The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the neighboring Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are at odds over the Siletz tribe’s efforts to build a casino in Salem, Oregon that would compete with the Grand Ronde tribe’s existing casino. There are nine gaming tribes in the state.
The Siletz tribe has applied to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to put 20 acres off the reservation into trust so it can build casino just off Interstate 5. The letter was sent May 5 to the BIA, and obtained by the Salem Reporter.
The 180,800 square foot casino would have 2,000 slot machines, 45 gaming tables, a 500-room hotel, dining, a night club, events center and sports bar. This would not be the Siletz tribe’s first casino. It has operated the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City for 25 years.
The casino would also implement a revenue-sharing agreement where the Siletz tribe would share some of its profits with other tribes, some with the state and local governments.
The Grand Ronde tribe says this would undermine the intent of Indian gaming, which is to encourage economic development of reservations, not urban areas like Salem.
The Grand Ronde operates the Spirit Mountain Casino 35 miles from Salem and says it could lose up to 67 percent of its revenue from the Salem casino and from the ilani casino that opened a few years ago in Washington near Vancouver.
The application set off a period where possibly impacted local governments can submit comments to the federal government.
This is not the first time the Siletz tribe has tried to build a casino in Salem. The first time was in 1992, which was successfully defeated by then-Governor Barbara Roberts.
