proposal being announced earlier this year.
Several state leaders have confirmed those accounts, saying tribal leaders spoke with them and indicated they were “not even focusing on South Carolina.”
“We could have bought it,” Jason Harris said, referring to the Santee land. “The tribe has had the money since 2021.”
“The Santee project has been talked about since 2005,” Jason Harris continued. “The executive committee has worked on that project with Cheves since 2007. The Tribe has never independently looked at buying land in that area because we did not have the money until 2021 when we opened the casino in North Carolina. Ironically, if the Tribe did not have the relationship with Cheves we would not even be a gaming Tribe today. Regardless of whether you like the man or not, Cheves stayed committed to getting it done! It was a tremendous effort from all the people involved to make it become a reality while Brian Harris was living in Alabama and not involved with any of the efforts to bring economic development to our Tribe.”
As for the harsh invective coming from the chief during his recent testimony in opposition to the project, Jason Harris said that was all about him wanting to shut Cheves down – not wanting to do anything to actually benefit the tribe economically.
“They’re just trying to stop him at any turn – not do anything themselves,” he said. “If they want it that bad, why hasn’t the chief been working on it?”
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Jason Harris isn’t the only former tribal leader speaking out against the current chief. Dwayne Rogers is a former member of the tribe’s executive council who has no love lost for Harris.
“I’m sorry, I don’t refer to him as chief, I just don’t,” Rogers told us.
According to Rogers, he and other members of the tribe don’t trust the current chief’s motivations as it relates to the battle over the casino.
“I don’t really object to the casino going in South Carolina – but as long as Brian’s in office I think me and a vast majority of tribal citizens are in fear of how Brian is going to handle it,” he said. “Obviously we want success, we want to flourish – but it worries me about the leadership and how they may go about doing it. Is it for the tribe? Or is it for personal gain?”
Rogers said the high-dollar, high-profile nature of such projects often invites corruption – especially among those raised in depravation.
“You can’t take poverty-stricken people and give them power like this and put them behind the wheel of a money-making machine and expect them to do the right thing,” he said. “I’m really, really concerned about the morals and ethics of the leadership and where their loyalties lie.”
Rogers made clear he was by no means impugning tribal leaders ability to govern – or manage Catawba finances – but that “without a good moral and ethical foundation” there were concerns over a small handful of people “having that much power and money at their disposal.”
Speaking of corruption allegations, FITSNews has received multiple reports related to specific “irregularities” involving the Catawba Nation. Count on us to fully investigate those allegations as we continue to track the latest developments on the casino bill.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
This article doesn’t even touch on the violations Cheves received with the NIGC which said he was not fit to game and the contract with the Catawba’s was unfavorable and he was taking advantage of them. The former two interviewed for this article were part of that negotiation. I think you should do more research before publishing a one sided article.
Come to Catawba Indian Nation and speak with the people to get their side of the story. There’s been conflict with Cheves contracts that the Indian Gaming put a stop to this awful contracts Bill Harris, Jason Harris signed that was devastating to the Great Catawba Nation.
So I’m wondering why they are speaking for our tribe and majority doesn’t support chief is incorrect bc he had to win by majority vote don’t believe everything people say or write #supportschiefHarris
The current Chief is the only chief that looks out for all Catawba, not just a select few. The tribe is poverty-stricken because of some of the previous tribal leaders lining their own pockets. You can’t take poverty-stricken people that are greedy, without any morals and give them power because they will steal from their own tribe. Do you think maybe the two Catawbas in this article liked working with Cheves for a reason? Maybe go back and talk to them about that!
So we have some tribespeople that would rather have a 100% of nothing than a secured future for their heirs. This is how poor people stay poor.