When the leadership of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians expanded its casino, a brewery and distillery seemed like a natural addition. But until a few years ago, distilling alcohol on reservations was illegal. Now, the Paskenta Brewery & Distillery is the first tribal-owned California distillery. One of just a handful of tribal-owned distilleries in the U.S., it’s also aiming to be a model for others.
The right to distill liquor was part of a series of laws that guided how the federal government interacted with tribes and sovereign governments of indigenous peoples — an addition in 1834 specifically limited or eliminated the production, sale and trade of spirits by tribal governments on and off reservation lands. The law was signed by President Andrew Jackson, not long after the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forcibly displaced more than 60,000 Indigenous people from their ancestral lands.
In 1953 the law was amended to allow sales of alcohol on tribal land, but spirits production was still prohibited. All that changed in 2018 when Congress repealed the 1834 Indian Trade And Intercourse Act.
“This particular law was consistent with the pattern of paternalistic laws pertaining to indigenous peoples across the country. And this one was just an ancient hold-over that was finally changed,” said Andrew “Dru” Alejandre, the Tribal Chairman of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians.
The law is one of many longtime federal laws that are largely ignored, but still affect tribes, according to Alejandre. A coalition of tribes across the country lobbied to gain the right for all 574 federally recognized Native American tribes to distill liquor on their lands. The repeal represents an economic opportunity somewhat similar to gaming ones that were enacted in the late 1980s, said Alejandre.
The craft spirits market reached $6.7 billion in sales in 2021, growing at an annual growth rate of 9.8%, according to the American Craft Spirits Association. At a very slow pace, Native-owned distilleries are now getting a piece of that business. In 2020 in Washington, members of the Chehalis Indian Tribe tribe opened a distillery in partnership with Heritage Distilling Co. called Talking Cedar Brewery. Wisconsin-based Copper Crow, the first Native-owned distillery in the country, made headlines this year for taking advantage of its dairy-state home by producing one of the few whey-based gins and vodkas in addition to their rum and wheat-based vodka.
The Paskenta Brewery & Distillery is making vodka, gin, rums and moonshine under the leadership of master distiller John Couchot, who was previously master distiller at Boston Harbor Distillery. A large uncut obsidian stone, a sacred object to the Tribe, is placed in the glass dome of the distillery’s spirit safe, and the team is hoping to experiment with traditional ingredients like acorns that were used by the tribe’s ancestors. The brewery also produces a wheat ale, IPA, lager and a brown ale.
For now, the distillery produces enough volume to support consumption at the casino, entertainment venue and bottles for sale at the reservation’s travel center. Bottling for distribution is planned for the next stage. Alejandre hopes growing the spirit businesses generates new revenue for membership while offering jobs that allow young tribe members to gain and use new skills.
“Paskenta has a long history of creative people and crafts, and this particular project is interesting in that it provides future generations of members the ability to create and hone their craft— not just creating a new beer that’s different than anything else in the industry or creating a new product, but developing the brands and the packaging,” he said.
Serving as a model and resource for other tribes that are developing their own distilleries or spirit brands is also part of the vision, and several have already reached out.
“We’re still working on building our own business and working out the kinks, but eventually it is our goal to be able to help other tribes, whether it be by producing white label spirits or helping them build their own facility,” he said.