Coquille Tribe says nationally unprecedented distillery will 'uplift the community'

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) —  Oregon has become the first state in the nation to enter into an agreement with a tribe to open a distillery on their land. 

The Mill Casino in North Bend will be the site of a new operation by Heritage Distilling Company thanks to a landmark agreement between the Coquille Indian Tribe and the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission.

Margaret Simpson is the CEO of the Coquille Economic Development Corporation, the parent company of The Mill Casino. She told KOIN 6 News the new distillery will help to "uplift the community."  

"We have 1,200 citizens of the Coquille Indian Tribe. And we expect this project to diversify revenue for the Tribe and to also uplift the community as a whole,” Simpson said. “Because we do rely so heavily on tourism and attracting people to make the drive to come to our beautiful homelands and we believe this project is going to help us do that in a more profound way.”

Renovations are also in the works for The Mill Casino which will bolster the presence of the new distillery.

“It will completely transform a certain part of the property where we have food and beverage outlets,” Simpson said. “The second story used to be offices and now it's actually going to be a revenue-generating space for the Tribe.”

In terms of what kind of spirits will be sold, it will include a “wide variety,” such as whiskey and flavored vodkas. 

“Heritage has the most amazing — we personally believe — the most amazing flavored vodkas. They have a lavender, which is super popular, and a huckleberry, so good,” Simpson said.

The deal between OLCC and the Coquille Tribe was made possible due to an 1834 federal law prohibiting liquor distillation on tribal lands being repealed in 2018. The law was repealed in large part thanks to efforts from the Chehalis Tribe in Washington and Heritage Distilling Company, Simpson said.