Although the Cowlitz tribe of Washington state has overcome many barriers in its quest to build a 0 million casino in La Center, many more remain.
One barrier is whether, in light of the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar case, the tribe can legally put land into trust. The tribe did not achieve recognition until 2002. Carcieri states that tribes recognized after 1934 cannot put land into trust.
A federal judge in December ruled that the Department of the Interior has been able to show that the tribe was under federal jurisdiction as far back as 1855 when the U.S. government and the tribe ratified a treaty. Also, the department has stated that the tribe’s land was never legally ceded to the U.S.
Another complication is that federal law prevents a casino from being put on land that a tribe acquired after 1988 unless the land was art of the tribe’s “initial reservation,” or is part of restored land.
Those who oppose the Cowlitz casino proposal note that the place where they want to put it is 24 miles from tribal headquarters and 14 miles from its historical homeland. The department has ruled that the tribe had enough historical connections to the land to qualify. The tribe originally occupied an estimated 2.4 million acres in the area that includes Clark County and Mount Rainier.
One very important barrier was removed in March when the department placed 152 acres near La Center into trust.
Tribal Chairman William Iyall is optimistic. He told the Daily News, “We have had opposition and strong opposition from the Grand Ronde tribes, Clark County, Vancouver and others. The opposition is past tense as far as I’m concerned. We’ve won the battle, and the war is over.”
Opponents are taking their arguments that the land in question is well outside of the tribe’s historical homeland to the appeals process. Many legal experts say that the legal questions are important enough that the Supreme Court may end up ruling on them.
Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler has written letters to the federal government taking it to task for putting the land into trust when legal issues remain to be decided.
She told the Daily News, “It is extremely concerning that the Bureau of Indian Affairs would make this unprecedented move — signing the land into trust for the Cowlitz Tribe while legal proceedings are ongoing — particularly on such a controversial issue.”
