Tribal Leaders Issue Sharp Rebuke of DOI Casino Approvals

^{US Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland has held out the Biden Administration as being a “Champion for Indian Country,” but smaller tribal casinos feeling squeezed out by last-minute White House decisions strongly disagree with that assessment.  (Image: Shawn Thew / Alamy Live)}

Native American tribes in both California and Oregon issued heated statements on Friday following the Department of the Interior’s decision to issue off-reservation casino approvals in both states.

The tribes accused the Biden Administration of pushing through questionable approvals of these projects in President Joe Biden’s final weeks in office in an effort to limit public comment or criticism.

DOI Approves First Off-Reservation Casino in Oregon

On Friday, the US Department of Interior (DOI) signed a Record of Decision to approve an off-reservations casino for the Coquille Indian Tribe. The casino would be located in the city of Medford, Oregon, about 170 miles away from the Coquille’s North Bend reservation. It marks the first time that an off-reservation casino has been approved in Oregon.

“Today the Biden Administration sent a clear message: it stands with Indian Country and intends to honor its commitments to tribal sovereignty,” Brenda Meade, chair of the Coquille Tribe, said. “Waiting almost 13 years for an environmental review process to evaluate two acres was a ridiculous weaponization of the federal National Environmental Policy Act process.”

However, other tribes saw the situation very differently. In a statement from the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, the Karuk Tribe, and the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, tribal leaders said that the last-minute move by the Biden Administration was a sign that the casino should never have been approved. 

“Secretary [of the Interior Deb] Haaland is following in the steps of the Obama BIA [Bureau of Indian Affairs], issuing a decision that, were it legitimate, would have been approved long ago and in the light of day, not the 11^th hour before leaving office,” Carla Keene, chair of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, said in a statement. “Allowing a Tribe to claim ties to lands outside their ancestral territory falsely harms all Tribes.”

The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua tribe owns and operates the Seven Feathers Casino Resort in southwestern Oregon. The Karuk tribe runs the Rain Rock casino in Yreka, California. 

These tribes and others contend that allowing the Coquille to open a new casino in Medford would harm the smaller casinos on their tribal lands, which rely on gaming revenues to support medical and education needs on their reservations.

The tribes have filed a request in US District Court to issue a temporary restraining order to combat the approval.

“Engaging the courts is not preferred, but we cannot stand passively and allow this decision to stand uncontested given the harm it will cause across Indian Country in our progress toward the full restoration of our rights as sovereign nations – which is directly tied to our ancestral homelands,” Keene said in the statement.

The statement notes that the Obama Administration issued similar approvals, which were then reversed by the Trump Administration due to a “flawed review process” before the Biden Administration withdrew the reversal and moved forward with the approval process.

Similar Casino Land Disputes in California

The criticism wasn’t limited to Oregon. In California, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and fellow Patwin Tribes blasted the DOI’s decision to approve the Scotts Valley Casino Project, a large casino being built by the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians in Vallejo, more than 100 miles away from their reservation. 

“It is difficult to believe that a group of politicians who claim to care about respecting tribal rights and sovereignty would give away historic Patwin homelands without ever consulting us,” Yocha Dehe Chairman Anthony Roberts said in a statement. “We were excited and hopeful when Secretary Haaland was appointed but her legacy is irreparably tarnished by this shameful, illegal decision.”

Both statements cite a public comment period that spanned over Christmas and other holidays, along with a lack of a “significant historical connection” to these properties, in their opposition to the DOI decisions. As in Oregon, the Patwin tribes say they will continue to fight against the Scotts Valley casino.

“Although the project was approved, our fight is not over,” Roberts said. “The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation will take every step necessary to continue fighting for our homelands and our future.”

Several prominent public officials have also come out against these projects. California Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly opposed the Scotts Valley casino in Vallejo, while Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) issued his own statement condemning the approval of the Coquille casino in Medford. 

“This reckless choice by DC bureaucrats catapults Oregon into an uncontrolled escalation of gambling with no end in sight,” Wyden said in a statement. “I will fight this senseless decision with all the options available, including the Congressional Review Act.”