Tribe Plans Casino on Northern California Peninsula
By Tricia McCarter-Joseph | Online Only | Aug. 27, 2009
Winehaven
Credit: Don Gosney
The Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians is in the process of purchasing Northern California's Point Molate Peninsula in an effort to re-establish a tribal government and create a self-sustaining community there. In partnership with the City of Richmond, Calif., and developer Upstream LLC, the tribe hopes to reclaim more than 400 acres of land once inhabited by their ancestors. The tribe also wants to preserve 35 National Register-listed buildings listed for use as a casino and hotels.
Although most Richmond residents welcome the casino, some city leaders and residents are dismayed that large hotels will rise in a historic district, and others question the loss of open space. At a public hearing last week, Diane Bloom, a member of the city's design review board said, "From a design standpoint, it's a massive undertaking in a natural area, and I couldn't approve it from an aesthetic standpoint," according to the Berkeley Daily Planet.
During the gold rush of the mid-1800s the Pomo Indians were driven from their lands, including those at Point Molate, located on the San Pablo Peninsula. In the early 1900s the federal government awarded the tribe the Guidiville Rancheria in Mendocino County, but deplorable living conditions and sparse economic opportunities made survival difficult.
In 1958 the federal government terminated the legal status of the Guidiville Tribe, which led the tribe, along with more than 40 other tribes, to file a lawsuit in 1987 against the government. In 1991 their status was restored.
Today there are 112 members of the tribe in the state of California, according to Michael Derry, CEO of Black Oak Development, who oversees the negotiations for the land purchase on behalf of the tribe.
"They are dispersed all over the country, but the large majority is in northern California, settling wherever they found work," Derry says.
In November 2004 the tribe reached an agreement with the city and Upstream to purchase the land for $50 million from the Navy, which used it as a fuel depot from 1941 until its closure in 1995. The city and the Navy are currently conducting a cleanup campaign before selling the area to the city, who in turn will sell it to Upstream.
The tribe hopes to use Point Molate to re-establish a tribal government, to provide economic opportunities for tribe members and local citizens, and to preserve historical aspects of the area.
"We plan to restore all of the historic buildings in the district by working with local preservation agencies," says Derry. "We also will build tribal dance grounds to be historically consistent."
Derry says that in addition to the $50 million purchase price, they also plan to spend about $1 billion in development costs using local bank loans and the assistance of a tribal partnership with the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians.
The 29 bungalows of the former company town
Credit: Don Gosney
Part of the development plan is to preserve Winehaven, a building constructed by the California Wine Association after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. In its heyday Winehaven was deemed the world's largest winery, housing 400 workers and producing 500,000 gallons of wine monthly. Derry says the winery will be used for restaurants and the cottages will be used for hotel rooms. He also adds that they plan to redevelop a coastal prairie on the site, which currently has many species that don't belong there.
Don Gosney, community co-chair for the Point Molate Restoration Advisory Board, which works with the Navy in the cleanup effort, is there to make sure that the project goes smoothly on all fronts.
Gosney says the 21-member board reports to the public on the actions of the Navy and the developers and makes sure the site gets cleaned up to the potential level of re-use.
"I'm very impressed with this project. This is one of the greenest projects in the city, and it's the community that benefits."
Correction: In an earlier version of this story, we incorrectly referred to Point Molate as an island. It is, as its name suggests, a peninsula. We regret the error.
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Comments
Submitted by UkiahWallyper at: January 2, 2011
First let me ask why would you want to deprive the people whom had every single thing token from them???? What about reparations for the genocide? And the land? and our birth rights to hunt/fish and gather. Believe it or not some of us still live the Pomo way. We go to Iraq and Afghanistan and have war with them then we fix their country’s, you can argue the case of the contexts of the war and say well we did this to help those people over there. It was a must… war is war, no matter the situation. They have reparations we get reservations. I think people just want us to die off, some oppose us and its sad they have no respect for what’s morally right. I will sing a song for you to open your eyes. Study our History from the Military Archives. killed us for cattle. would you kill a mother and child and village if they were starving and killed a cow to feed the sick and dieing people because of the dwindling animal population (our food) due to the encroachment of European settlers. There has been too much wrong done to us and yet we still have those who want to keep us down. sorry I’m frustrated. you don’t even know the hard life. I’m 27 I grew up with no running water and no Toilet on a Reservation… When we did get water we was told it was toxic and the government did nothing… The Hopland casino did. because of it that Reservation has drinkable non toxic water. please put your selves in our shoes. I grew up knowing the true history, it happened to my family. anyways educate your self before making selfish decisions and before telling half truths. Thank you – Julian G.
Submitted by Verdadero at: October 14, 2009
The indigenous people of Richmond were the huychiun group of the Ohlone people. The Sounthern Pomo never went south of sebastopol or Santa Rosa. The Guidiville and Scotts Valley Pomo are Northern Pomo speakers and have always been in the Mendocino/Lake County region. They never had bay access, much less historic presence ibn Richmond. "Rent a Tribe"
Submitted by Brian at: August 28, 2009
I am happy that the Native Americans are free to make their own decisions, whether they are good or bad decisions.