Koi Nation
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The Koi Nation of the Lower Lake Rancheria is a
federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
of Southeastern
Pomo people The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small grou ...
in northern California. Their name for their tribe is Koi Nation of Northern California, from their traditional village,
Koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...
, once located on an island in Clear Lake."Tribal History - The Koi Nation."
''Koi Nation of Northern California.'' Retrieved November 5, 2012.
Koi, meaning people of water, lived on islands in the Clear Lake in what is now Lake County, California, and migrated seasonally to the California coast. The "Purvis Tract" is located on the Northwest corner of the Clear Lake. For thousands of years, the Nation lived under the Purvis Tract. In that time, the nation continued to assert its unique identity and maintain control of its area.


Government

The Lower Lake Rancheria is headquartered in
Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...
. In 1961, the tribe organized under the Articles of Association. In 1994, a new tribal government apparently was formed to make a claim for Pearce Field, a small airport which Lake County closed that year. In June 2008, a new Constitution was ratified, replaced the Articles of Association."Tribal Council."
''Trinidad Rancheria''. 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
The tribe is governed by a democratically elected five-person community council.


History

The Koi people were among the Southeastern Pomo who lived in north-central California for millennia. They fished, hunted, and gathered.


Post-contact

In the 19th century, European-Americans occupied Pomo lands in large numbers. The US government signed two treaties with Pomos in 1851–1852 which defined Pomo territory; however, these treaties were never ratified by Congress. In 1856, the US government forcibly removed many Pomo people to a reservation in
Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza) is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United Sta ...
; however, the Koi remained on their island. In 1870, Koi people attended a historic
Ghost Dance The Ghost Dance ( Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilso ...
. By 1871, their homes had been burned and destroyed by European-Americans. Disease, enslavement, and murder greatly reduced their population. By the beginning of the 1900s, tribal members were primarily living around Santa Rosa, Windsor, and Sebastopol. As of 2021, the Koi Nation has 90 members, most of whom live in Sonoma County.


Tribal recognition

The Koi became a recognized tribe in 1916, the year the federal government bought 140 acres, known as Purvis Flats, near the town of Clearlake in Lake County, and designated it as the Lower Lake Rancheria. An official of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
described it as "a rock pile," and it remained uninhabited until a handful of Indians took up residence there in the 1940s. Seven tribal families lived on the rancheria in 1950. Records on file at the National Archives regional center in San Bruno show that in 1953, when Lake County expressed interest in acquiring the land for an airport, the only two Indians living there on Purvis Flats were a couple, Harry Johnson and his wife, Isabella. A special Act of Congress in 1956 gave 99 acres to the county for the airport, and the remaining 41 acres, occupied by the Johnsons, became their private property, a "gift" from the government. The tribe was terminated on 29 March 1956 in two laws, Public Law 443 . R. 58570 Stat. 58 and Public Law 751 . R. 1116370 Stat. 595. Indian Health program records similarly show termination as of that date, with no tribal members eligible for services. The termination was part of the
Indian termination policy Indian termination is a phrase describing United States policies relating to Native Americans from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and practices with the intent of assimilating Native Americans into mainstream ...
of the mid-1940s to mid-1960s, and specifically part of a set of Congressional acts that targeted 51 Rancherias in California. The tribal position was that though they were landless, they had not been officially terminated. After years of attempting to have their status reaffirmed, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
, "citing oversights in official records", again recognized the tribe on 29 December 2000. At the time, the tribe consisted of 53 members, mostly children. In California, tribes with gaming operations pay into a fund which distributes payments to federally-recognized tribes which operate fewer than 350 gaming devices. Payments started in 2001, and through June 30, 2021, the Koi Nation had received $21.39 million.


