December 24, 2024 3:40 a.m.
On Monday, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, Karuk Tribe, and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation filed suit in a Washington D.C. federal court for a temporary restraining order against the Department of the Interior; Bureau of Indian Affairs, and members of the Biden Administration, including Secretary Deb Haaland to stop a decision about a proposed casino in Medford.
A Cow Creek release said the proposal by the Coquille Indian Tribe would cause irreparable harm to their economic, environmental, and cultural well-being.
Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal Chairman Carla Keene said, “This legal action is our option of last resort after being denied repeated requests for consultation”. Keene said,”The administration has failed in their responsibility under its own Executive Order, NEPA rules and executive proclamation to consult with our Tribes about a project that puts the interests of one Tribe over many others”.
The release said for years before the Interior issued the Final Environmental Impact Study on the proposed Medford Casino last month, the Cow Creek Umpqua have consistently argued – alongside long-standing Senators, Governors, Members of Congress from Oregon and California, and other regional Tribes – that the Coquille’s application violates established legal and procedural standards governing off-reservation casinos.
The lawsuit filed Monday claims that the Interior exceeded its powers under the U.S. Constitution by issuing the FEIS and violated federal statutes and the agency’s own policies requiring government-to-government consultation with the Cow Creek Umpqua, Karuk Tribe and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation. The lawsuit requests that the court issue declaratory and injunctive relief, essentially ordering BIA to stop the project implementation based on an invalid FEIS and failure to consult with not the only plaintiff Tribes, but all affected Tribal nations.
The release said if approved, the Medford casino would upend Oregon’s long-standing “One Tribe, One Casino” policy, circumvent opposition from Oregon’s Senators and Governor and violate the law by allowing Oregon’s first urban and off-reservation casino more than 165 miles from the Coquille ancestral homelands in North Bend.
Keene said, “This is not the action we wanted to take – we want to work with the BIA and our other Tribes, but without another option, we have a responsibility to our Tribal members and their welfare to protect Tribal sovereignty, ancestral land integrity, and fairness for all Tribes”.
For more information about the Cow Creek Umpqua, go to: www.cowcreek.nsn.gov