High housing costs have challenged the tribe to support its members, and she said the Siletz need care homes for older members and struggling youth, as well as those who are homeless. “On the coast, we don’t enjoy the revenues that we would be able to enjoy in a city,” Pigsley said. Revenue from that casino pays for the tribe’s cultural programs and supports higher education for tribal members, Pigsley said, but it’s not enough to keep up with what the tribal government needs. The tribe operates Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City. Pigsley said that revenue would allow the Siletz to support critical social programs, including providing housing to tribal members. It also said the casino would generate 1,200 full time jobs, according to a tribal fact sheet. The Siletz tribe expects to generate $185 million in its first year of operation and $231 million by its third. If approved, the Siletz tribe would have a unique profit-sharing structure, with one-quarter of the casino’s profits earmarked for state and local government, one-quarter for the tribe, and the remaining half to be split among Oregon’s eight other tribes. We’ll be looking at it carefully,” Pigsley said. “We legally have the right since we negotiated our compact 20-some years ago. Pigsley cited the tribe’s 1995 compact with the state, which says the tribe and state may negotiate a gaming compact to use the Salem land.

“She can’t disapprove it until we get a decision from the bureau,” Pigsley said in an interview Tuesday. Tribal Chairman Delores Pigsley said despite Kotek’s letter, the tribe intends to move forward. There would also be a 500-room hotel, nightclub and sports bar. The proposed 180,800-square-foot casino would house 2,000 gaming devices and 45 tables. The Siletz tribe has planned for years to build a 20-acre off-reservation casino on tribe-owned land at 4751 Astoria Street N.E. The letter was first reported by Willamette Week. This helps all of us avoid confusion, use of resources, and advocacy for and against changing my stance in favor of one gaming facility per tribe on reservation land,” the governor wrote. “I wanted to provide this clarification of my Tribal gaming policy so that Tribes, the federal government, and local entities know where I stand.

Federal law requires both federal and state approval for the project. The project is currently awaiting approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where it’s sat for over a year.

Oregon casino