SANTA ROSA — The Koi Nation of Northern California accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of having a “fundamental misunderstanding” of federal law Friday after he urged rejection of the tribe’s efforts to open a casino in Sonoma County .
Newsom wrote to the U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday saying the Koi Nation’s project and that of another tribe, the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians in Solano County, should be rejected because they are outside the aboriginal territory of the tribes.
Federally recognized Native American tribes are permitted to establish gaming operations within the limits of their reservation. The Koi Nation doesn’t have a reservation but argues that it qualifies to run gaming under an exception for “restored lands.”
The tribe says a 2019 federal court decision affirmed its right “to correct historic wrongs that rendered landless tribes like the Koi, depriving them of opportunities to develop and achieve economic self-sufficiency.”
“It is evident that the governor’s opposition reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of federal law,” the tribe said in a statement.