Indian Nation Profile: The Gila River Indian Community Indian Gaming by Mark Van Norman, Esq.
The Gila River Indian Community traces its roots to the HuHuKam, who first farmed the ancestral land around 300 B.C. Composed of two tribes the Akimel O'Odham (called Pima by the Europeans) and the Pee Posh (whose European name is Maricopa), the Gila River Indian Community is located in south central Arizona. The 320,000-acre reservation, which lies south of Phoenix, Tempe and Chandler, was established by Executive Order in 1859. It is the largest Indian Reservation in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Recognizing the value of water as their most precious resource, the ancient HuHuKam developed an extensive irrigation system by digging more than 500 miles of canals to irrigate their fields, making life flourish in the river valley.
Following in their footsteps, the Akimel O'Odham and Pee Posh people farmed until water rights uses were taken away in 1887. Then drought and famine struck the community, bringing with it related social and nutritional problems. One such consequence is that now more than 50% of the population suffers from diabetes, the highest documented rate of any ethnic group in the world.
Eventually, life returned to the community in 1968 when water again flowed between the banks of the Gila River. Agriculture rebounded and reclaimed its earlier role as the tribe's primary economic resource. For the next 25 years, farming served as the Gila River Indian Community's main supplement to federal funding. In spite of this and other economic initiatives, the community faces major challenges compounded by generations of economic depression and subsistence living.
After a decade of deliberation, the tribe finally agreed to allow Indian gaming within the reservation boundaries and signed a compact with the State of Arizona in 1993. Gaming at Gila River is tribally managed and regulated at three distinct levels, by the tribal gaming commission, the State of Arizona and the National Indian Gaming Commission. Choosing gaming forced the tribe to change a part of its identifying culture in order to revitalize its once dependent and economically depressed community.
On June 25, 1994 the Gila River Indian Community opened the doors to their first casino. The Lone Butte casino was a small 8000 square foot facility that housed 271 slot machines, a deli, and employed 300 people. By May 13, 1995 the first Wildhorse Pass Sprung structure was opened, the first business to open on a parcel of 5000 acres of undeveloped land, which was slated to become home to a permanent casino, hotel-resort, golf course, and retail outlets. This temporary structure included 500 slots, 1000 seat bingo hall, a deli and buffet. Employment grew to over 1000 with 65% of these original employees tribal members.
In a bold move that has never been seen in the gaming industry, commercial or Indian, the Community soon broke ground on the permanent Wildhorse and Vee Quiva Casinos. The plan was to build them simultaneously and open them within 30 days of each other. This plan included closing the two temporary casinos, moving personnel and equipment to the new casinos all while keeping two casinos operational at all times. The strict timelines were kept and in November 1997 Wildhorse Pass Casino was opened. Vee Quiva Casino was opened at the beginning of December of the same year.
Together the two casinos created more than 1500 jobs, the majority held by tribal members who live on the reservation. The renewed commitment to tribal services helped create another 1,000 employment opportunities. As a direct result, the community's unemployment rate fell from 40% in 1993 to its' current level of 15%.
The Gila River Indian Community strives to improve the quality of life for its people. Indian gaming revenue has been carefully allocated to improve and supplement community protection services, including the fire and police departments, emergency medical services, health and wellness, and infrastructure, as well as general community operations.
With one-third of the tribal population under the age of 25, education is a major area of focus for gaming revenue. In the past, few tribal members went on to college for continuing education. Today, thanks to new scholarship funds, more than 400 tribal members are pursuing higher education.
While Indian gaming became a turning point for the downtrodden community, it is clear that there is no quick remedy for generations of neglect and hopelessness. Thanks to casino revenues, the 20,000 tribal members now experience and foresee a new level of prosperity, self-determination, and progress in their future.
Mark Van Norman is the Executive Director for the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) in Washington, DC. His work involves protecting and enhancing the sovereignty of Indian Nations and their right to conduct gaming as a means for economic development. NIGA is a trade association of 168 Tribal Nations and associate members representing businesses engaged in tribal gaming. NIGA may be contacted on the web at: www.indiangaming.org.
