California’s Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians is suing the Bureau of Indian Affairs over a decision that prevents the tribe from building a casino in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most lucrative untapped gaming markets in the Golden State.
The tribe wants to open a casino on 128 acres in Vallejo, which is 32 miles from San Francisco but 90 miles from its reservation.
The land was promised to the tribe in a 19th century treaty that was not ratified by Congress.
The tribe’s May lawsuit states: “The tribe’s May 2018 supplement demonstrated, among other things: that the parcel is located within Royce Area 296, known to the United States to have been seasonally occupied by the tribe and its members in employment as laborers at the time of the 1851 treaty; a majority of the known minor members of the tribe were in residence in the vicinity of the parcel in 1837 for a period of time; that known, major families of the Tribe can be documented in the vicinity of the parcel from 1870 onward; and that Chief Augustine, the known leader of the tribe until his death in 1903, was known to reside and work in the vicinity of the parcel in 1870.”
Nevertheless, BIA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary John Tahsuda ruled that the tribe did not demonstrate ties to the site. He wrote, “The parcel is located approximately 90 driving miles (75 straight-line miles) southeast of the former Scotts Valley Rancheria, near the present-day city of Lakeport.” He concluded, “As such, the distance between the Vallejo parcel and the Band’s historic Rancheria, standing alone, does not evince a significant historical connection.”
The tribe, which was restored to federal status in 1991, could still pursue a casino at that location, but it would have to do so under the much harder and rarer two-part determination of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. This requires, among other things, the approval of the state governor.
