It’se Ye Ye Casino · Kamiah

About It’se Ye Ye Casino

It’se Ye Ye Casino is a tribal gaming facility at 419 3rd Street in Kamiah, Idaho, owned and operated by the Nez Perce Tribe. The casino opened in 2001 and runs approximately 110 electronic gaming machines — Bingo, slot machines, and video poker — with a café, restaurant, and self-parking on site. The minimum gambling age is 18, and gaming is regulated by the Idaho State Lottery and Idaho Gaming Commission under the Nez Perce Tribe’s Class III gaming compact with the State of Idaho. Website and current hours: facebook.com/itseyeyecasino.

Kamiah is in Lewis County in north-central Idaho along the Clearwater River, approximately 70 miles east of Lewiston via US-12 — the corridor that follows the Clearwater River through the Nez Perce homelands and toward the Lolo Pass gateway to Montana. The Kamiah location places It’se Ye Ye Casino on the lower Clearwater River corridor, adjacent to the Nez Perce National Historical Park sites that commemorate the tribe’s history in this valley. The casino is a small community-scale gaming facility serving the Kamiah area and visitors traveling the US-12 recreational corridor.

The Nez Perce Tribe is a federally recognized Native American nation whose ancestral territory spans the Snake, Salmon, and Clearwater river drainages of north-central Idaho, northeastern Oregon, and southeastern Washington. The tribe was forcibly removed to the current Nez Perce Reservation following the 1877 Nez Perce War; today the reservation spans parts of Idaho County, Lewis County, and Clearwater County. The Nez Perce Tribe also operates the Clearwater River Casino in Lewiston — a larger gaming facility that serves the Snake River Valley market.

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It’se Ye Ye Casino

Kamiah, Idaho

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It’se Ye Ye Casino in Kamiah, Idaho

Gaming at It’se Ye Ye Casino

It’se Ye Ye Casino runs approximately 110 electronic gaming machines covering Bingo, slot machines, and video poker under Idaho’s tribal-state gaming compact. Idaho’s Indian Gaming Compact authorizes Class III gaming but specifically excludes live-dealer table games — blackjack, roulette, and craps can only be offered via certified electronic terminals at any Idaho tribal property. No live-dealer blackjack pit and no live poker room operate at It’se Ye Ye. This is a structural feature of Idaho tribal gaming that applies statewide, not a property-specific limitation.

At 110 machines, It’se Ye Ye is the smallest of Idaho’s tribal gaming facilities — a community-scale operation rather than a destination resort. The Idaho tribal gaming landscape has three larger properties: Coeur d’Alene Casino (1,600 machines in Worley), Kootenai River Inn and Casino (400 machines in Bonners Ferry), and the Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel at Fort Hall. The Nez Perce Tribe’s Clearwater River Casino in Lewiston is larger than It’se Ye Ye. For a brief stop along the Clearwater River corridor — especially for travelers on US-12 between Lewiston and Lolo Pass — It’se Ye Ye provides a convenient local gaming option.

Tribal Context: Nez Perce Tribe

It’se Ye Ye Casino is owned by the Nez Perce Tribe, a federally recognized Native American nation with reservation lands in Idaho along the Clearwater River valley. The Nez Perce are a Sahaptin-speaking people who have inhabited the plateau and river country of north-central Idaho, northeastern Oregon, and southeastern Washington for thousands of years. The tribe negotiated the Nez Perce Treaty of 1855 with the United States, ceding large portions of their territory in exchange for a reservation; the Gold Rush on Nez Perce lands in the 1860s led to further land reduction under the 1863 “Steal Treaty.” The 1877 Nez Perce War — in which Chief Joseph and the non-treaty Nez Perce were pursued by the US Army across Idaho and Montana toward the Canadian border — is one of the most documented conflicts of the Indian Wars era. The Nez Perce Tribe today holds approximately 750,000 acres of reservation land across four Idaho counties.

Location

It’se Ye Ye Casino is at 419 3rd Street in Kamiah, Idaho. US-12 east from Lewiston (approximately 70 miles) follows the Clearwater River directly to Kamiah. The Lewis-Clark State College campus is in Lewiston; the Nez Perce National Historical Park visitor sites are accessible along the US-12 corridor. Self-parking is on site.

★ Editor note

Nez Perce community stop on the Clearwater corridor — 110 machines, café, and the Idaho compact's electronic-only rule

It'se Ye Ye Casino is a small Nez Perce Tribe gaming facility in Kamiah — 110 machines, a café, and a restaurant on the US-12 corridor between Lewiston and Lolo Pass. It functions as a local-community venue and a convenient stop for outdoor recreation travelers, not a destination casino. Idaho's tribal compact means no live dealers anywhere in the state; Coeur d'Alene Casino in Worley (1,600 machines + 6-table live poker) is the closest destination-scale tribal property. Confirm hours via the It'se Ye Ye Facebook page before visiting.

Priya Sharma

Responsible Gaming Editor