Vallejo casino project approved by U. S. Department of the Interior

VALLEJO – The U. S. Department of the Interior approved a controversial casino and tribal housing project in North Vallejo last week that was proposed by the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians nearly a decade ago.

The Interior Department approved the project in a letter on Friday. Bureau of Indian Affairs Environmental Protection Specialist Chad Broussard told the Vallejo Sun that an official announcement will be made on Wednesday.

The 160-acre site is at the northeast intersection of Highway 80 and Route 37. It would include an eight-story casino to be open 24 hours a day, restaurants, bars, a ballroom for events, 24 houses and a tribal administration building.

The project site currently includes undeveloped land and a horse boarding facility, which would be demolished. A 45-acre biological preserve area would be set aside on the northeastern hillside, and a wetland area on the southern portion of the site would be maintained. 

Many objections have been levied against the proposed project, both from other tribes and from city and county representatives. 

The original request in 2016 would put over 100 acres of Vallejo land into federal trust as “restored lands” on behalf of the Scotts Valley tribe. It was denied on the grounds that the tribe had failed to demonstrate a "significant historical connection" to the parcel. 

After a years-long saga of challenges and opposition from the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, who claim that the site is at the core of their own ancestral territory, the bureau sided with the Scotts Valley Band.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Wizipan Garriott, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, wrote in Friday’s letter that it was made with additional consideration to the historical circumstances underlying the tribe's landless status. 

“An interpretation of occupancy requiring ownership or control would undermine the purpose of the restored lands exception, which is ‘to make restitution for past wrongs, including the depredations of the 19th century’ that diminished tribal ownership or control of land in the first place,” Garriott wrote.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation expressed outrage about the decision in a statement Friday. “It is difficult to believe that a group of politicians who claim to care about respecting tribal rights and sovereignty would give away historic Patwin homelands without ever consulting us,” Yocha Dehe Chairman Anthony Roberts said. “The hypocrisy is staggering.” said.

“The Department of the Interior violated their trust responsibilities for all Tribes with this unfair decision,” Roberts continued. “Although the project was approved, our fight is not over. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation will take every step necessary to continue fighting for our homelands and our future.”

The Scotts Valley project received support from other Native groups. The Coalition of Large Tribes wrote to the Department of Justice and the Department of Indian Affairs in 2023 and argued that previous denials of the Scotts Valley Band’s proposal had failed to take the government’s role in weakening the historical connection between the Band and its land into account.

Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray said in a press release Monday that the city had no role in the decision. 

“The Tribe has expressed the desire to be a good neighbor and the City looks forward to working with the Tribe to create the most positive, beneficial project possible,” Murray said.