Actor Peter Coyote Announces Support for Koi Nation Casino Project in Sonoma County

Actor and author Peter Coyote, long associated with environmental causes, has announced his support for the creation of the Koi Nation’s planned Shiloh Resort & Casino.

“The Shiloh Resort and Casino, with its dedicated tax dollars recirculating in and through the community, might honestly be classified as a critical need today,” Peter Coyote said. The Koi Nation is “overdue to receive this opportunity to regain their historic self-sufficiency and create a stable economic base for the tribe.”

Coyote has narrated a short video for the Koi Nation, one of the oldest federally-recognized Native American tribes in California. The educational video emphasizes the Tribe’s commitment to developing its Shiloh Resort & Casino in harmony with the natural beauty of its land in Sonoma County.

The Shiloh Resort & Casino will be a destination resort that will provide an economic base for the Tribe, built on property the Tribe acquired after having been landless since the federal government forced the sale of its Lower Lake Rancheria in the 1950s. With a 400-room hotel, entertainment venues, and a variety of gaming options, the resort will provide income and jobs for the Tribe and its members as well as economic benefits to the community.

One of the most important aspects of the resort, highlighted in the video, is the way the project’s design fits into the landscape of its wine country location.

The video helps members of the community better understand and visualize the project and see for themselves how the Koi Nation designed the project with respect for the environment.

“Our people lived in this region for thousands of years, always with great respect for the land, and that has remained a core part of our Tribe even as we were made landless. Now that the Tribe once again has acquired property of its own, we have not forgotten the importance of that relationship, which is why we have designed the Shiloh Resort & Casino with the careful attention to its setting you can see in the video,” Tribal Chairman Darin Beltran said.

“We are pleased to have an individual with Peter Coyote’s strong environmental stance as the narrator for our video. It’s important to us to communicate our commitment to the land and nature with our neighbors throughout Sonoma County. This video lets them see for themselves the beauty of the site and of what we are building,” Dino Beltran, Koi Nation Vice Chair and Director of Development, said.

The Koi Nation of Northern California has executed a predevelopment agreement with Global Gaming Solutions (GGS), a wholly-owned business enterprise of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, to engage as the Koi’s development partner for its planned Shiloh Casino & Resort in Sonoma County. GGS will also act as the manager and operator of the establishment when completed.

The Chickasaw Nation, with its tribal headquarters in Ada, Oklahoma, has an exemplary track record in developing and operating tribal gaming operations and related resort properties. It operates 23 gaming establishments around the nation, including Winstar World Casino and Resort, the largest casino in the world. The Chickasaw Nation also operates nearly 200 additional highly successful businesses, giving it a broad range of commercial expertise that makes it the ideal partner to develop and manage the Shiloh Resort & Casino.

The Shiloh Casino & Resort will include a 2750 Class III gaming machine facility, a 400-room hotel, six restaurant and food service areas, a meeting center and a spa, as well as a state-of-the-art live entertainment venue. The property will employ more than 1100 full-time workers when fully operational.