Washington state’s Chehalis tribe lobbied hard to overturn a racist 180-year-old law barring them from producing their own alcohol. Now they finally have their shot.n spite of the pandemic, this summer the Chehalis tribe of western Washington opened a historic new enterprise—new not just for their 5,420-acre reservation 75 miles south of Seattle, but for all tribes nationwide.
Many Chehalis leaders saw the spirits business as a no-brainer, considering that they already sell liquor at their casino, hotels and stores. Making their own alcohol would enable the tribe to capture both the manufacturing and distribution margins, as well as a 6% tribal sales tax. “But there was a big stigma attached,” says Chris Richardson, managing director at CTE. Tribe members were wary of potential detrimental impacts of easily available alcohol on the reservation.
Groundbreaking: The Chehalis spent $25 million to build its facility, the first legal distillery owned by a Native American tribe. These battles with the state and federal government are nothing new for the Chehalis. They had a similar issue with selling gasoline on their land. When the tribe set up its first gas stations in 2004, Washington insisted they collect the 28 cents per gallon state sales tax—even on sales to tribe members on their sovereign territory.
Easing their mission: “There was not a single meeting where someone in the House or Senate said that they thought the statute was still good policy,” says Stiefel. Even the Bureau of Indian Affairs was in favor of dropping the law. After nearly a year of lobbying and with the help of members of the Washington State delegation, including Senator Maria Cantwell, a bill was pushed through at the end of the 2018 session and signed by President Trump.