More than two decades after the
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation famously stood up for its sovereignty, the tribe is embarking on a new era in Indian gaming.
The tribe will host a ceremony next week for a new gaming facility on its reservation in Arizona. The 166,341 square-foot facility is due to open in the spring of 2020.
“We break ground on Friday, June 29th, 2018, on a new casino and open a new chapter in the modern history of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation,” President Bernadine Burnette
said in a statement. “Our tribe has overcome many challenges just to be here today. Our path has been difficult, but the obstacles we’ve endured have only made us stronger.”
Back in 1983, the tribe was the first in Arizona with a bingo hall. That was four years before the
nation's highest court issued a landmark decision that recognized the inherent right of tribes to engage in gaming.
The
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1998 soon opened the door for tribes to expand their economies with slot machines, card games and other lucrative offerings. But there was a problem in Arizona -- the state refused to negotiate a deal with tribes.
Years of uncertainty led to a series of raids on May 11, 1992. That morning, four tribes saw their slot machines confiscated after then governor Fife Symington (R) called in federal authorities for help.
Fort McDowell wasn't having it. Federal agents were preparing to cart away hundreds of slots when tribal citizens -- using cars, construction equipment and other vehicles -- surrounded them and wouldn't let them leave with their economic livelihood.
“After they loaded the trucks, our people blocked the entrance,” the late Clinton Pattea, who was the tribe's president at the time, recalled in
High Country News four years later. “It was a rather scary situation. They came in without any notice.”
The tactic worked. After a tense standoff, Symington arrived at the casino and met with Pattea. The federal agents left. The slot machines stayed.
Subsequent negotiations eventually led to the first Class III gaming compacts in the state. The rest, they say, is history. The
Fort McDowell Casino, about 30 miles east of Phoenix, opened in 1995, after the original
bingo hall was gutted and expanded. And tribe began celebrating every
May 11 as “Sovereignty Day.”
“We may be the smallest tribe in the Valley, but we built the first high stakes bingo hall in the Phoenix area three decades ago and today we are taking another huge leap forward,” President Burnette said.
Artist's rendering of the new Fort McDowell Casino in Fort McDowell, Arizona. Image courtesy Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation
This time around, the tribe has decided to build an entirely new casino, which will feature more gaming floor space, additional restaurants and other amenities. The project team consists of Thalden Boyd Emery Architects, W.E. O’Neil, and Kitchell Construction.
The tribe plans to convert the old facility into something else but hasn't determined what it will be used for.
Following the first gaming compacts in the mid-1990s, tribes entered into new deals following the passage of Proposition 202 at the polls in 2002. The agreement established a revenue sharing program that benefits public safety, education, tourism, conservation and other programs in Arizona.
"The truth is that Tribal Gaming has had a significant impact both on and off Tribal lands, providing over $1.3 billion dollars in funding for education, trauma care, conservation, tourism, cities and towns, and much more,"
Benefiting Arizona, a coalition that includes the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, said last month.
As of May 1, tribes have contributed more than $1.38 billion, according to the
Arizona Department of Gaming.
Sovereignty Day - Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation
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