The Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma are willing to wait until Colorado Gov. Bill Owens (R) leaves office to pursue an off-reservation casino in the Denver area.

The tribes and their backers offered to settle an ancestral land claim for gaming rights and 500 acres. They promised $1 billion over 10 years.

Owens rejected the idea and said any gaming proposal has to go before the voters. But Michael Brendzel, vice president of the Golden-based Native American Land Group, the developer of the $400 million project, said the tribes will wait out Owens, who leaves office in January 2007.

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Tribes still hoping for casino (AP 4/11)