California: Koi Nation claims 68 acres in Sonoma County for $600M casino and resort development

The Koi Nation, a federally recognized tribe of the southeastern Pomo people located in Sonoma County, announced Wednesday that it is exercising its sovereign rights under federal law and has bought a site north of Santa Rosa, in an unincorporated area of the county, to re-establish its tribal land base. The proposal for the Shiloh Casino and Resort calls for a hotel, a gaming facility, six restaurants and food service areas, a meeting center and a spa.

The tribe paid $12.3 million for the property, a former winery located 10 miles from its historic lands within California’s Pomo territory.

Randall and Cynthia Clifton were the sellers.
“When in full operation, the Shiloh Casino and Resort will employ more than 1,100 full-time workers and provide benefits for the entire Sonoma community,” the tribe said in a statement. “The Koi Nation anticipates that a portion of the resort’s revenues will be shared with the broader community through the support of local organizations as well as collaborating with local governments and community members to address their needs.”

The tribe describes the hotel and casino as an “economic engine” for the tribe and the county’s residents, creating “hundreds of jobs for workers in construction and other skilled laborers.”

“The Koi Nation has had to struggle harder than almost any other tribe in California to re-establish our sovereignty,” said Tribal Chairman Darin Beltran. “Despite this treatment, however, we have endured. It is time to exercise our rights as a federally recognized Tribe to have our own land and to control our own destiny.”

The Koi Nation will be the developer of the project, but is in talks with a number of potential partners and investors, according to a spokesperson. Dale Partners architects is behind the project’s design.

The spokesperson said the tribe has filed to place the land in a federal trust, making it eligible for gaming under the 1988 federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. This process will lead to an environmental review and public comment period, which is slated to begin in 60 to 90 days.

“The tribe is very respectful of Sonoma County — they are meeting with and talking with the county Board of Supervisors and other elected officials and community members. They want to be good neighbors,” the spokesperson said.

Of the 90 million acres of U.S. land taken from tribes without compensation, about 80% has been reacquired in trust status since the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 was passed to halt and reverse the sale of reservation lands, according to the National Congress of American Indians, which was founded to support the restoration of these lands.

Today, many tribes still do not have land bases, meaning that they have insufficient lands to support housing and self-government. The Koi Nation is one of the remaining tribes of the Pomo people who have remained landless for much of the past 150 years.
The Koi Nation’s original home was on an island in Clear Lake, but as its land was seized in the 1870s, the tribe was displaced to communities along the Russian River Valley and later to Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.
A 2019 federal court ruling restored the tribe's recognition and rights as a tribal entity, including the right to establish a sovereign land base.  

“With this land and the Shiloh Resort and Casino, we are taking long overdue steps to preserve our cultural and historic integrity and secure a brighter future for coming generations,” Beltran said. “At the same time, our success will also benefit the communities in the region where our people have lived for thousands of years. We are confident the community will support us as we seek to restore our independence and exercise our rights as Native Americans.”

By Laura Waxmann