Pojoaque Pueblo folds in years-long gaming compact battle with New Mexico

After years of fighting, leaders of the Pojoaque Pueblo tribe has relented to a new gambling compact with the state of New Mexico.

The tribe has been locked in a disagreement with Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration ever since its old gambling compact for its casinos located north of Santa Fe expired in June 2015. This prompted the Pojoaque Pueblo to turn to the U.S. Interior Department for a new compact, but the state government challenged that move in a separate lawsuit.

Pojoaque Pueblo accused the Martinez administration of wanting “unreasonably large share” of the tribe’s gambling revenue, but the state government said it only wants the tribe to accept the same arrangement that other tribes have adopted.

The ensuing legal fight ended in a loss for Pojoaque Pueblo with the appeals court ruling against the tribe in April, leaving the pueblo with few options.