KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? An American Indian tribe will remove slot machines from a temporary casino in the city’s downtown area, authorities said Tuesday.

In early April, the Wyandotte Tribe of Oklahoma moved 200 slot machines into the former Masonic lodge building that it owns, located across the street from City Hall.

Since buying the old lodge building in 1996, the tribe has been seeking authority to use it as a casino. In March the tribe appeared to win when the U.S. Interior Department took the land and building into trust as formal American Indian lands to qualify for gambling use under a 1988 federal law.

But Gov. Bill Graves and the state’s four indigenous tribes, which operate casinos, have sued the Interior Department to overturn that ruling.

U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren announced Tuesday that the tribe is removing the electronic gaming devices.

Graves has refused to deal with the tribe, saying that it has no legal land claims in Kansas that have ever survived court challenges.

Sen. Sam Brownback said he was pleased that the tribe was removing the machines.

“From the beginning, the Wyandotte Tribe has acted in bad faith,” Brownback said Tuesday in a statement. “They sought to circumvent local and state authorities in order to bring about an outcome that neither Wyandotte County nor the governor supported.”

Chief Leaford Bearskin of the Wyandotte Tribe was not immediately available for comment.

Tribal officials previously had acknowledged that the threat of gambling at the Masonic lodge site was a bargaining chip to win concessions in Topeka, in hopes of starting a casino at the Woodlands pari-mutuel racing track or elsewhere in the county.