12:29 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 5, 2004

By The Associated Press

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Catawba Indian Nation is filing a lawsuit, asking a federal judge to affirm the tribe's right to operate video gambling on its York County reservation.

The suit also seeks to prevent local law enforcement officers from trying to seize video poker machines.

The tribe wants to build a hall for electronic, high-stakes bingo in Santee. However, that plan has met with opposition in the Legislature.

While the tribe would prefer the Santee operation, an attorney for the Catawbas says the tribe wants the courts to reaffirm its right to operate video gambling on its reservation.

Tribal leaders say allowing video gambling on the reservation was part of a land claim settlement made with the government a decade ago.