The northern California Koi Nation tribe is seeking to put land into a trust to build a $600 million casino to provide their people with a better life. However, the project has met opposition from other tribes and even Governor Gavin Newsom.
If the trust is approved, the Koi Nation wants to build their Shiloh Resort and Casino near Windsor, CA. The casino has plans for a 2,500-slot room with an adjacent 400-room hotel. However, there are already two California Indian casinos in the vicinity.
Dino Beltran, vice chair of the Koi Nation’s Tribal Council, told reporters, “It has taken us years to be on the same playing field as every other tribe in the United States, and now the same tribes that have established themselves are against us. It’s an unfortunate thing.”
Greg Sarris, chair of Graton Rancheria, was appointed to the University of California Board of Regents by Governor Newsom in 2023. Sarris opposes the tribe’s location for the new casino, stating that the tribe’s ancestral home is in Lake County, about 50 miles northeast of the projected casino site. Sarris said, “They claim that part of their deep historical connection is they had a family member in the early 20th century who lived in Sonoma County.”
In 1916, the US government approved land in Lake County for the Koi Nation; however, the Bureau of Indian Affairs eventually deemed it uninhabitable.
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