Release: Administration Turns Back on Tribes with Wrong Decision on Medford Casino
ROSEBURG, OR. –The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians learned that in the final stretch of the current administration, the application for the Coquille Tribe’s second casino in Medford will move onto the next step, paving the way for Oregon’s first urban and off-reservation casino, more than 165 miles from the Coquille ancestral homelands in North Bend.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) issued by the Department of Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs was published Friday, setting off a 30-day period in which all arguments against the unjust ruling will be entered into the record.
“Today, my heart feels what our ancestors felt years ago with the stealing of our lands. We have continually reached out and tried to work with the government, and we’ve been a sister Tribe to others, but the government continues to take from our Tribe and give it away,” said Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal Chairman Carla Keene.
“Interior Secretary Deb Haaland repeatedly deflected or ignored us, not treating us with respect as sovereign nations but as a nuisance and that she could not be bothered. We will not stop fighting for what is right for our people and for policies that honor Tribal sovereignty and protect ancestral homeland integrity that our ancestors lost their lives over.”
The Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe has continually argued that the basis of Coquille’s application is legally flawed and allows Tribes to play by a different set of rules, circumventing the process that all federally recognized Tribes in the nation must follow when citing a casino.
Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal leadership expressed their deep frustration with the ruling and the process, and again stressed their commitment to not give up the fight.
“The Coquille are creating a false narrative of ties to ancestral lands that do not exist and cannot be proven,” said Cow Creek Umpqua CEO Michael Rondeau. “This is a disgrace to Tribal sovereignty and undermines the generations of work of our ancestors who sacrificed to restore lands that were taken from our families years ago.”
The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians and more than 30 other Tribes have been fighting to be heard by the Biden Administration and Secretary Haaland about the devastating impacts that mass off-reservation casino approvals will have on Indian Country, only to be dismissed and ignored.
“The injustice to Indian Country by our first Indigenous Tribal cabinet Secretary is the biggest disappointment of the Biden Administration,” said Keene. “We have requested – even pleaded- to be seen, heard and consulted with on the decisions being made by bureaucrats in D.C. that will devastate our Tribal communities because of the greed of some Tribes that create injustice among all the others.”
Despite years of hanging in the balance, the decision is merely the next phase in a fight that will continue for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians to stop the Coquille Indian Tribe from acting on their dishonest claims, disingenuous plans for financial gain, and intent to disrupt harmonious relationships in Indian Country and among Oregon’s Tribes.
“The Biden Administration and Secretary Haaland’s legacy for Indian Country will be cast with this cloud if they continue to allow some Tribes to play by their own rules while other Tribes are left behind struggling to survive,” said Keene.
TO REGISTER COMMENTS:
By mail or hand delivery to:
Bryan Mercier, Regional Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Northwest Region, 911 NE 11th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232
Please include your name, return address, and “FEIS Comments, Coquille Indian Tribe Fee-to-Trust and Casino Project” on the first page of your written comments.
By email to:
Tobiah Mogavero, NEPA Coordinator, Bureau of Indian Affairs, at: tobiah.mogavero@bia.gov, using “FEIS Comments, Coquille Indian Tribe Fee-to-Trust and Casino Project” as the subject line
Please contact Communications and Marketing Director Lindsay Campman with inquiries, (541) 529-9159, lcampman@cowcreek-nsn.gov
