The Flying Lark, a “gaming, entertainment and dining destination,” is set to open in Grants Pass this winter in connection with the reopening of the Grants Pass Downs racetrack. The entertainment center touts the 250 historic horse racing machines (HHR) it hopes to employ as a major selling point to draw in guests, ultimately distressing  the Native tribal leaders of Oregon.
“No matter where you are in Oregon today, remember, you are on Indigenous land,” Gov. Kate Brown’s official statement on Oct. 11, 2021, Indigenous People’s Day, read. “Today, we pay our respects to the nine federally recognized Tribes in Oregon, and honor all the Indigenous peoples who have long called these sacred lands their home.”
Despite such words, the state government refuses to step in as one of the Dutch Bros. co-founders, Travis Boersma, attempts to siphon revenue away from the nine Oregon tribes.
Boersma signed a 50-year lease with Josephine County in 2019 in an attempt to save the horse racing industry in Oregon. To attract more visitors, however, Boersma plans to stuff the facility with HHRs, which are slot machine-like terminals that allow a guest to bet on replays of races. The Flying Lark, if the Oregon Racing Commission approves its application, will feature an updated form of HHR that is more like a slot machine than its predecessor, having been produced by associated brands and having completely randomized results. With such a large number of terminals, the Flying Lark may as well be a casino.
However, it is not being acknowledged as such because that would be against Oregon law, which criminalizes private casinos.
Native American tribes, however, are considered sovereign nations, so certain state and federal laws do not apply to them. As long as they are built and operated within reservation boundaries, gambling facilities such as casinos are legal under Oregon law. This idea came to be in the 1970s when Native Americans began to operate bingo halls to raise tribal funds — modern tribal casinos are now obliged to invest earnings back into the community in which they dwell.
Tribal leaders of six Native tribes — the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw; the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians; the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation; the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians and the Klamath Tribes — released an official statement regarding the use of HHR on Oct. 6, 2021. The six leaders cite a study which estimated that 250 HHRs would “reduce tribal gaming revenues by $6 million” within the first year.
This is money that would go toward many of the services that tribal governments provide to their people, including healthcare, education and basic infrastructure — services that aren’t allocated by the federal government. By installing the grand sum of HHRs in the Flying Lark, Boersma will essentially redirect the $6 million into his own pocket, adding to his current $2.5 billion net worth.
Should we, a university that begins nearly every presentation with a Kalapuya land acknowledgement, let this financial theft occur without protest? Ashley Younger, member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and president of UO’s Native American Student Union (NASU), does not consider the actions of the “wannabe casino man” excusable.
“I always think about how people say money is the root of all evil. I don’t believe it at all; I think money brings out the evil in people, but it has to already be there for that to happen,” Younger said. “If it doesn’t bother you to exploit someone’s culture, or to try to steal from them, then it’s not because you were offered some money. You already had that in you.”
The fact that the plans to use HHRs within the Flying Lark continue despite public tribal outcry on the matter displays this “evil” within Boersma. He’d rather add to his overflowing bank account than grant respect to Indigenous Americans.
“I’m tired of people from vulnerable groups — such as people who live on reservations who are supposed to have some shred of dignity after centuries of exploitation and murder and dehumanization — have that completely violated by people who are just trying to make a buck,” Younger said. “This is one of the few things that we are afforded, or supposed to be afforded.”
Greed-driven Americans have been taking from Indigenous populations with no regard for their collective livelihood since before the nation’s founding, and we must break the cycle of exploitation without consequences once and for all.
The UO student body should stand with the Native tribes of Oregon as well as our NASU and boycott Dutch Bros. Coffee until the Flying Lark withdraws its application for the use of HHRs or the application is officially denied by the Oregon Racing Commission.