1. Specialties: Menominee Casino Resort is an all-in-one destination for guests and groups of up to 1000 that offers a complete gaming, lodging, dining and entertainment experience that draws upon the Menominee Nation's long heritage of.
  2. Our new TEMPORARY HOURS are Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm Hand Sanitizing stations will be available, and we encourage our patrons to wear a mask and practice social distancing. Please continue to watch our Social Media and Website for latest up to date upcoming event information.

Welcome to Northern Lights Casino, Hotel & Event Center in Walker, Minnesota. Become our latest 'big winner' by playing one of our 900 slot machines, beating the odds at Blackjack, or dominating a poker tournament. Relax in one of our comfortable hotel rooms or take a dip in our pool.

© Provided by Green Bay Press-Gazette
CLICK TO DONATE Report For America is a nonprofit newsroom that covers underreported communities. Your tax-deductible donation helps support local journalism.

Menominee Casino Gift Shop Hours Christmas Eve

KESHENA – The Menominee Tribe had been able to keep a handle on the number of COVID-19 cases throughout much of the summer until about mid-September when cases started to skyrocket, forcing officials to partially shut down the county.

Cases of COVID-19 in Menominee County, which shares roughly the same borders as the Menominee reservation, had remained in the single digits through much of the spring and the first half summer.

A large spike in cases started to occur the third week of September, raising the number of people infected with COVID-19 to 123 as of Monday, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Dr. Amy Slagle of the Menominee Tribal Clinic said the surge in cases is having serious implications on the reservation with some Menominee now hospitalized in serious condition, and even some infants are infected.

She warned that medical resources are being strained regionally.

Menominee casino gift shop hours aldiMenominee Casino Gift Shop Hours

“There are very few hospital beds available in Green Bay, Shawano or in the Fox Valley,” Slagle said in a statement. “Hospitals are full of COVID patients. So, if you need to be in the hospital for something else you may get admitted in the hallway or be sent a hospital far away.”

Shawano County also is seeing a major surge in cases.

Menominee casino gift shop hours locations

The number of COVID-19 cases in that county slowly rose over the summer to about 300 until it also had da spike starting in mid-September.

Menominee Casino Gift Shop Hours Near Me

As of Monday, there were 1,304 people who had been diagnosed with the disease in the county.

Slagle said no large “super-spreader” events have been identified as a cause of the surge, and there have been no outbreaks on reservation schools or the casino.

She believes the outbreak was caused by people easing on safety precautions at small gatherings, such as Green Bay Packers game parties or birthday celebrations and from people sharing a ride without wearing a mask.

“Some people got exposed at work where safety measures weren’t followed,” Slagle said.

Officials are urging people not to attend Packers parties, visit bars, travel and, especially, not to visit with elders.

“It is sobering how quickly the virus spread, once it found a foothold,” Slagle said. “Now, all we feared is happening. Elders lives are at risk. … This surge can be crushed, but it takes action by everyone.”

As a result of the spike, tribal officials issued emergency orders and temporary closures on the reservation in effect until at least Oct. 12.

Menominee Casino Gift Shop Hours Locations

Hours

All tribal government offices, outside of essential services, are closed, as well as all schools.

Restaurants and bars are also closed on the reservation, but curbside food service is allowed, and there is a daily curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The Menominee Casino Resort also has been closed, but its gift shop and convenience store are still open with mask and social distancing requirements.

The order is being enforced by tribal police and conservation officers. Violators are subject to a $500 fine.

On Monday, Myron Pyawasit, brother of Menominee Tribal Legislator Gary Besaw, shared his experience with COVID-19, in a public service video.

“It struck our lungs and we couldn’t breathe,” Pyawasit said, adding that he didn’t sleep much for four days because of difficulty breathing while lying down.

He said he, his wife, their son and their daughters were all infected.

Pyawasit said his wife suffered the most and had to be in an induced coma and he couldn’t administer traditional medicine to her because she was in quarantine.

“We really went through a lot and it was a living nightmare,” he said.

Menominee Casino Gift Shop Hours Aldi

Besaw said most of the infected in Menominee County are tribal citizens and he’s worried about the effect of COVID-19 on Indigenous people given the high instances of diabetes and heart disease.

“We need to take this serious,” he said. “Menominee have always taken of each other. We’ve lived through tuberculosis, small pox and many things brought upon us.”

Frank Vaisvilas is a Report For America corps member based at the Green Bay Press-Gazette covering Native American issues in Wisconsin. He can be reached at 920-228-0437 or fvaisvilas@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to this reporting effort at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Spike in COVID-19 cases on Menominee reservation prompts tribal officials to issue emergency orders