Temporary North Carolina casino from the Catawba Indian Nation

Catawba Indian Nation has opened a temporary casino as it continues work on its more permanent Catawbas Two Kings Casino Resort. The tribe agreed a revenue-sharing gaming compact with the state of North Carolina in January. It is planned to open the first phase of the $273 million facility next year.

Catawba Indian Nation inaugurated a temporary gambling operation on the same site with around 500 slots on Thursday morning. Chief Bill Harris said it represents a prosperous future and renewed kinship between the Catawbas and the communities that occupy their ancestral lands.

The future of the Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort in North Carolina is in doubt. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians filed a lawsuit last year. They claim that the tribe's traditional territory is 34 miles away in the gambling-hostile state of South Carolina.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians lost the first round of the legal challenge in April. The tribe has appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.