Indian Gaming > Los Coyotes chair blasts influence of casinos

October 16, 2006

Los Coyotes chair blasts influence of casinos

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Catherine Siva Saubel, the 86-year-old chairwoman of the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians, blames rival tribes for killing her tribe's off-reservation casino.

Saubel teamed up with the Big Lagoon Rancheria of northern California to build two casinos in Barstow. Located halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the site was considered ideal.

But tribes with existing casinos heavily lobbied lawmakers to defeat the project. "These people call themselves Indians. They don't know anything about the Indian culture," Saubel told The Los Angeles Times.

Suabel was particularly stung by opposition from relatives at the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. She has lived on Morongo land for most of her life, was married to a Morongo man, served on the Morongo council, helped start the Morongo museum and has helped the tribe preserve the language.

She was even asked to bless the tribe's first bingo hall -- that's now a huge $250 million resort. "They had some nerve," Saubel told the paper. "They were poor too, not that long ago."

Saubel would like to return to her tribe's remote reservation, although it lacks plumbing and electricity. Without money to pay for infrastructure and other improvements, she says she's still a "stranger" on Morongo land.

Get the Story:
2 Tiny Tribes Lost Their Bet (The Los Angeles Times 10/15)
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Casino issue dominating Barstow council race (The San Bernardino County Sun 10/16)