Amidst Concerns, Navajo Casino Set to Open

The Navajo Nation has long exercised its tribal sovereignty *not* to conduct gaming. As we wrote in our first book, Indian Gaming and Tribal Sovereignty: The Casino Compromise (2005):

For some tribes, gaming simply is not an option because their reservations are located in states that disallow any form of gambling. For others, isolated locales or lack of financial resources may restrict their ability to open or sustain a casino.

Even in the absence of these practical limitations, a few tribes have chosen not to pursue gaming enterprises based on tribal values and beliefs. Perhaps the most-cited example is the Navajo Nation's past rejection of gaming -- but that may change.

The Navajo Nation is both the largest tribe, with over 250,000 enrolled members, and the largest reservation in the U.S., covering 17.5 million acres in northwest New Mexico, northeast Arizona, and southeast Utah. In the mid-1990s, the tribe twice voted down referenda to build a casino. Opposition to a tribal casino was strongly influenced by Navajo beliefs that gambling can corrupt and destroy.

In 2002, Arizona voters approved Proposition 202, which allotted casino and slot machine rights to both the Navajo and the Hopi, who also have rejected gaming in the past. The referendum allowed either tribe to open its own casinos or to lease their rights to other tribes in the state. Recently, the Navajo announced plans to build a casino near Albuquerque in the Tohajilee Reservation, a small satellite of the main Navajo reservation. Despite tribal teachings against gambling, many Navajo are encouraged that gaming may help raise the living standard of a people whose unemployment rate is 44 percent and per-capita income is just over $6,000. "We thought we would be better off economically if we could do the same thing that other tribes have done in the area," said Tohajillee Chapter President Tony Sacatero. "Even if you don't have a casino here, people are still going to go someplace else. But if you build it here, the money is going to stay here."

Now, three years after we wrote that, the Navajo Nation is set to open Fire Rock Casino near Gallup, NM. The casino is expected to generate about $32 million in revenue for the tribe, and to diminish the tribe's current 50% unemployment rate. Still, many tribal members continue to raise concerns about alcohol, smoking, and problem gambling.

Read more.