US Department of the Interior gives green light for Coquille Indian Tribe’s Medford casino

The US Department of the Interior has given its approval for the Coquille Indian Tribe’s 30,000-square-foot proposed casino in Medford, Oregan.

The casino, which is likely to be called The Cedars at Bear Creek, would be built in three phases. Phase 1 would house with 150 slot machines, Phase 2 would double that to 300 slot machines whilst the final phase would have 650 slot machines. It would be the second casino owned by the Coquille Indian Tribe, who already operates The Mill Casino Hotel in North Bend, Oregon.

“Today the Biden Administration sent a clear message: it stands with Indian Country and intends to honor its commitments to tribal sovereignty,” Brenda Meade, chair of the Coquille Tribe. “Waiting almost 13 years for an environmental review process to review two acres was a ridiculous weaponization of the federal National Environmental Policy Act process used to punish the Coquille Tribe for taking a legal course of action to provide for its own citizens after termination.”

“Two tribal chiefs, several tribal council members and many of our elders walked on without seeing their vision to care for our people come to fruition,” Ms Meade added. “My hope is that this decision will spur the federal government to never do this to another tribe. No tribe should go through the anguish and expense that the Coquille Tribe has endured. The decision finally offers heartening sign to all tribal advocates who have pushed for the government to meet its responsibilities and trust obligations.”

The approval will be contested though

US Senator Ron Wyden said: “This reckless choice by D.C. bureaucrats catapults Oregon into an uncontrolled escalation of gambling with no end in sight. 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.”

Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians has joined forces with two Northern California tribes in filing for a temporary restraining order in US District Court to block the Coquille from progressing.

Cow Creek chair Carla Keene said: “We cannot stand passively and allow this decision to stand uncontested given the harm it will cause across Indian Country in our progress toward the full restoration of our rights as sovereign nations—which is directly tied to our ancestral homelands. This attempt to manipulate the system for one Tribe’s gain is a disservice to all Tribal people.”

​The US Department of the Interior has given its approval for the Coquille Indian Tribe’s 30,000-square-foot proposed casino in Medford, Oregan. The casino, which is likely to be called The Cedars at Bear Creek, would be built in three phases. Phase 1 would house with 150 slot machines, Phase 2 would double that to 300…