\n“The violations set forth compromise the integrity of the Northwood Casino and the gaming industry as a whole, diminish the sole proprietary interests of the Tribe, threaten the health and safety of the public, and impede the Tribe’s ability to make necessary decisions to administer their operations,” Chaudhuri concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The tribe quickly obliged to the closure order, as civil penalties total $50,275 per violation, per occurrence.<\/p>\n
Blood and Money<\/h2>\n The Nooksack’s misstep in holding tribal council election stems from an ongoing disenrollment controversy within the community, which impacts the number of people who get to share in casino profits.<\/p>\n
\n
Last November, Chairman Bob Kelly, Jr., ordered nearly 300 members booted from the tribe. He based his decision \u00a0on alleged findings that ancestors of Annie George didn’t have strong enough bloodlines to be merit full membership as Nooksack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
George’s children married Filipino migrant workers, and gained power in the tribe during the 1980s and 1990s. They also reportedly became involved in smuggling drugs across the Canadian border, Kelly’s group claimed.<\/p>\n
Removing the alleged members hasn’t gone smoothly, and decades-long civil strife has now led to the closure of the tribe’s last remaining casino. In addition to losing out on the much-needed revenue the Northwood venue generates, hundreds of workers are also being laid off, at least temporarily, until the Nooksack people can convince the federal government who deserves proper recognition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Northwood Casino in northern Washington state is closed until further notice. The US government ordered it to cease operations for violating numerous tribal gaming provisions under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). Located just steps from the US-Canadian border, the Northwood Casino is owned and operated by the Nooksack Tribe, a Native American group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":52620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Feds Order Northwood Casino Closed amid Internal Squabbles Challenging Tribal Legitimacy<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n