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.Related Stories: