Tribe just misses original 2017 unveiling
Members of the Spokane Tribe's Tribal Council (L-R): David Browneagle, Carol Evans, Glenn Ford, Greg Abrahamson and Dan Kieffer were part of a contingent of officials that met with the media on Dec. 20 to announce the Jan. 8, 2018 opening of their Airway Heights casino.
To borrow - and butcher - a familiar few words, seems appropriate when discussing the Spokane Tribe of Indians new casino in Airway Heights.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of pending lawsuits stays the tribe from the slightly delayed completion of their long-awaited gaming establishment.
As workers scurried about Dec. 20, putting finishing touches on the casino building, tribal officials gathered in a chilly parking lot to announce the first phase of their project would open Monday, Jan. 8, 2018 at 7 p.m. Breaking ground in mid-November 2016, the Spokanes missed their original deadline of a 2017 unveiling.
Tribal Council chair Carol Evans opened the press conference with a Salish-language greeting, thanking those in attendance, "On this very fine, cold, icy morning."
"I'm just so honored and proud to be here today," Evans, flanked by other council members David Browneagle, Glenn Ford, Greg Abrahamson and Dan Kieffer, said. "It's been a long time coming for the Spokane Tribe, and we are very, very close to opening our beautiful casino."
"This means so much for our people, for the local area," Evans said. "It will help our people with jobs."
At its opening, the Spokane Tribe Casino will offer approximately 450 slot machines, 12 table games, a restaurant-bar, a deli and a gaming floor bar.
"To build on our ancestral homeland means so much to us," Evans said. And in doing so the tribe has honored their history by naming areas of the casino after things that have significance.
Three Peaks Kitchen and Bar will feature casual fine dining and scratch-made menu items. Those mountains include Mt. Spokane, Cayuse Mountain on the Spokane Reservation and Steptoe Butte. "(These are) three important landmarks that roughly outline the Spokane's ancestral homeland," Evans explained.
Whaluks gaming floor bar references a traditional card game played by generations of the Spokane Tribe. "Because the Spokane Tribe Casino is a gathering place for social interaction, Whaluks is a nod to the tribe's traditions of fun and games," Evans said.
Speelya's Den Deli is a third food-service entity. "Speelya" is the Salish word for coyote, an important figure in Spokane Tribe culture and stories. The tribal lore tells of this animal as being a "trickster" that represents fun and merriment and a place where friends can gather to take a break over a quick bite to eat, Evans said.
The casino, which will employ about 350, is still hiring Evans said. Approximately 100 positions have yet to be filled, Evans added.
The casino is the first project of a much larger eventual build-out that plans to add a hotel, retail and other supporting businesses. No timetable was provided on additional phases.
Further information of the facility and employment is available by visiting http://www.spokanetribecasino.com.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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