Feds approve controversial Scotts Valley Pomo, Coquille tribal casinos

Posted: January 13, 2025, 07:16 pm.

Last updated: January 13, 2025, 07:16 pm.

The outgoing Biden administration on Friday approved land trust applications for two controversial tribal casinos, one in the San Francisco Bay Area and the other in Southern Oregon.

The Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians' proposed $700 million casino would be built in Vallejo, Solano County, on the northern edge of the Bay Area. Meanwhile, the Coquille Indian Tribe plans to build a gaming venue in downtown Medford, Ore.

Friday's approval will place the land earmarked for the casino into a federal trust so it can be used for gaming.

bones of contention

Both projects are controversial as the governors of California and Oregon, as well as local tribes, are opposed to them. Both the Scotts Valley Band and Coquille tribes claim ancestral ties to the land on which the casinos will be built, but these claims have been disputed by other tribes in the area.

Cache Creek Casino operator Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation described the land in Vallejo as “Patwin ancestral territory”, and said that “Scotts Valley's proposal to appropriate Patwin lands” was one that “withered minimal scrutiny.” Can't even cope.”

A group of tribes led by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians unsuccessfully sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in an attempt to prevent the agency from approving the Coquille Trust application.

Coquille Tribal Chair Brenda Meade has said that the term is not only offensive, but that it has also created “a reckless and baseless precedent for political attacks against hundreds of tribes like ours who have carefully navigated layers of laws and regulations to obtain legal rights.” Have worked to formally rebuild our reservation.” ,

'Pain and expense'

On Friday, Meade celebrated the decision, reflecting on a decade-long process that was largely disrupted by protests. The Trump administration previously rejected the trust's application in 2019, but it was revived by a federal judge, who called that decision “arbitrary and capricious.”

“This decision is finally a heartening sign for all tribal advocates who have pressed the government to live up to its responsibilities and trust obligations to tribes,” Mead said in a statement. “No tribe should have to go through the suffering and expense that the Coquille Tribe endured.”

Scotts Valley Tribal Chairman Shawn Davis echoed that sentiment. His clan had been waiting for a decision on the land since 2016.

This land represents not only our past but also our future. We are very grateful to the Department of the Interior for recognizing the importance of this land to the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians and helping us make this dream come true,” Davis said.

Cow Creek President Carla Keane said in a statement Friday about Coquille's decision that her community “will not stand by passively and let this decision stand unopposed.”