California’s Koi Nation has selected 68 acres in Sonoma County to reestablish its tribal base, which it lost in the last century.
The tribe plans to build a casino resort on the land, which is near Santa Rosa. First, of course, the land will have to be put into trust for the tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A federal court in 2019 recognized the tribe and September 15 the tribe filed with the BIA to make the land part of a reservation.
The Shiloh Resort & Casino would have 2,500 slot machines, a 200-room hotel, six restaurants, meeting center and spa. The land is about 10 miles from the tribe’s traditional Pomo territory homeland. The resort would, says the tribe, employ about 1,110 workers fulltime.
Tribal Chairman Darin Beltran said in a statement: “The Koi Nation has had to struggle harder than almost any other Tribe in California to re-establish our sovereignty.” He added, “Despite this treatment, however, we have endured. It is time to exercise our rights as a federally recognized Tribe to have our own land and to control our own destiny.”
The chairman added, “This region, the historic home of our people, today has one of the highest costs of living in the world, meaning that 90% of our citizens are part of what are considered low-income households,” adding, “By exercising our rights under the IGRA, we can build prosperity for our Tribe and make a real difference for our people today as well as for our children and the generations yet to come.”
