 Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyGLENDALE, AZ -- Even though the Tohono O'Odham Nation's closest border is some 70 miles from Glendale, the tribe wants to turn a sliver of land at 91st and Northern avenues into sovereign territory in order to build a hotel and casino there. "We have always existed in this region since time immemorial and we'll continue to exist in this region," said tribal chairman Ned Norris, Jr. "We can't move fast enough on this project." The City of Glendale doesn't want the facility, concerned with everything from emergency services and infrastructure to economic impact. "It's not good for the community, it's not good for the city, and it's not good for Indian policy or Indian gaming," said city attorney Craig Tindall. "There's not a reservation anywhere close to Glendale."  Glendale City Attorney Craig Tindall talks about the impact of a reservation within the city's borders
This particular piece of unincorporated Maricopa County land was bought on August 21, 2003, by Rainier Resources, Inc., a Delaware corporation. As it turns out, Rainier Resources is the Tohono O'Odham Nation using a different name. According to tribal paperwork, Rainier Resources was formed on March 12, 2003, "with the Nation as its original and sole shareholder." "The community would have been better served if they had been fully informative as far as their intentions with the land and who was buying it and why," Tindall said. "I don't believe that what the Nation did was inconsistent with any like type major development," Norris said. "There's no difference in how we've strategically decided when we are going to publicly disclose this project as to any other multi-million dollar project of its same level." On January 28, 2009, the tribe turned to the federal government, asking the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior to convert the 134-acre site into sovereign land, which would open the door for Indian gaming. "Once you have this land designation, that land is the tribe's land forevermore," said Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier, an attorney at Phoenix firm Snell & Wilmer who specializes in Indian affairs. "It's happened. There's precedent for it," said Staudenmaier, who does not represent either party in this debate. Indian law attorney Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier speaks about the application process for putting land into trust for the creation of a reservation
Tindall said the day the tribe submitted its application to the federal government is the first time the city found out it may soon have a tribe within its borders. "This was sprung upon the city by the Tohono O'Odhams without any warning," Tindall said. But an act of Congress more than twenty years ago may protect the tribe. The Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act "provide(s) for the settlement of certain claims of the Papago Tribe arising from the operation of Painted Rock Dam and for other purposes," according to the legislation signed into law in 1986. The act "authorizes the Tribe to acquire a specified amount of private lands." The tribe claims this land purchase qualifies under the act. There's mixed reaction among residents in the area. "I think they should put it somewhere else besides around here," Armando Sagarnaga said. "How many years did we, say, take advantage of the Indians? It's their chance to get even, good for them," Stewart Goldbert said.
The Tohono O'Odham Nation expects the 600-room hotel and casino would create jobs and thrive off the Westgate shopping center and University of Phoenix Stadium. "All we're interested in is bringing an amenity to the West Valley that would help the economy in that area," Norris said. The City of Glendale feels there are significant legal issues with what the tribe is doing. "Once it goes into reservation, we have no municipal control whatsoever on what happens in that property," Tindall said. "It's a big concern, regardless of the gaming facility." The city also argues that some of the land the tribe bought was previously annexed into the city, making it ineligible for inclusion in the tribe's federal application. Norris said Glendale has declined to work through its differences with the tribe. "I think they're just probably creating confusion, creating some reasons for people to think that we're this ancient savage people coming in and just simply do something without some structure around it," Norris said. "That's ignorant thinking."
Tohono O'Odham Tribal Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., on what the tribe can do to come to an understanding with the City of Glendale
With court actions already taken by both sides, the city and the tribe have doubled down, waiting for Washington to deal the next card. "We'll continue to go forward in a very aggressive manner to do what it takes to try to stop this situation," Tindall said. "We don't need Glendale. The law is clear," Norris said. "Until my tribal council decides otherwise, this is the direction we're going with or without Glendale." Meanwhile, Peoria sits right across the street from the site, and its mayor, Bob Barrett, said he wholeheartedly supports the project. Let us know what you think. Post a comment below.
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