The Colville explain that the Pasco casino will provide support services to its 9,500 members.Ĭasino revenue is important to the Yakama too. The Colville have three casinos operating under the 12 Tribes name in Chelan, Grand Coulee and Omak, all nearly three or more hours away. The former is operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, the latter by the Yakamas. The two nearest, Wildhorse Casino and Resort in Pendleton and Legends Casino & Hotel in Toppenish, are more than an hour’s drive from Kennewick. The Tri-Cities has casinos, but none operated by a tribe. The Yakama Nation, which operates Legends Casino and Hotel in Toppenish, is exploring to open a casino in Tri-Cities. That’s almost 80% of the $3.9 billion in net gambling receipts in 2022, a figure that includes $344 million tallied from the Washington State Lottery. Last year, tribal gaming netted $3.1 billion, according to figures compiled for the 2023 Legislature by the Washington State Gambling Commission. The Colville consider Eastern Washington and parts of Canada part of the territories claimed by its own 12 member tribes, which includes the Palouse or Palus. “Because Colville’s rights don’t extend to Pasco, this means they do not have the tribal right to open a casino in Pasco, and they never will,” he wrote. It says the Colville don’t have rights to the territory the Yakama ceded in the treaty. The Yakama note the Palouse were signatories to its 1855 treaty with the U.S. Palouse tribal members still affiliate with both. They are generally concentrated in Western Washington and around Spokane and points north.īoth the Colville and Yakama claim the Pasco area through the Palouse Tribe. Washington has 29, which are operated by 22 tribes. There are reportedly 474 tribal casinos in 29 states. The act authorized tribal casinos in states that don’t ban them, a group that includes Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The process for establishing tribal casinos is spelled out in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. The 16-step federal procedure is managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and handled through the Indian Gaming Commission.

Lewis called the move by the Colville “upsetting” in a letter to the Herald, after it wrote about the fee-to-trust news. The Colville recently confirmed they initiated the development process by submitting a request to transfer 184 acres near Pasco’s King City Truck Stop into a federal trust. We only have one,” Gerald Lewis, chair of the Yakama Nation, told the Herald, referring to Legends Casino & Hotel in Toppenish.

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