Release: Tribes File Suit Against Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Over Proposed Medford Casino

Release: Tribes File Suit Against Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Over Proposed Medford Casino

Citing violations to the U.S. Constitution, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Tribal Consultation Policy, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians Join Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation in Lawsuit to Protect Tribal Homelands

ROSEBURG, OR. – The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Karuk Tribe, and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation today filed suit in a Washington, DC federal court for a temporary restraining order against the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and members of the Biden administration, including Secretary Deb Haaland, to stop a decision about a proposed casino in Medford by the Coquille Indian Tribe that would cause irreparable harm to their economic, environmental, cultural, and historic wellbeing.

“This legal action is our option of last resort after being denied repeated requests for consultation,” said Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal Chairman Carla Keene. “The administration has failed in their responsibility under its own Executive Order, NEPA rules and executive proclamation to consult with our Tribes about a project that puts the interests of one Tribe over many others.”

For years before the Interior issued the Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS) on the proposed Medford Casino last month, the Cow Creek Umpqua have consistently argued—alongside long-standing Senators, Governors, Members of Congress from Oregon and California, and other regional Tribes—that the Coquille’s application violates established legal and procedural standards governing off-reservation casinos.

The lawsuit filed today claims that the Interior exceeded its powers under the U.S Constitution by issuing the FEIS and violated federal statutes and the agency’s own policies requiring government-to-government consultation with the Cow Creek Umpqua, Karuk Tribe, and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation.  The lawsuit requests that the court issue declaratory and injunctive relief, essentially ordering BIA to stop the project implementation based on an invalid FEIS and failure to consult with not only the plaintiff Tribes but all affected Tribal nations.

“The Interior Department’s refusal to fully assess the impacts of this casino on other Oregon and Northern California Tribes is disappointing and not how Secretary Haaland and Biden Administration officials should want to be remembered,” stated Cheryle Kennedy, Chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, another Oregon federally recognized Tribe located in Yamhill County. “While they have done a lot for Indian Country, if this casino is allowed to go forward on the eve of them leaving office, it will devastate the economies of other Tribes and set a precedent that may harm many others in the future.”

The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians gaming facility, Seven Feathers Casino Resort, is in Canyonville, Oregon, a population of 1,900 people—six miles from where their treaty with the U.S. Government was signed.

The Cow Creek Umpqua have documented the inevitable and devastating social, cultural, and economic impacts on Tribes across the American West, particularly the unprecedented disruption of inter-Tribal kinship systems and the loss of revenue supporting critical tribal government services. The FEIS acknowledges that Coquille’s proposed Medford casino would cannibalize the gaming revenue generated from the Cow Creek Umpqua and other Oregon and regional tribes, which are revenues that support tribal governmental services, such as elder care and food security, housing, health care, and education for their members.

If approved, the Medford casino would also upend Oregon’s long-standing “One Tribe, One Casino” policy, circumvent opposition from Oregon’s Senators and Governor, and violate the law by allowing Oregon’s first urban and off-reservation casino more than 165 miles from the Coquille ancestral homelands in North Bend.

“It is insulting that as Secretary Haaland touts her legacy, and claims her phone lines are open, while Tribes like ours are left with a dial tone on the other end and holding the bag for her rushed decisions as she walks out the door,” Keene continued. “This is not the action we wanted to take – we want to work with the BIA and our other Tribes, but without another option, we have a responsibility to our Tribal members and their welfare to protect Tribal sovereignty, ancestral land integrity, and fairness for all Tribes.”

To learn more about the Karuk Tribe, visit their website here: https://www.karuk.us/

To learn more about the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, visit their website here: https://www.tolowa-nsn.gov/

 

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