The Koi Nation, a small tribe in Northern California, is seeking to build a $600 million casino and resort on a 68-acre parcel in Sonoma County. This effort follows a 2019 federal court ruling that allowed the tribe to find financial partners and place land into trust, making it eligible for casino development. The Koi Nation has partnered with the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and is awaiting approval from U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
The project faces opposition from other tribes and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Critics argue that the Koi Nation lacks historical ties to Sonoma County, claiming their ancestral lands are in Lake County. The Indian Gaming Regulation Act generally limits casinos to ancestral lands but allows exceptions for tribes without reservations if they can demonstrate historical connections to the new site.
If approved, the casino would be located near Windsor, close to existing Native American casinos Graton Resort and Casino and River Rock Casino. The revenue generated would support better living conditions and educational opportunities for Koi Nation members.
"Generally speaking, tribes cannot game on any land taken into trust after 1988, but there are important exceptions to that general prohibition meant to be fair to tribes that did not have land in 1988," explained Kathryn Rand, an expert on tribal gaming law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s International Center for Gaming Regulation. Before white colonizers arrived in California, Koi Nation’s ancestors lived on an island in Lake County and traded with other tribes in Northern California, according to the tribe’s website. In 1916, the U.S. government approved land in Lake County for Koi Nation's rancheria about 28 miles (45 kilometers) north of the proposed casino site. The land was eventually declared uninhabitable by the Bureau of Indian Affairs due to its rocky terrain, prompting many Koi families to move south to neighboring Sonoma County, mainly Sebastopol and Santa Rosa, where the tribe is now headquartered. Four decades later, the federal government took that land and sold it for an airport, leaving the tribe landless. After a lengthy court battle, a federal judge in 2019 ruled that the Koi Nation had the right to pursue buying land for a casino.
Michael Anderson, a Koi Nation attorney, noted that a historic trail used by the tribe from Clear Lake basin to Bodega Bay on Sonoma County’s Pacific Coast runs through part of the property. This supports their legal requirement of having a "significant historical connection to the land." Anderson believes their legal case is strong but acknowledges that "the politics is a whole different thing." Sarris, whose casino contributes millions to small non-gaming tribes and has become a major donor to California politicians, accused the Koi Nation of “reservation shopping” after previous attempts to get land under trust for casinos in Solano and Alameda Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anderson found this term offensive and argued that Sarris is simply trying to protect his lucrative casino from competition.
Newsom and local politicians also oppose the project along with the Dry Creek Band of Pomo Indians, which operates River Rock Casino. Newsom’s office sent a letter last month to Department of Interior Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland urging him not to move forward with both Shiloh casino project and another proposed casino in the Bay Area. The governor expressed concern that approving these projects would “stretch the limits of the ‘restored lands’ exception” without considering other sites.
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The department is currently evaluating three other land trust applications under this exception: one by Scotts Valley Tribe aiming for a casino in Solano County; another by Coquille Indian Tribe seeking a casino in Medford, Oregon; and Guidiville Rancheria tribe which has applied but not yet identified specific land for their project.
Steve Light from UNLV International Center for Gaming Regulation mentioned that Secretary Haaland will consider several factors including opposition but will also weigh whether these casinos will aid "tribal self-determination, tribal self-governance, economic development, job creation and resources for the tribe.” With 110 out of 574 federally recognized tribes located in California and 87 tribal casinos already operating there according to American Gaming Association data—making it the largest tribal gaming market—the state remains competitive yet potentially untapped given its population of 40 million people," Light added.