Gaming


Determinations

In March 2008, the tribe submitted a gaming ordinance for the National Indian Gaming Commission (NICG) Chairman's review and approval. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), 25 U.S.C. 2710(b), requires the NIGC Chairman to review and approve (or disapprove) tribal gaming ordinances. The ordinance sought a determination from the Chairman that the Nation was a restored tribe within the meaning of 25 U.S.C. 2719(b)(1)(B)(iii). On June 18, 2008, the Chairman disapproved the ordinance. He deferred to a December 29, 2000, determination of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, which reaffirmed the government-to-government relationship between the Nation and the United States and found that the Nation had never been terminated. Moreover, he said that determinations about the government-to-government relationships between the United States and Indian tribes ''per se'' and without more are properly made by the Secretary of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 2006, 2009, and 2014, the tribe requested from the
Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
(DOI) a determination that the tribe qualified to conduct gaming on lands taken into trust, as part of “the restoration of lands for an Indian tribe that is restored to Federal recognition.” 5 U.S.C. § 2719(b)(1)(B)(iii) On January 19, 2017, DOI denied the tribe's eligibility for the IGRA exception. In January 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the tribe was in fact eligible.


Specific proposals


Oakland

In 2005, the tribe officially announced its plans to build a world-class tribal government gaming facility, resort and spa near Oakland International Airport in the city of Oakland. The Tribe's Crystal Bay Casino, Resort & Spa project was said to create an estimated 4,440 new jobs, 2,200 directly, annual payroll approaching $80 million and $1 billion in overall annual economic activity for the local area. The Tribe also has begun government-to-government talks with the city to explore potential benefits the project could bring to the local economy. Discussions have included a proposal for annual payments from the Tribe to mitigate impacts to city services, including funding for additional police and fire protection, reimbursement for lost property taxes and parking tax revenue, and road and traffic improvements. The proposal was funded by Florida real estate developer
Alan Ginsburg Alan Ginsburg (born 1939) is an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and the founder of The CED Companies. Biography Ginsburg was born to a Jewish family Facing community opposition, the tribe dropped its plans.


Vallejo

In late 2014, the tribe was one of eight applicants for the development of a site in
Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to the ...
, which had been part of the
Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...
; four involved Indian gambling. The tribe was partnering with developer
Cordish Company The Cordish Companies (previously The Cordish Company) is a U.S.-based real estate development and entertainment operating company with its headquarters on the 6th floor of the Pratt Street Power Plant in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded i ...
for a proposed $850 million project, promising to pay the city between $10 million and $20 million a year, along with generating thousands of jobs. In January 2015 the Vallejo City Council voted to reject all gambling proposals and to concentrate solely on industrial proposals for the site.


Sonoma County

In September 2021, the tribe announced that it had purchased a 68-acre vineyard site on unincorporated county land on the southeast border of
Windsor, California Windsor is an incorporated town in Sonoma County, California, United States. The town is 9 miles north of Santa Rosa and 63 miles north of San Francisco. The population was 26,801 as of the 2010 census. Windsor was once home to a waterslide par ...
, north of
Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...
, for $12.3 million, and planned to turn it into a $600 million casino resort. Koi Nation attorneys filed an application to place the land into trust with the federal government, to make it eligible for casino construction under the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (, ''et seq.'') is a 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act. The stated purposes of the act ...
. The development would be about 1.2 million square feet and have about 2,000 employees when completed, according to a spokesman for the tribe. The tribe has declined to provide the names of any investors in the project. In January 2022, the tribe announced a predevelopment agreement with the
Chickasaw Nation The Chickasaw Nation (Chickasaw language, Chickasaw: Chikashsha I̠yaakni) is a federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, with its headquarters located in Ada, Oklahoma in th ...
, a much larger tribe that owns 23 casinos in Oklahoma. The agreement calls for Global Gaming Solutions, a wholly-owned Chickasaw business, to manage and operate the proposed facility. In February 2022, the tribe announced an agreement with the Northern California Carpenters Union, for the site, which is planned to have 2,500 gaming machines, a 400-room hotel, six restaurant and food service areas, a meeting center and spa, and a live entertainment venue. The
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
is expected to conduct a series of hearings later in 2022 to determine whether the Sonoma County property is suitable to convey into federal trust, and whether the project meets the requirements of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The final major regulatory step would be to negotiate a gaming compact with the state of California.


See also

*
Indigenous peoples of California The indigenous peoples of California (known as Native Californians) are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lower Lake Rancheria Native American tribes in Sonoma County Federally recognized tribes in the United States Pomo tribe Lake County, California