Coquille Tribe accused of 'reservation shopping' for new casino

Monday, April 8, 2013  

The Coquille Tribe is being accused of "reservation shopping" by a fellow tribe in Oregon.

The Coquilles recently acquired land in Medford with plans for a Class II gaming facility. The 2.42-acre site is more than three hours from the tribe's Class III facility, the Mill Casino.

"What they are doing is 'reservation shopping,' " Wayne Shammel, attorney for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe, told The Medford Mail Tribune.

Generally, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act bars casinos on land acquired after 1988. But the Coquilles are seeking an exception in Section 20 of the law that applies to tribes that were restored to federal recognition.

"This is not what you would call reservation shopping," Ray Doering, a spokesperson for the tribe, told the paper, citing modern and historical connections to the gaming site.

The tribe was restored to federal recognition through an act of Congress in 1989. The Coquille Restoration Act states that the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 "shall" apply to the tribe.

Another section states that the BIA "shall" accept up to 1,000 acres in trust for the tribe. Additional acquisitions beyond that limit will be processed on a discretionary basis under the IRA, according to the law.

Get the Story:
'Reservation shopping' at center of tribal casino tiff (The Medford Mail Tribune 4/8)

Coquille Tribe seeks gaming exception at recently acquired site (03/11)