January 11, 2025 11:15 a.m.
Officials with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians are reacting after the U.S. Department of Interior signed the Record of Decision approving Oregon’s first off-reservation casino for the Coquille Tribe on Friday.
A Tribal release said the Coquille’s application has been pending with the Bureau of Indian Affairs for more than ten years, but the decision comes in the final days of the Biden Administration after what Cow Creek believes is a “rushed comment period” between Thanksgiving and Christmas and despite widespread opposition and requests for an extra 30 days to comment on the project from senators and governors in Oregon and California, local officials and multiple Tribal nations. More than 60 Tribal nations have consistently opposed the project, according to Cow Creek.
Cow Creek Chairman Carla Keen said, “Allowing a Tribe to claim tries to lands outside their ancestral territory falsely harms all Tribes”. Keene said, “It perpetuates an inaccurate history and will cause irreparable harm to the historical, cultural, environmental and economic interests of the Indigenous people who occupied these lands before they were taken”.
Friday night Cow Creek, Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation filed a request asking the U.S. District Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order citing violations of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, The Indian Reorganization Act, and the Coquille Restoration Act, as well as constitutional concerns related to the National Environmental Policy Act.
The release said Jackson County and the City of Medford are not part of Coquille’s aboriginal or historical lands and never has been.
Keene said, “This attempt to manipulate the system for one Tribe’s gain is a disservice to all Tribal people. We will continue to fight for what is fair and just for all Tribes, not just one Tribe, and hope the Trump Administration will undo the legacy of harm the Biden Administration is leaving behind”.
Read the full Cow Creek Tribal release linked at: https://www.cowcreek-nsn.gov/release-doi-signs-off-reservation-medford-casino-rod/
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