By Carolyn Dryer | The Glendale Star
The Tohono O’odham Nation has another hurdle to jump over April 9 in federal district court. This time, the City of Glendale is not a plaintiff. In this case, the State of Arizona, Gila River Indian Community and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community filed a lawsuit to prevent the Tohono O’odham Nation from opening a resort/casino at 95th and Northern avenues.
At the April 9 court appearance, what those sitting in the courtroom will hear will be the two Indian communities and the state making their case against the Nation regarding the gaming compact with the state.
The “Tohono O’odham Nation recently filed a 120-plus page document that refutes the claims made by the plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs allege in one part of their lawsuit that the Nation, during compact negotiations in 1993, agreed that it would not build a casino on land it may in the future acquire outside its reservation lands it owned at that time.
The Nation, in the filing to be heard April 9, emphatically refutes any statement to that effect, and has audio tapes from that time to support its claim.
