The Cowlitz tribe of Washington February 14 celebrated the groundbreaking of a casino and the official transition of land in La Center to trust land, making it reservation land.
The celebration, held under a giant tent to fend off the rain, included tribal drumming and singing. It was attended by about 500 people. VIPs including U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, state lawmakers and city officials. It also included representatives of the Mohegan Tribe, which is the tribe’s partner in the casino.
Festivities included signing a construction beam that would later be hauled up to be part of the casino building
The tribe has already begun construction on the $510 million casino on 152 acres. It is expected to open in the spring of 2017 and will include a 100,000 square foot gaming floor with 2,500 slot machines, 75 gaming tables, 60 high limit machines and five high limit tables, plus dining and convention space. It will employ about 2,000 permanent employees. The designer is the Friedmutter Group, which has included design elements that harkens to the tribal culture, such as images of canoes, flowers, woven hats and fish.
Bill Iyall, tribal chairman told the Longview Daily News, “The roof is going on very fast. We’ve only had one unworkable weather day so far, and that’s really accelerating the construction. “It’s just exciting to see it progress.”
A second phase will include a hotel.
Besides the casino itself, the tribe is also financing a new $40 million interchange for Interstate 5.
The tribe was landless for 160 years. It was recognized in 2000 and in 2010 the Bureau of Indian Affairs put the land into trust. However that decision was challenged in federal court, preventing it from being consummated.
The tribe is still embroiled with a federal lawsuit with opponents of the casino, including the city of Vancouver, Clark County, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and a citizens group: Citizens Against Reservation Shopping. Other plaintiffs in the suit are area card rooms. The original suit was dismissed in 2014 by U.S. District Court Judge Barbara J. Rothstein but the plaintiffs have appealed to the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington.
Don Baur, an attorney for the card rooms, commented, “The Cowlitz proceeding with construction, I think, is at their own risk. And it certainly is very high risk in light of the pending litigation.”
The basis of the plaintiff’s argument is that the Cowlitz tribe’s new reservation is well outside of its traditional homeland and that the U.S. Supreme Court’s Carcieri v. Salazar ruling prevents tribes recognized after 1934 from putting land into trust.
They didn’t ask for an injunction to stop construction because the federal government assured that that if they win on appeal that the land could be taken out of trust.
John Bockmier, spokesman for the La Center card rooms, commented, “This isn’t an effort to stall their project. This is an effort to see that the project is built in another location where it would be more appropriate. That’s been our stance for 15 years.”
In a related development last week Clark County Fire & Rescue signed a three year pact with the tribe to provide fire and safety services to the reservation for an estimated price of about $210,000 annually.
Chairman Iyall commented at the signing ceremony, “This government to government relationship will greatly enhance critical fire and life safety services that will benefit the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and all the citizens of southwest Washington.”
