The land was purchased, the site work complete. Architectural drawings rendered and revised, then revised again.
The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation in western Washington was $2 million into its project to build a pub-style restaurant, brewery, and distillery several years ago when its plans came to a screeching halt. Standing in the tribe’s way: a federal law nearly 200 years old that prohibited distilleries on tribal land.
“It’s an antiquated law, and it had never ever been enforced since 1834, and everybody assumed it was legal to do this, just like we did,” said Jeff Warnke, director of government and public relations for the Chehalis tribe.
So the tribe, which was looking for ways to diversify its economy from casino gaming, went to work to change the law.
“Republicans, Democrats, independents, everyone thought this was racist, it was wrong, and we need to fix it,” Warnke said.
Moreover, in December, thanks to bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler of Washington, they were successful. President Trump signed Herrera-Beutler’s bill into law, officially lifting the distilling ban passed by Congress 184 years earlier.
Today, the Chehalis tribe’s distillery, brewery, and restaurant are half complete, with a grand opening expected in early 2020. The distillery will be one of the largest west of the Mississippi River, Warnke said, and the restaurant is projected to seat 200 people.
“Before we hit the life cycle on that casino funding, we want to make sure there are plenty of other revenue streams available for the tribe to provide essential government services to the Chehalis people,” he said.
The efforts by the Chehalis tribe to open a distillery and brewery underscore the broader craft spirits boom that has taken the country by storm. A 2018 report from the American Craft Spirits Association found the number of active craft distillers in the United States increased 15.5% over the previous year, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported breweries, wineries, and distilleries added the second-most manufacturing jobs in 2017.
“It’s been an incredible growth engine for America,” Jarrett Dieterle, an alcohol policy expert at the free-market think tank R Street Institute, said of the craft spirits industry.
Restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol on Indian reservations date back to the early 1800s when President Thomas Jefferson in 1802 requested legislation barring alcohol on tribal lands, according to the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. In 1832, legislation creating the commissioner of Indian affairs said, “No ardent spirits shall be hereafter introduced, under any pretense, into Indian country.” Two years later, the restrictions were expanded to include penalties for the sale of alcohol on tribal land and to prohibit the building of distilleries in Indian country.
Many of the laws regulating spirits on tribal reservations remained in place for decades, even after the 21st Amendment brought an end to prohibition.
“It was a chapter in American history where there was this distrust in Native Americans and their access to alcohol,” said Dieterle. “There were a lot of very patronizing laws passed.”
In the 1950s, Congress amended the 1834 statute to allow the sale and possession of alcohol on reservations but left the distilling ban in place. Leaving the prohibition intact, Dieterle said, has robbed Native American tribes of access to a “fountain of jobs.”
“Everyone has a brewery down the street, but no one stops and thinks why that’s a good and healthy thing and shows the dynamism of the American economy,” said Dieterle. “Spreading that to Native American tribes is a good thing.”
Once the Chehalis tribe gets its restaurant and distillery up and running, Warnke said it plans to sell its spirits to the public, not only through its businesses — the Lucky Eagle Casino, the Great Wolf Lodge, and three convenience stores — but to other tribal enterprises as well.
“One of the drivers behind this is we have a natural built-in customer for the product we will produce,” he said. “We could be stocking their shelves with our own product rather than buying product from someone else.”
Additionally, the restaurant and distillery are expected to create 100 jobs, which can be filled by tribal members and those from the broader community in Grand Mound, Washington. The Chehalis tribe employs roughly 2,000 people across its various enterprises, and among its 1,000 members, Warnke estimates between 600 and 750 are of working age.
“Literally every job we create is a job that will be filled by a nontribal member somewhere,” he said. “Grand Mound has been a fairly economically depressed area of Washington state, so we are bringing jobs to the community.”
Curt and Linda Basina have the distinction of starting the first Native American-owned distillery, Copper Crow Distillery, which opened a year-and-a-half ago. Located on the reservation of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Basinas decided to open their own distillery after exploring local breweries, wineries, and distilleries while on vacation.
“We started with it knowing that those communities that have breweries, wineries, and distilleries see a significant increase in tourism and tourism-related spending,” said Curt Basina. “We saw an opportunity being in a fairly touristy area to capitalize on having a distillery here.”
Basina had no trouble securing a permit from the federal government to open Copper Crow Distillery and was unaffected by the distilling ban because, while technically within the boundaries of the reservation, the distillery sits on family-owned land.
Initially, Basina said the tribe was not thrilled with the idea of a distillery on the reservation, but that changed once he explained it could bring in money.
Today, the distillery employs 10 people, the majority of whom are Native American and female. Copper Crow serves a wheat-based vodka and rum, and Basina has developed a whey-based vodka and whey-based gin.
“By opening up this distillery here, we’re able to offer employment opportunities to people,” he said. “In addition to offering the job opportunities, we’re expecting that Red Cliff and the surrounding Bayfield area will see an increase in tourism-related spending.”
Basina concedes that not many tribes may start distilling operations due to the bevy of government regulations to comply with and excessive startup costs, but he said there are several benefits.
Lifting the distilling ban, he said, “opens up other economic opportunities for other tribes.”
