A yearslong feud between two Native American tribes in the North Bay over a proposed casino outside Santa Rosa has escalated with a lawsuit.

In a suit filed last week, attorneys for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are alleging "irreparable harm" to their tribe's sovereignty and sacred objects if a proposal moves forward for a Koi Nation resort-casino in an unincorporated area between Windsor and Santa Rosa.

Plans for the casino-resort date back several years, as do accusations of "reservation shopping" by Graton Rancheria, whose Graton Resort and Casino lies just 15 miles south along Highway 101 from the proposed Shiloh Resort and Casino. While the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria have established sovereign territory just west of Rohnert Park, based on their historic ties to the county, they have argued that the Koi Nation's ties are less direct.

As reported previously, the Koi Nation has been mostly landless for about 150 years, and their ancestors originally occupied land in Lake County, on an island in Clear Lake. They were granted a "rancheria" consisting of "uninhabitable" land south of Clear Lake early in the 20th Century, and according to a tribal history, they were told by Bureau of Indian Affairs that they would lose their rights to the land if they left it.

"While the tribe was suddenly landless, the Koi Nation remained what it had always been: a federally recognized tribe with inherent sovereignty," the tribe says. Now fewer than 100 people, Koi Nation members settled in and around the Russian River in the 20th Century, and they have been working to claim a sovereign piece of land with the Department of the Interior for many years.

They settled on a 68-acre former winery property on East Shiloh Road, which they purchased for $12 million three years ago, and they then partnered with the wealthy and well-resourced Chicksaw Nation of Oklahoma to build a 200-room hotel and casino-resort on the property.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors made a show of opposing the Koi Nation's plans in 2022, however the decision to establish sovereign lands lies with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Department of the Interior.

Last week, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria filed suit, as SFGate reports, accusing the agencies of not doing their due diligence in researching the Koi Nation's ancestral lands, which they contend were 50 miles to the north. The lawsuit came just as the tribe appeared to be poised to receive their federal approval, as the Press Democrat reported.

Greg Sarris, the leader of Graton Rancheria, told the Press Democrat back in July that a decision to approve this new territory "violates in every way who and what we are." He went on to make a provocative comparison about the Koi Nation's choice of land, saying, "if the Department of the Interior accepts these definitions as a deep historical connection to the land, I can go down to San Francisco and get a few buildings there... I have a deeper connection to San Francisco than they do here. So [Graton Rancheria] should establish a site on Ohlone territory."

Sam Singer, who has been serving as spokesperson for the Koi Nation, issued a statement accusing Graton Rancheria of simply trying to protect their own casino from competition.

"There is no truthfulness or merit to the Graton Rancheria lawsuit which was made in bad faith," Singer said. "The lawsuit is an effort at gamesmanship to circumvent the [Bureau of Indian Affairs]’ legal and regulatory process to advance Graton’s own economic interest."

Both Graton and the Sonoma supervisors appear to have held sway with the governor's office as well. As SFGate notes, Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior, in August, asking them not to move forward with an approval for the Koi Nation site.

Newsom noted in his letter that "caution is warranted when considering the potential expansion of gaming to land that is not currently eligible for gaming. This is particularly true in California, where the voters who legalized tribal gaming were promised that such gaming would remain geographically limited."

Newsom added, "This historical context underscores the importance of striking a careful balance between the potential benefits of expanded tribal gaming and its potential impacts on surrounding communities."

A decision on the East Shiloh Road site is expected by late December.

Previously: Sonoma County Supes Vote to Oppose New Koi Nation Casino, But It's Not Really Up to Them