Tucked away in the Jemez Mountains on N.M. 4 is the Jemez Pueblo, or Walatowa.

It is far away from the city lights of Santa Fe and the hustle and bustle of Albuquerque. That's what furnishes the pueblo its special character and culture. That's what also creates hardship when it comes to economic development.

Other tribes across the state of New Mexico are reaping tremendous economic benefits from gaming — but not Jemez. Its distance from I-25 and I-40 basically shuts it off from having a successful gaming operation.

Several years ago, tribal leaders developed a strategy, using a section of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, for an off-reservation casino in Anthony, N.M. This small Hispanic town along the Texas border is near I-10, with heavy traffic from El Paso, Las Cruces and not far from Juárez.

I've seen several news stories that basically try to convey that "Indian tribes throughout New Mexico oppose the Jemez Pueblo's planned off-reservation casino." In one sense, this is true. These stories are based mainly on the fact that the New Mexico Indian Gaming Association has come out in opposition to the Jemez plans.

But Jemez tribal leaders point out that the association does not represent all tribes in the state on this matter. In fact, they showed me letters of support from eight pueblos, including several gaming tribes. They list four pueblos as being neutral on the issue, leaving six that have come out in opposition, as well as the Mescalero Apache, who have the most to lose if the Jemez plans go through.

In a letter from November, 2005, signed by the chairman and vice-chairman of NMIGA, it states "Any proposal that provides for off-reservation gaming by non-tribal entities will open the floodgates for the rapid proliferation of gaming; creating an increase in 'off-reservation shopping' for gaming facilities ... any off-reservation gaming proposal would establish a reckless precedent for IGRA ... and contradicts the intent of this federal law."

However, IGRA contains a particular section specifically devoted to off-reservation casinos that requires a tribe to obtain a "two-part determination" from the secretary of interior who determines whether the gaming operation is in the "best interest of the tribe and its members and not detrimental to the surrounding community."

From the reports I've seen, the people of Anthony are behind this project, including the mayor and the Chamber of Commerce. The majority of pueblos here in the state are in support. As far as being in the best interest of Walatowa, all one has to do is drive through the pueblo and you can't help but notice the need for housing and other basic infrastructure, including new sewer lines. Any revenue imported into the community will help.

What about jobs? On Jan. 3, 2008, there was a memorandum issued by then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, a Bush appointee. It basically stated that off-reservation casinos located too far from the reservation "would not directly improve the employment rate of tribal members living on the reservation." The next day, presumably because Anthony is nearly 300 miles from Jemez, the Interior Department rejected the Jemez casino and hotel plans without even notifying the tribe.

Last month, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echohawk rescinded Secretary Kempthorne's 2008 memo, opening the door once again for Jemez to pursue its gaming plans. Echohawk confirmed that the Interior Department "will move forward to process pending off-reservation gaming applications pursuant to current federal law."

Kevin Washburn, dean of the UNM School of Law and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, testified to Congress in 2008 about off-reservation gaming: "For Indian tribes, off-reservation gaming operations are in some ways better than on-reservation gaming operations and should be encouraged."

Let's put it this way: If my tribe (Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma) could build a casino right outside of Chicago, a city that we named and where we used to live, I'd be all for it.

Harlan McKosato, a Sauk/Ioway, is host of the syndicated radio show Native America Calling, which airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on KUNM, 89.9 FM.