The Chin’an Gaming Hall has added space, machines and jobs, but its growth comes while Alaska tribal gaming remains caught in legal and federal-policy fights.
The Native Village of Eklutna’s Chin’an Gaming Hall has expanded less than two years after opening, adding space, jobs and new gaming machines on Eklutna land near Anchorage.
The expansion adds nearly 5,000 square feet to the gaming hall, along with 89 new gaming machines, a food truck, covered heated patio seating and 38 new employees, according to Alaska Business. The additions more than double the gaming hall’s workforce.
It is a business story. It is also a sovereignty story.
The gaming hall sits on Native allotment land within the ancestral homelands of the Native Village of Eklutna. The facility is operated by the Native Village of Eklutna and is described by Chin’an Gaming Hall as the first Class II gaming facility in Southcentral Alaska.
The temporary facility opened fully to the public on 3 February 2025. The Tribe has said it hopes to begin construction on a permanent facility.
For the Native Village of Eklutna, the purpose is not only gambling revenue. Its official economic development materials say revenue from the project is intended to support housing, employment, job training, scholarships, cultural programmes, healthcare services and a Gathering Center.
That is what makes the story larger than one building.
Native business development is often discussed as if it is simply private enterprise. For Native Nations, it can also be a way to fund public life after generations of land loss, restricted economic power and outside control. Revenue can mean staff, services, language work, youth programmes, elder support and the basic tools of self-government.
The word Chin’an means “thank you” in the Dena’ina Athabascan language, according to the gaming hall’s website.
That language matters because the facility is operating in Dena’ina country, not on blank commercial land. The Native Village of Eklutna identifies itself as Idlughet Qayeht’ana, Eklutna Village Dena’ina. Its mission statement says it works to promote the history, culture and identity of its sovereign nation and to assist in the education and well-being of its people.
The Anchorage area sits within Dena’ina Ełnena, the homeland of the Dena’ina people. Long before Anchorage became a city, Dena’ina people lived, fished, hunted, gathered and travelled across the lands and waters of Upper Cook Inlet. Eklutna is one of the oldest Native villages in the Anchorage area.
That older history is important because current business debates often begin too late. They start with permits, lawsuits or machines. Native people usually have to begin the story much earlier: with land, survival, federal policy, state power and the long effort to keep authority inside the community.
The Chin’an Gaming Hall is growing at the same time that Alaska tribal gaming remains under pressure.
Alaska’s News Source reported in May that the facility had expanded while still facing legal questions. Earlier reporting from Alaska Public Media and KNBA said a federal Interior Department reversal in 2025 cast uncertainty over tribal jurisdiction involving Alaska Native allotments and threatened gaming projects, including Eklutna’s.
The dispute reaches into a long-running question in Alaska: how much authority federally recognised Native Nations can exercise on Native land in a state where the usual reservation structure found in much of the Lower 48 is limited.
For Eklutna, the practical stakes are immediate. If the gaming hall continues to grow, it can create jobs, draw customers, support local services and generate revenue under Native control. If legal or federal policy changes restrict that authority, the effect could reach beyond one business.
That is why the expansion matters.
It shows a Native Nation building an economy from its own land base and trying to turn revenue into community benefit. It also shows how fragile that work can become when state and federal systems continue to contest Native authority.
The gaming hall is open. The expansion is real. The jobs are real. The legal pressure is also real.
For Native Times, the important point is not whether gaming is fashionable or controversial. The important point is who has the power to build, regulate and benefit from economic life on Native land.
Sources
Alaska Business — Chin’an Gaming Hall Expansion Adds Food, Games: https://www.akbizmag.com/industry/alaska-native/chinan-gaming-hall-expansion-adds-food-games/
Alaska’s News Source — Anchorage Gaming Hall on Eklutna Land Expands, While Still Facing Legal Questions: https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/05/16/anchorage-gaming-hall-eklutna-land-expands-while-still-facing-legal-questions/
Native Village of Eklutna — Economic Development: https://eklutna-nsn.gov/economic-development/
Chin’an Gaming Hall — Home: https://chinancasino.com/
Native Village of Eklutna — Mission Statement: https://eklutna-nsn.gov/
Alaska Public Media / KNBA — Interior Dept. Revokes Alaska Tribal Jurisdiction Over Native Land, Threatens Eklutna Tribe Casino: https://www.knba.org/news/2025-09-30/interior-dept-revokes-alaska-tribal-jurisdiction-over-native-land-threatens-eklutna-tribe-casino
Eklutna, Inc. — Discover Eklutna and Dena’ina Heritage in Anchorage: https://www.eklutnainc.com/culture/
