"The Quechan Indian Reservation encompasses about 45,000 acres of land on both sides of the Colorado River west of Yuma. Under Tribal President Mike Jackson's leadership, the tribe lays claim to jurisdiction on "ancestral lands," a vast and ill-defined land area which encompasses substantial portions of southern California, Arizona and northern Mexico - more than a million acres.

He has successfully opposed essentially any industrial development on this "ancestral land" because it impacted tribal members "ability to practice their sacred traditions as a living part of their community life."

The Quechan tribe, under Jackson's leadership, is again trying to scuttle the proposed east county refinery on the same basis as before - that valuable tribal artifacts may be present on the site, even though a thorough search on the original site turned up no artifacts.

Jackson's concern for tribal artifacts is at odds with his leadership in building the new Quechan casino and hotel complex on a site that Quechan tribal elders have consistently maintained actually contains numerous tribal artifacts and sacred sites."

Get the Story:
Tribal claim is ludicrous (The Yuma Sun 10/27)