Washington tribe unveils name and logo for coming casino

After breaking ground on its off-reservation casino in western Washington in November, the Spokane Tribe Of Indians has now reportedly unveiled the name and logo for the coming $400 million development.

According to a report from The Spokesman-Review newspaper, the federally-recognized tribe used a jobs’ fair on May 31 to reveal that the new casino is to be christened as the Spokane Tribe Casino while its logo will feature a mirror image of two horses in order to represent the past and future of the Spokane Tribe Of Indians.

The local newspaper reported that the logo for the Spokane Tribe Casino will also include an upward-pointing arrow carved out of the letter “A” in the word “Spokane” to suggest the good luck of a winning streak and future prosperity of the region and the tribe. There is to moreover be three multi-colored arrows placed in-between the facing horses to signify the three bands of the Spokane Tribe Of Indians that once roamed freely along the Spokane River basin.

“Our ancestral homelands spread across more than three million acres including Airway Heights and much of the Spokane region,” read a statement from Carol Evans, Chairwoman for the Spokane Tribal Business Council. “This name honors our heritage, our history and our ties to the land.”

The summer of 2015 saw the Spokane Tribe Of Indians receive a two-part approval from the United States Department Of The Interior to build the casino on 145 acres of land in the city of Airway Heights. This consent came despite protests from a group of area business leaders and lawmakers worried that the project would be too close to the flight path of nearby Fairchild Air Force Base. Home to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing and the Air National Guard’s 141st Air Refueling Wing, the base is the largest employer in the region around the city of 7BALL Spokane with 5,700 jobs and an annual economic impact on the region in excess of $1 billion.

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The casino project additionally faced opposition from the Kalispel Tribe Of Indians, which operates the Northern Quest Resort And Casino less than three miles away from the site for the coming casino.

Despite these objections, Washington Governor Jay Inslee approved the tribe’s casino project in June of 2016 following a year of legal reviews and discussions with multiple tribal governments, state and local authorities, federal officials, United States Air Force leaders and business and community groups.

However, not happy that the casino is going ahead, Spokane County recently revealed that it intended to sue the United States Department Of The Interior over its decision while April saw the Kalispel Tribe Of Indians file a similar action that calls for an immediate halt to all construction.

For its part, the Spokane Tribe Of Indians reportedly explained that it anticipates opening the Spokane Tribe Casino later this year complete with a full-service restaurant, an express deli, and a bar while its gaming floor is to offer some 450 slots as well as twelve gaming tables. It declared that later development phases could see the facility enlarged via the addition of a hotel, cultural center and tribal police and fire station.