Federal government approves Medford casino

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

Despite the protests of several other Tribes, the Department of Interior has signed the record of decision to approve an off-reservation casino for the Coquille Indian Tribe in Medford, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians announced in a press release.

The press release was issued jointly with the Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-Ni’Nation on Friday, Jan. 10.

The three Tribes also immediately filed a request with the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon for a temporary restraining order on the project.

The request cites violations of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, the Indian Reorganization Act and the Coquille Restoration Act, along with constitutional concerns related to the National Environmental Policy Act, according to the press release.

“Grand Ronde opposes an off-reservation casino in Medford or anywhere in Oregon,” Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy said. “We support the Cow Creek Tribe’s litigation to prevent it. Like Oregon’s governor and U.S. senators, among many others, we believe Oregonians are not interested in setting off a race to build casinos in cities across the state.”

Kennedy was joined by Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden in opposing the decision.

“The Biden administration’s approval of the Coquille Indian Tribe’s Medford casino is highly damaging,” Merkley said. “It sets in motion a competition that pits Tribe against Tribe and endangers the special framework Oregon has supported for Tribal casinos. I will be working with my colleagues, including Senator Wyden, to explore pathways to block or reverse this wrongheaded action,” Merkley said.

 “This reckless choice by D.C. bureaucrats catapults Oregon into an uncontrolled escalation of gambling with no end in sight,” Wyden said. “And it compounds the collateral damage from this casino arms race by cavalierly tossing out our state’s time-honored agreement that balances all Tribes’ equal opportunities to achieve economic independence and prosperity. I will fight this senseless decision with all the options available, including the Congressional Review Act that empowers elected representatives to battle back against rogue federal agency decisions just like this one.”

The press release quoted Karuk Tribal Chairman Russell “Buster” Attebery.

“By approving the Coquille Tribe’s application to build a casino in Medford, far outside that Tribe’s territory, the DOI is knowingly impeding the Karuk Tribe’s cultural sovereignty, frustrating its ability to provide governmental programs and impoverishing the Karuk Tribe in order to enrich a Tribe that has one-third the number of Tribal members and a casino twice as large as Karuk’s,” he said.

The Coquille Tribe contends that the Medford area is a part of its ancestral homelands, and that it should have the right to determine what is best for its people and to provide for their economic security.