TAHLEQUAH — A decade ago, if Oklahomans wanted to try their hand at casino-style gambling, they headed to Tunica, Miss., or the more exotic longtime establishments in Las Vegas.

Today, if people can’t find a place to patronize gaming machines in their town, they can do so within an easy drive.

Tahlequah has two casinos: one operated by Cherokee Nation Entertainment, a division of Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma; and the Keetoowah Cherokee Casino, operated by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. Both offer a variety of gaming machines and other diversions such as card games.

The growth of tribal gaming in Oklahoma, which is home to 39 federally-recognized American Indian tribes, has been phenomenal.

The Cherokee Nation operates the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, plus seven other casinos distributed through its 14-county jurisdiction. The UKB operates the Tahlequah casino. People wanting to visit a casino operated by the Muscogee Creek nation need drive only as far as the south end of Muskogee. Besides two Muskogee casinos, the Creek Nation has eight others within its jurisdictional boundaries.

Recently the Kialegee Tribal Town, whose members are also Muscogee Creek citizens, has provoked controversy with its plans to construct a new casino in Broken Arrow. That city’s residents have objected strongly to a casino in their neighborhood, but the Kialegees have moved in temporary buildings. They plan to erect a permanent structure.

People have begun to ask questions about tribal sovereignty and the operation of tribal casinos. Many have wondered when Oklahoma will become too saturated with casinos and they will no longer be as profitable. Others, including a number of tribal members themselves, worry about the societal aspects of having so many casinos — people becoming addicted to gambling, a possible rise in crime related to casinos, and the moral aspects of gaming.

Although some tribes began opening casinos earlier, tribal gaming received its official state sanction in 2004. The Oklahoma Legislature referred the issue to a public vote, and citizens approved it in November of that year. SQ 712 established a model tribal gaming compact for federally-recognized tribes. It allowed tribes to operate electronic bonanza-style bingo games, electronic amusement games, electronic instant bingo games and nonhouse-banked card games.

The law did not affect the authority of the National Indian Gaming Commission, which retains the authority to make sure tribal gaming operates in compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Nationally, tribal gaming had its genesis in 1987 when the U.S. Supreme Court, in a case involving California and the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, determined tribal governments could establish gaming independent of state operation. Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988.

Before tribal casinos appeared on the horizon, many tribes operated bingo parlors. The current Keetoowah Cherokee Casino began in this manner, as did the Muscogee Creek casino in Muskogee. The UKB opened its bingo hall in May of 1986.

“Like most casino establishments in Oklahoma, it gradually switched over from bingo to pull tabs to electronic machines,” said Rob Fourkiller, casino general manager. “A lot of our old documents just have ‘Keetoowah bingo’ on them.”

The Creeks also made the switchover after being pioneers in tribal bingo, said Edwin Marshall, Muscogee Creek Nation chief of staff.

“We were the very first in the United States,” he said of the Muscogee Creek bingo operation. “We fought the battle to the Supreme Court for the right to operate bingo halls and we won.”

He said this set a precedent for other tribes and their expansion into casino-style gaming.

Marshall said the Muscogee Creek Nation began its bingo operation in 1984 in Tulsa, after successful resolution of the Oklahoma Tax Commission vs. Muscogee Creek Nation lawsuit. A subsequent case, Muscogee (Creek) Nation vs. Indian Country USA, established the tribe’s right to gaming enterprises. These evolved into today’s casinos.

The Cherokee Nation opened its first casino in Roland in 1992. The Fort Gibson casino began with gaming machines in what was then a tribally-owned convenience store, and expanded to portable buildings. Construction of a permanent casino is under way.

David Stewart, chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Businesses, believes the casinos have benefitted the tribal entities and the communities in which casinos are located.

“We pride ourselves on being great community partners, providing jobs, spurring economic development and collaborating closely with communities. Evidence of our great community partnerships can be seen in any community we do business,” he said.

More than 7.2 million visits were made to Cherokee Nation-owned casinos last year.

The number of tribal casinos in Oklahoma has grown drastically, said Derek Campbell, head of the gaming division of the Oklahoma Office of State Finance.

“Currently, there are 92 casinos operating games under the compact, and 34 tribes have compacted,” he said. “The first compact was actually approved and became effective Jan. 1, 2005.”

He said the casinos can operate as long as the tribe has a compact and land approved for gaming by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“They report to us on a monthly basis and calculate the fees that are due, and those are paid monthly,” Campbell said.

The tribal casinos are subject to annual audits, he said. Spot checks are performed to ensure their accuracy.

He said the 92 casinos involve a wide variety of operations.

“There are everything from tribal plazas with very few machines to places like the Hard Rock Casino — anything from gas stations to resorts,” Campbell said.

Many tribes choose to operate casinos in towns bordering states that do not have casinos, or have no casinos near the borders.

Arkansans can drive immediately across the border to the Cherokee Nation’s West Siloam Springs casino, or only a few miles to Roland.

Missouri allows only so-called riverboat casinos. These operations are concentrated along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Many southwest Missouri residents make trips to Ottawa County, where small tribes operate nine casinos in or near the city, with others in northeastern Oklahoma catering to Missouri and Kansas gamblers.

According to the 500 Nations Indian Casinos SuperSite, nearly 500 Indian casinos and bingo halls are operated in 28 states by 233 of the nation’s 562 tribes.